No.192 Bavaria Bakery: A Welcome Addition to Guijie

When we talk about Guijie, what jumps to your mind? Spicy crawfish, hot and spicy hot pot, endless queues, or long bouts of streetside drinking? As the new kid on the block, No.192 Bavaria Bakery eschews all those Guijie conventions and breathes some welcome fresh air into the neighborhood. Let's just say those who live nearby will be happy to see an authentic bakery open in place of yet another hot pot joint.

The bakery is barely 3sqm, with a tiny roundtable, two stools, a counter filled with bread made on site, and one very friendly boss. Despite its small size, there's enough here to make a morning walk-by worth it for their croissants, donuts, muffins, “stone oven bread rolls,” and sesame seed rolls. Those items range in price from RMB 3.5-26, which is quite reasonable when compared to the bakeries found further east in Chaoyang.

To get a baseline reading on the bakery's quality, we started with the original croissant (RMB 16, main image). The result? A flaky and beautiful pastry with a cross-section swirl and a buttery finish. The secret? The amount of butter in the dough (a hefty 22 percent for the enthusiasts out there), the owner tells us, before humbly adding that the “dough and ingredients are all imported from Germany. So, technically I’m not a pastry chef but a porter that gets the dough, puts it in the oven, and sets the time."

The “stone oven bread roll” (RMB 3.5) is similar to a miniature sourdough baguette and would go perfectly with a lick of butter. The chocolate muffin (RMB 22), meanwhile, was heavy in chocolate flavor and peppered with big chocolate chunks. Stuffed, we didn't have room for the donuts but we'll be back soon enough. To round off your breakfast, there are also capsule coffees and teas (RMB 15-18) imported from Germany.

It may be simple but Bavaria Bakery's location in the heart of Guijie makes it a welcome anomaly and one that's open at the crack of dawn, meaning that it's sure to lure the morning commuter crowd as they mingle with the late night hot pot set.

No.192 Bavaria Bakery
Daily 6.30am-midnight. 192 Dongzhimennei Dajie, Dongcheng District (186 1819 7145)
巴伐利亚烘焙：东城区东直门内大街192号

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Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
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Photos: Tracy Wang