Best Croissant?

[mesafoodie]

A simple, plain, perfect croissant has been my quest for years. Light, shatteringly crisp and buttery - I can tell you with authority that such a thing doesn't exist in Louisville, the last place I called home. Most of the croissants I tasted there were more like airline croissants, which in turn are more like hot dog buns. Anyway, we're lucky to have an abundance of great bakeries here in theTwin Cities and I just had a perfect croissant at one of them this morning - Rustica Bakery in St. Louis Park. Who would you vote for?

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Rustica Bakery
816 W 46th St, Minneapolis, MN 55419

[NugarifiK]

Trung Nam on University. Crispy, flakey, buttery deliciousness. Their flavors are outstanding and prices very reasonable. However they only accept cash so come prepared. I plan on picking up a bunch tomorrow morning for myself and co-workers.

[Haricotsv2]

LOVE Trung Nam's croissants and banh mi!
Margi

[KTFoley]

I'd add MayDay Cafe at 35th & Bloomington in Mpls to the list of worthy croissant contenders.

[shadowfax]

They do pretty well on croissants at Chez Arnaud. 2 locations, Plymouth and White Bear Lake.

[Bobannon]

Chez Amaud is in Maple Grove, 13332 Bass Lake Road.

[foreverhungry]

A truly excellent croissant is difficult to find in the Twin Cities, and none will compare to an average croissant found in any bakery in France. But with that caveat, my two votes for ebst croissant in the Twin Cities are for Trung Nam and Pardon My French.

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Pardon My French
1565 Cliff Rd Ste 1A, Saint Paul, MN 55122

[splatgirl]

Again, could you please explain the Trung Nam thing? It confuses me, because I think they have the hallmarks, texture and flavor of a factory made, packaged grocery store "croissant". One of the biggest disappointments from my to-try list, although the Banh Mi was ok.

Putting Pardon My French on my list!

I've conducted a pretty intense Patisserie crawl and croissant sampling in Paris and think P46's are as good as the best there. Rustica's are very, very close. Vernonique Mauclerc is my favorite in Paris but I'm partial to natural leaven vs. yeasted and the wood-fired oven could be considered an unfair advantage.

We've not mentioned Chez Arnaud which I think would be my #3.

[ShinyCake]

I also vote for Rustica. I love how dark they bake them. And their chocolate croissants have the perfect amount of delicious chocolate inside.

[getgot211]

Trung Nam are the best, also the best price. Rustica are just behind it. Bars make a pretty good one but at $4 something, no thanks. P46 didn't do much for me when I tired it.

[splatgirl]

What did/do you like about the Trung Nam croissant? What is Bars?

[Seige]

Bars is Bars Bakery on Selby in St. Paul and I rather enjoy their croissants. I don't particularly like Trung Nam's. I know a lot of people really like the croissants at Bread and Chocolate, but I've not had them.

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Bars Bakery
612 Selby Ave, St Paul, MN 55102

[KTFoley]

Seige, have you tried the ham-and-cheese croissants at Bars? I was enamored of them for a while but lately have realized that their savory items are quite a bit more salty than I prefer -- and that's not common for me.

[Seige]

I have had the ham and cheese ones. They're my favorites! I guess I haven't found them to be overly salty. I love the savory speck tart they used to make too, but I haven't see that in awhile. Oh and semi-related, if they ever have molasses cookies when you're there - GET THEM! They're just like my Grandma's recipe and so, so good!

[KTFoley]

Ahh, the enigma of how the same food item can appeal to people so differently, and even to the same person differently over time.

I was delighted to have a neighborhood bakery with savory offerings, and yet have lost enthusiasm for the very thing that drew me there. And yes (swerving back to the topic here) I feel that the Trung Nam croissants used to be the only game in town but now suffer in comparison vs. other, better options.

Good to know about the cookies!

[shoo bee doo]

Rustica and Patisserie 46 are great. I also like those at Patisserie Margo and Patricks.

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Patisserie Margo
5133 Gus Young Ln, Minneapolis, MN 55436

[splatgirl]

My extensive research indicates it's a toss-up between Rustica and Patisserie 46. They both have their merits. Rustica=slightly better texture with a deduction for being baked too dark for my taste. Patisserie= 46 has better flavor, deduction for not as shatteringly crisp, noting this is possibly time of purchase/consumption related. A combination of both would yield my croissant nirvana.
OTOH, my homemade are better than both, but that's partly because because I don't have to drive anywhere for them :)

[mesafoodie]

Hmmmm, I REALLY like Rustica's croissant as I stated but now you've "forced" me to try Patisserie 46. Probably as soon as possible.

[Quince]

Try the croissants at Patisserie 46. I don't know if they are better than Rustica's...I think Patisserie 46 and Rustica are the two best bakeries in the Twin Cities. I can definitely vouch for the goodness of the P. 46 croissant.