Café Besalu

After reading the reviews, I was dying to try this place. It’s good, don’t get me wrong, but I was disappointed after all the raves.
The onion Gruyère was ok. I won’t order it again. A lot of onion flavor and not much cheese.
The cheese Danish was not good. Were there apples in there? Definitely apples or something. I wanted cheese but it tasted like fruit. Maybe they gave me the wrong thing?
Partner said the ham and cheese was good.
It was just ok in my opinion. I really wanted to LOVE it like everyone else. Bummer.

WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE! After waiting in line for 40 minutes they rudely informed me they would not sell me the quiche I came for bc I was «too early» and that they don’t sell it until 10… ummm it was 945… she told me to get back in line and that they would not pre-​sell bc they’d «sell threw a whole quiche before 10». I’m so disappointed bc I love their food and have been coming here for years. Their staff would benefit from a class on customer service.

Crazy good! The smell, the vibe, and the quality. Always amazing.

Perfect café from the environment to the staffs. I had a triple shots latte, which is a bit stronger than normal. I was attracted by the smell of the store. This is the first café I tried in Seattle.

Divine pastries, surly employee (owner?)
I took the bus from my downtown hotel this morning and arrived just before 7am. I was beyond excited to be back in Seattle and so close to my beloved almond schnecken (delicately sweet, slightly crisp outside gives way to fluffy-​flaky, croissant-​like fabulousness).
A man and his young daughter arrived at the same time. There’s no sample menu in the window or on the website, and I was anxious about being decisive, so I reached for the door thinking it might be 7 o’clock, and it opened. The three of us didn’t actually approach the counter for service, we were caught up in the smells and sights and were trying to figure out what would be large orders for both of us. A man from behind the counter approached us, so I said, «good morning!» He did not return my greeting (or enthusiasm) and rather curtly told us, «we don’t open til 7.» Talk about a baked goods buzzkill! As the other patron, his young daughter and I walked back outside, tail between our legs, he must have been reading my mind, because he said, «why was the door unlocked (if they didn’t want us inside two minutes early)?
I’ve traveled all over the world. Their pastries have no rival. My new love is the strawberry Danish. It deserves a more fitting name. One that belies the wondrous mouthful of buttery flakiness that’s simultaneously soft and crisp with perfectly sweet and fresh berries. Nothing is overdone – it’s just right. The pastries merit 5 stars, but the inexplicable surliness of the counter person (the bearded one) turned my stomach.

A great way to start your day is at Café Besalu. When I came here on Friday morning it was very lively. The place is very family friendly with dogs outside and kids running around. Like a lot of the cafes I went to during my visit, the seating was very intimate.
There were so many different pastries I had a hard time choosing! The cardamom pretzel came out warm and melted in your mouth. The quiche shined bright and I think I heard a choir singing whenever I looked at them. The latte wasn’t anything special. The onion and Gruyère pastry came in close second.
Next time I’m in Ballard, I’m coming back to Besalu.

I came here to understand the spoken word written ages ago about the prophet croissant shop that would stand out amongst the other great bakeries in seattle. The name, café besalu.
The chocolate croissant competes with the best bakeries in France and belgium. Simply put, you cannot go wrong with any croissant here but the chocolate was my favorite.
The rhubarb galette and strawberry Danish both achieve 5 stars in my book as of course does the chocolate croissant.
However, both the leek and Loraine quiches were close to 4 stars and the coffee was largely unimpresive.
Stick to the heavenly croissants.

I stopped in here with a friend at the start of a long day spent exploring Seattle. It was a bright spring day, and we couldn’t think of any way better to start the day than with coffee and pastries. This place was recommended to us by our friend and host in Ballard.
Despite being a weekday morning, it was quite busy by the time we arrived. We ordered our coffees and picked out some pastries. From the counter, you can see the bakers hard at work back in the kitchen, just another reminder (along with the delicious scent) that everything here is super fresh.
My apple croissant was flaky and basically perfect, with a wonderful contrast between sweet filling and buttery pastry. My friend purchased a few pastries to try and had nothing but good things to say as well.
Paired with a delicious latte, this was an excellent way to start a morning.

Yahtzeee!!! What a gem of a place! It has taken me forever to come by to this little spot in Ballard. Nice little bakery/​café spot, be sure to check their hours of operations as they are closed a few times during the week.
I had to get a small assortment of breakfast items and the croissant was wonderful! Probably one of the best croissants I’ve had in a long time. I like the flakey-​ness, crisp & buttery, pretty darn good! Also I got a bite of the Pain Au Chocolate, that perfect croissant exterior and delicious chocolate inside, way better than a lot of other spots around town.
I also got a few sweet items for later and the Lemon Cookie and Pear Galette Tart was also pretty darn good. I enjoy lemon flavor and the cookie had a good amount of it and could eat that on a daily basis. The pear galette was also great, pear was not overly sweet and I couldn’t eat that tart any faster.
Overall, everything I tried was wonderful, would definitely come back again to try more items especially their quiches. Staff was quick, efficient to get people moving through the line, the place is small but nice & cozy for that neighborhood café feel. I can see why this place is super busy on the weekends.

There are so many different cafes and bakeries in Seattle! I think what makes this one unique that is excels at the fundamental pastries: the butter croissants, the quiches, the biscuits, etc. That paired with some solid coffee makes it a nice spot to catch up with an old friend. I tried the mocha (yummm chocolatey), and the latte for the visit, paired with a cheese brioche.
Solid drinks. The brioche was flakey and the taste was not too overbearing.
Happy that we got to stop by here on our visit to Seattle.

After hearing from multiple sources that Café Besalu had the best croissants in Seattle, I HAD to go check it out. Came around 10am on a Saturday, so just as I expected, there was a line out the door. It was a beautiful day though, and the line went super super quickly.
The croissant did not disappoint. It was so buttery and flakey and delicious. It came with an apricot jam that paired perfectly! I also got the pain au chocolat, which was equally delicious. Has all the same perks as the butter croissant, just chocolatey. Also got to try the apple galette, which was super tasty with a nice mild flavor and the cheese danish, which I felt was a bit lacking compared to the other pastries, but not bad.
If I lived in Seattle, I would definitely make this place a regular spot.

I had a plain croissant with jam. It was flaky and chewy. Totally excellent. One of the best croissants in town. I will be back. again and again. Anytime I want a croissant which is… lots of the times.

My favorite French bakery in Seattle! I love the ginger biscuit and all the quiches!

Please please move to a bigger location… It is so good that there is always a big line… Parking is struggling, and when cold, waiting in line can be difficult… But none of this can stop be from going there :)

It’s pretty good bakery. You should come! The sales was really friendly. I will come again! I bought 5 breads and spent $ 20.

That croissant does warrant a wow! Took me back to my trip to France in one bite… wow.

Update 1÷16÷16: just had the best pain au chocolat of my life, so have to update my review to 5 stars! It was so flaky and perfect, everyone who goes to Café Besalu should try it!
I don’t have much to add to others’ reviews. Yes, there are lines to wait in to go to Café Besalu. Yes, it’s generally worth it. Pricey for a coffee drink and a pastry, but they use quality ingredients. I’ve had several items from the café, and have enjoyed them all, except for the quiche. The piece was small, and it wasn’t so tasty. So I’ll stick to the sweet stuff in the future.
Please note that they are closed Mondays and Tuesdays, and for vacations. It’s like how my cravings for Chick-​fil-​a work out; I always feel like going to Café Besalu when they are not open!!!

Fantastic French bakery with mouth watering baked goods. Love their croissants. Their coffee is good too. Friendly staff. I’ll go back here on a lazy Sunday morning.

I did not have the coffee, but the all of the pasties I tried were amazing!

Food & Drink: 4. Solid bakery. Coffee so-​so.
Service: N/​A. Someone got it for me. Can’t say, sorry.
Pretty damn good carmelized onion & gruyère pastry. Perfectly savory and decadent. Damn gruyère is amazing in general. I thought about buying a case of these. No joke. I never joke.

Really wanted to like this place because of the rave reviews but alas wasn’t a huge fan. Ordered the ham & cheese croissant and asked the waitress to heat it and her response was it was just taken out of the oven. When I bit into the croissant it was cold and didn’t taste that great. I wouldn’t come back here and if I did I would insist on heating up the item.

While walking through the neighborhood on our first day in Seattle, our friend stated this place was fantastic and told us we had to get some of their pastries. He mentioned there is almost always a line because this place is so popular. When we headed there around 8:30 on a Sunday morning, there wasn’t a long line, but I do see why this place is so popular.
First of all, let’s just talk about the smells — this place smells amazing. You can smell the pastries from outside! And, oh, my goodness, the pastries. There are so many! And they’re all freshly baked! As in I watched them put fresh pastries in the case right as people were ordering them, meaning pretty much everyone gets a pastry that was just taken out of the oven.
Those pastries are heavenly. I’m not a big fan of sweet breakfast foods, but these are so good and they have really mastered the proper ratio of sweet. It’s just enough without being overpowering or too sugary. I’ve had an apple danish and a raspberry danish and both were excellent. I also had a cheese brioche and that was delicious, too. Each pastry is relatively cheap, too, considering what you are getting. They run anywhere from $ 1 – 4, and I didn’t see a single thing over $ 5.
Oh, and their hot chocolate. It’s so good and they even made a beautiful design on mine.
The people that work here are incredibly friendly and welcoming. They seem to genuinely enjoy working here and it really shows, making the experience that much more great. I imagine I’ll be visiting a few more times while on vacation and I can’t wait.

It took me way too long to try this place! There are so many great cafes/​restaurants in Ballard, I’m so disappointed in myself for not coming here more often!
Besalu is amazing! The minute you walk into this cute little café/​bakery, the aromas instantly wrap you up with their rich and buttery smells, swaddling you like a baby. Ok, that may be a little exaggerated, but the smell of baked goods definitely is nostalgic of me coming home to my momma baking in the kitchen. We arrived close to 8 am on a Sunday morning, not more than 10 minutes later, the line was out the door, and then some! Ordered myself a ham and cheese pastry and a vanilla latte for here and a peach gallete to go. The ham and cheese pastry was so flaky and savory. There was just the right amount of ham and cheese, and it complimented the buttery, flaky crust nicely, didn’t over power it. Everything in their case looked absolutely scrumptious. I will definitely be back again to try more!

The smells from inside will have you mesmerized. My brother, his wife, and I came down here on a Sunday and the line was really long. The wait was worth it though. The pastries and the coffee are tasty. On my next visit, I’m going to try their seasonal quiche.
If you’re in Ballard, make your way to Café Besalu, the friendly atmosphere as well as their pastries are something to write home about.

I was craving a good pastry/​croissant place this morning. I’m originally from SF and I miss my pastries from Tartine and Arizmendi Bakery. Came here in the late morning on the weekend and there was a small line. Parking is relatively easy around the area. I ended up ordering the pair au chocolate, nectarine danish, and a mocha and my girlfriend got a croissant w/​peach jam and a chai. The danish and croissants were GOOD. So good in fact that we ordered more to go! Mocha was good too and my girlfriend really enjoyed her Chai! The chai we got though is a bit different from chai’s i’ve gotten in the past, it has a more spicy flavor.

The problem with giving this place only five stars is that I feel like I need to bump down all of my reviews by a star because this is the pinnacle of all eateries.
I am a pastry SNOB. I bake obsessively at home and if I can bake it better, I will complain and critique to ear-​plugging lengths. Luckily for my accompanying crew, Café Besalu is the Original Form from which all other bakeries cast shadows on our primitive cave. This place makes me shut up and swoon.
Ok. So. With four of us in tow, and this being the second time I’ve come (the first being a few years ago — it left such an impression that I prioritized this for my next Seattle visit), I decided to go all out. We ordered a dozen different pastries and tried all of them. Not a single one was my ‘least favorite’ and I honestly can’t pick my favorite either. The quiche’s, the savory tarts, the sweet tarts, the cookies… all are done with such deft balance that you are left staring at an empty plate wondering how you just downed the equivalent of 3 desserts.
The pastries are buttery and yet light, sweet yet not saccharine, the fruit is fresh and wait for it… they bake in small batches throughout the day which means that it is bloody likely that whatever you order will have come piping out out of the oven not more than 15 minutes before it goes in your mouth.
They are all ridiculously reasonably priced ($ 2-​$ 3 each). A line out the door pretty much whenever you drive by but it is so very worth it.
It actually pains me that there aren’t more bakeries like this in the States.

Love love love! My friend and I ordered their spinach quiche, another quiche with scallions, ham, THE croissant, latte, drip coffee, and strawberry Danish to top it off. We killed everything and loved every bite.
For the croissant… It was very very delicious BUT I personally think the twice baked almond croissant from bakery nouveau is a tid bit better. But don’t get me wrong, the croissant from caffe besalu is the place to go if you want a simple croisssant that won’t leave you feeling heavy afterwards! There’s beauty in simplicity! :-)

Can 600 reviews be wrong?
To start it off, the pastries are excellent. The Unilocalers got that one right, definitely. I’ve had croissants in Belgium and France and this gets about as close to that as you can. (I’m sure a real French person would condemn me for saying so)
The coffee though was not really anything special. Come for the pastries, that doesn’t disappoint.

Maybe this would get a higher rating if it was based on more than 1 visit and I got to try more things. Place isn’t very big or fancy. A little bit of uncomfortable outdoor seating.
Iced vanilla soy latte, no complaints. I tried the Apple Galette and it was amazing! This is after I had brunch too! Granted I only had ¹⁄₃ of it, but my friends and I all agreed it was very good. The flakiness of the pastry was perfect! Would come back for more!

I stopped by Besalu on an early Saturday morning, and the place was already packed. Luckily, I was able to wait inside the café, instead of outside the door. The place is definitely small, with some seating inside. After waiting in line and looking at the display case, I got to go:
Plain croissants: nice and flaky and buttery
Pear tart and apple tart: these were good, not too sweet.
Ham and Swiss pastry: really good, with the ham going well with the cheese
Onion and gruyère pastry: this was probably my favorite of the bunch. The caramelized onions were nice and sweet.
Although small, I would have to say that the pastries here re worth the wait. If you are walking by the café in the morning, it is hard to pass up on the smell of coffee and bread as you walk by.

Croissant, Chocolate croissant, almond croissant… repeat. Croissant, Chocolate croissant, almond croissant… repeat. Croissant, Chocolate croissant, almond croissant… repeat. Croissant, Chocolate croissant, almond croissant… repeat.

What to get: Ginger Scone & Nectarine Danish
My friend picked us up some pastries to start off our day. She’s a baker and this is her favorite bakery in Seattle. We had apricot danish, nectarine danish, and ginger scone – the last two were her favorites, but we thought we’d try something new too.
My favorite was the ginger scone. I don’t typically enjoy scones because I find them dry, crumbly and really dense, but I really liked this one. The ginger gave each bite a nice kick. So the first flavors that hit your tongue was the sweetness followed up by that distinct spiciness that give ginger its unique character. The texture itself was also a bit moister and much more palatable.
Both danishes were very nicely baked to a golden color with a slight glaze. The nectarine danish was fabulous. The dough was soft, flaky, and slightly sweet (you could tell there was a lot of butter). The fruit was nicely sweetened and baked to perfection. My only complaint was that because of the pinwheel shape, it was hard to get an even balance of filling and dough. The apricot danish, on the other hand, had a much denser dough even though you’d think they would be the same. The dough was drier and the apricot just tasted off to me. Everyone agreed that it was good but a little weird. Maybe I just didn’t expect baked apricot to taste that way, but of everything I tried that day from different bakeries, it was my least favorite.
If I hadn’t tried the apricot danish, I would have given Café Besula 5 stars.

Spectacular croissant and quiche !!! Reminds me of Paris. Food orgasm. Nuf said.

Besalu’s croissants are masterpieces. Without a doubt, the best croissant that I’ve sampled in Seattle. It may not be hard to find a good croissant (hi le panier, honore, and le fournil) but these are remarkably fresh, with perfect textures. They are not afraid of butter, which means that the croissant outside is crisp and interior is cloud soft. Some overbuttered croissant dough leads to infinite flaking, which makes it hard to appreciate the croissant itself. But these held their shape. You can order them with jam but I preferred them plain with a gentle cup of coffee on the side. I took a few home and they held up well into the next day, though fresh is always best.
Also split a few other delights with friends. The ginger biscuit turned out to be part biscuit and part cake, with a crust of demerera sugar on top. The nectarine tart, seasonal speciality, had a strong ginger flavor, which was perfect for the stonefruit. And the orange brioche turned out to be more of a buttery glazed pinwheel with orange essence than a bread product, which was delightful.
I went on a Friday morning so didn’t have to battle the lines. But part of the charm might be queueing up with your fellow seattleites to sample these treats. Just love.

The croissants live up to the hype. ‘nough said.