"It was such a joy to discover this place! The fresh bread selection and the carefully crafted pastries are truly delicious. The chausson aux pommes and fresh fruit pastry were my favorites — both looked and tasted amazing. The atmosphere is warm and inviting, and the presentation of the products is beautiful and appetizing. Thanks to everyone who puts so much care into this bakery. I’ll definitely be coming back!"

"I ordered a dozen mini raspberry rolls. When I picked them up I was told there was a problem with the order and two rolls didn’t turn out. They offered me 2 mini pecan rolls as a replacement which I accepted. Imagine my surprise when I got home and opened the box of raspberry rolls to see 6 mini rolls!! Some were hooked together so they counted them as TWO rolls, despite each side being no bigger than your thumb nail! Yes I did receive 2 decent size pecan rolls, but this order was pitiful for $24!! This is no way to treat customers and I will not be coming back!"

"Ordered online for pick up since I was tight on time. When I arrived, they said they no longer had what I had ordered online on the menu, despite it being on the wall and also still listed to be ordered online. I got a comparable sandwich and then proceeded to wait for 10+ min and was not prioritized. Here is my sandwich thrown into a bag. I will not be coming back here. Sandwich itself is above average, but not worth the stress of being late."

"Saffron and butter risotto Milanese savored in the golden hour glow of Lago di Como. Perfectly fried seafood jalea, ocean fresh ceviche and crunchy, golden yucca the reward for a long journey through Lima's grittier barrios. Memorable experiences, but not surprising. Not like the fact that some of the best French pâtisserie can be found right here on the wild frontier, a block from Lake Washington. With the superb Madison Park Bakery within a frisbee toss of home, I have an excellent reason NOT to sit on a plane for 12 hours en route to Paris. With pastry this good, why budge from Mad Park? Now let me zoom out a bit... My recent "discovery" of the Madison Park Bakery must be a karmic pay-back for maintaining such low cholesterol and triglycerides for decades... And as D.H. Lawrence ends a famous poem, I too "have something to expiate, a pettiness." Meaning assumptions way off the mark: the few times, years ago, I bothered to peer into MPB's hazy window (I could only make out a few lurid cupcakes and frosted cookies), I assumed this bakery was of the stale 1950s relic variety. So never did I cross the threshold during my first 14+ years residing in MP. Even though I'm close enough when I crack open a window, I can catch a waft of the yeasty ovens. I can't speak for what this bakery used to be, though judging from others' reviews, the MPB has changed mightily since new owners came along a couple years ago. That's a long time to have unknowingly deprived myself of Provençal baker Cecilia Lystad's exquisite almond croissant and her other decadent pieces-de-resistance, including her crème brûlée croissant and Basque cheesecake. You will need to muster up supernatural self-discipline to refrain from finishing this chef's masterful confections in one sitting. They are that good, my fellow gourmands and goinfres! Always a fan of competition between virtuosi (think Messi vs. Ronaldo), I recently pitted MPB's almond croissant against one baked by that Colossus by the Bay, San Francisco's world-renown Tartine Bakery. The result was like Lionel blasting home a penalty kick with my grandma (RIP) defending the goal. While Tartine's almond croissant was uninspiring, even stodgy, nothing lifting it above the quality of say, the kind of croissant baked who-knows-when that you might find at Oakland Airport (we feel for you, Oakland!) while waiting for a redeye flight delayed indefinitely, MPB's almond croissant exemplified the magnificent, everything about it 5-star: the crisp, flaky crust, the interior a master class in light-yet-filling butteryness, and the almond filling generous and redolent of fresh, hand-ground almonds. Take that, Tartine! At $6.50+ including tax, think of MPB's almond croissant less as a mere pastry, and more like an investment in your culinary education—so if you're fortunate enough to later taste-test Paris's best offerings, you'll have a very high standard by which to judge. Though you might want to just save the airfare and instead invest those $$$ in furthering your education right here in Madness Park, proceeding to MPB's crazy-good crème brûlée croissant invention. They were long gone by midday when the lovely staff member Marie first brought them to my attention, so I strategically crow-barred myself out of bed at 6:45 the following Saturday morning and just barely beat out MPB's loyal line-up of crack-of-dawn pastry zombies...and to my delight snagged one of these coveted treasures. A cylinder of crisp croissant perfection topped with, yes, a deep, diet-crushing skating pond of eggy, custardy crème brûlée, complete with torched brown sugar glassy top. As your unofficial lipid guardian, I challenge you to halt when you've inhaled just half of Chef Cecilia's crème brûlée croissant. Sharing is a virtue. Bon chance! PS: I've barely begun to indulge in MPB's many tempting choices. My understanding is that the chef is always experimenting with interesting twists on French classics, so I'm sure as a gourmand/goinfre/gastropod-in-training I'll find much to enjoy—I need to make up for lost time!"

"This cute little neighborhood spot is a must-visit! I grabbed a couple of sandwiches to-go while I was in the area, and both of them were absolutely delicious. They’re huge, so we split them between two people. I can’t wait to come back and try more of their menu items."