Blood, sweat and croissants: Come with me to battle the infamous Lannan Bakery queue

It was early, it was brutal, but it was worth it.

6 months ago | UPDATED 6 months ago

It’s Sunday and the first day of your uni week with no lectures or sport to get up for, so who wouldn’t want a 7am, pre-sunrise start? We’ve all seen Edinburgh’s Lannan Bakery’s rise to fame on TikTok and Instagram and wondered who would bother chasing the hype. Well, I did.

Come with me as I braved the cold for a famous pastry:

07:00

The alarm, after being once snoozed, has got us out of bed, dressed and prepped and heading to the bus stop with a flask of tea (Yorkshire, obvs) and fingers crossed that gracing these chilly early hours will be worth it.

07:19

Our hearts were filled with joy on seeing the beloved 27 approach – which, for future reference, if taken to Airlie stop, not only lands you outside a beautiful house, but leaves you with only a short walk to the desired destination.

07:40

Queue spotted, we beetled over and were pleasantly surprised to be quite far forward, having arrived five minutes before the queue officially begins. Yes, the queue itself has an official opening time and special mention must here go to the man in spot number one who had brought a camping chair to aid in his efforts.

While waiting, our mouths were watering with bakery smells seeping through the shut doors and while we don’t know if this is on purpose, it must be said that this is a very, very clever marketing technique.

We watched the queue grow in tandem with the bakers dusting buns with icing sugar and carrying out other finishing touches, and the anticipation for the opening time of 8am was palpable.

08:00

The sun had risen and the doors opened. Before we knew it, it was time to decide what to get.

We, with difficulty, limited ourselves to a pick of five with the reasoning that we’d be sharing our thoughts with you and had gotten up early for an experience we were unlikely to relive. We opted for the gruyère and prosciutto croissant, pan suisse, bramble and almond slice, honey and murcia bun and cardamom bun.

We walked off to find a bench in the morning sunshine as our bellies rumbled and our wallets felt significantly emptier. However, the pricing was shockingly reasonable for Stockbridge, with all of the pastries in the £3 to £5 range and certainly good value for money.

08:25

Spot secured, we set into our feast with two of the savoury items first (#healthiswealth). These went down and absolute treat and between the two of us, we couldn’t agree on which of the cardamon bun and the gruyère/prosciutto croissant was our favourite, however, I’m the one writing the article and hence the latter is top of the list!

All the pastries were deliciously crispy out the outside and soft on the inside – a result that any home bakers amongst you will understand to be no mean feat. I would never proclaim myself an ASMR fan, but the crunch on these pastries was perhaps the closest I will ever come to understanding its appeal.

10:00

We managed to hold off the rest for after a walk through the lovely Dean Village but found the high precedent maintained with the espresso and chocolate pan suisse, super interesting and delicious honey bun, and beautifully flavoured bramble and almond pastry.

Overall, if you can face the early start and trip to Stockbridge, there is no denying that Lannan bakery is worth the hype. Not only was every single one of their items delicious, but the bakers were so friendly and smiley and they will certainly be having me back to try more! With midterms passing you’ve earned your sweet treat and you know what they say: The early bird gets the croissant.