Nope just sugar. The darker spots were awesome crispy edges.
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Dropped by Mr. Holmes Bakehouse at Highland Park before work.
Regular & Churros Croissant
On this morning, the crust if quite flaky since I got there at 8:45 but it doesn’t taste as buttery as I would like
Creamy custard filling and cross between croissant and churro. A bit one noted after a few bites due to the sweetness.
So much of how flaky a croissant is depends on the amount of time it spends out of the oven. It’s hard to compare croissants unless we consume them right out of the oven IMO.
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ermagod guys, Lou the French on the Block is on absolute fire right now - the almond croissant I had this morning was insane.
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Ugh, was in Burbank yesterday for a movie. Will have to try next time.
@Chowseeker1999 Have you had the chance to try the croissant at Konbi in Echo Park?
Looks like they are baking them in house.
I live closeby but have not tried any of their baked goods yet. I’m interested in hearing you thoughts.
I did try the egg salad sandwich. It was not good. The bread was tough and lacked the softness that I find crucial to the Japanese egg salad sando that they are paying homage to. Hopefully I just got a sandwich with day-old bread. However, at $8+tax it will be difficult for me to give that sandwich another chance.
I completely get what you’re saying, but the Konbi version (photo below is from my writeup) involves toasting the bread nicely. Maybe the bread quality is just not up to snuff here in L.A., so the crew had to improvise. Nonetheless, I thought the overall sandwich was tasty in its own merits.
@J_L I had the Egg Salad Sandwich, not the Layered Omelette Sandwich pictured above.
Picture of Egg Salad Sando from Yelp:
Ah, I see now. Thanks for the clarification. Sorry the bread there wasn’t so great. That does look a bit sad.
Gotta try those!
Here’s my Journey within the past week:
Proof Bakery - 12:30PM Visit
Brioche
Light, airy, buttery
Almond Croissant
Quite buttery and flaky on the outside and especially so on the edges…creamy custardy almond paste in the center with just the right touch of sweetness.
Pain au Chocolat
Crazy flaky exterior but lacking a bit of structure in the center since it’s completely empty. Almost perfect!
Apple Hand Pie
Decently flaky crust and a touch too sweet. Triple Beam is where you need to go for a perfect rendition!
Chaumont - 10:30AM Visit
Croissant
Lightly flaky on the outside but decadently buttery and plenty of soft and pillowy honeycomb air pockets in the center.
Almond Croissant
Good flavor and especially so with the sweet almond paste but the bottom half of the pastry was overly wet and soggy. Unacceptable!
Pain au Chocolat
Again, lightly flaky with plenty of layers. Best of all, it’s got just the right amount of melty chocolate in the center.
Dominique Ansel at The Grove - 11:30AM Visit
Croissant
Looks great with the soft buttery center but there is only minimal flakiness on the outside. Did we come too late at 11:30AM??
Kouign Amann
Maybe we did come too late? It’s lightly salty sweet but it’s only got a decent crunch on the outside unlike the one we had at their NYC flahship which was a revelation in terms of texture. Still tasted great though.
Pain au Chocolat
Looks fantastic in the airy center with chunks of half melted chocolate but not a lot of flaky layers on the outside.
Cronut with cherry jam, caramelia ganache, cocoa nib sugar
The OG of the croissant/donut hybrid. It’s a layered donut with a bit of exterior crunch. The combination of cherry jam and ganache made it too sweet for my taste though.
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Nice report back @moonboy403. 
And it was great you did a nice cross-section on all of them. Glad you liked Chaumont’s Plain and Chocolate Croissants. Bummer about the Almond though; we’ve never run into a soggy bottom before.
For 189 by Dominique Ansel, yah we are not fans of their Croissants; we had a similar experience to you. Not even close to Chaumont or Arsicault (or other good-to-very-good places around L.A.).
Definitely bummed out by Dominique Ansel’s croissant. Just looking at the cross section though, they definitely have the best looking one.
I might hit up Mr Holmes tomorrow morning since my few visits there were always positive.
Mr Holmes Bakehouse (Highland Park) - 8:00AM Visit
Croissant - sexy looking
There are quite a few laminated layers but crunch/flakiness level is in between Chaumont and Dominque Ansel. The decent looking interior is more doughy and dry than both places. Flavorwise, it’s lacking that rich buttery goodness that I crave at Chaumont. Perhaps because Mr Holmes switched from the highly regarded Isigny butter from Normandy, France to Plugra butter made in the states?
Pain au Chocolate
Sadly, as you can probably tell from the picture, the center is a bit dry and lacking defined air pockets which makes the interior doughy.
Tartine - The Market (Los Angeles) - 8:50AM Visit
Croissant - gorgeous af
I have to admit, this croissant is beautiful looking with many laminated layers. The verdict? It’s flake city so I left a mess on the table. The center isn’t as light and airy as Dominique Ansel’s and neither is it as delicate as Chaumont’s texture wise (even though Tartine’s has more air pockets). Flavor? Chaumont still has the best buttery flavor. Maybe Tartine’s Oregon butter just ain’t as good as Isigny butter either?
Pain au Chocolate
Flake city again with tons of melty Valrhona chocolate. As you can probably tell though, the dough in the center are thicker than that of Dominque Ansel’s and Chaumont’s so it’s not as light and airy as the other two. Nonetheless, it’s still fantastic.
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I just feel like croissants are one of those things that need to be eaten fresh, preferably straight out of the oven.
Sort of like yiaotou or egg tarts.
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Some years ago when we were in Paris we discovered that the bakeries morning didn’t start a early as ours. In order to have a croissants when we wanted it, we had to get the day before. Less than ideal for sure.
Nice report back @moonboy403. I still haven’t made it to Mr. Holmes yet, because its initial claim to fame seemed too gimmicky. But good to know where they fall in the spectrum. Thanks.
If you are on the Westside. Super Domestic Coffee in Culver City across from Sony carries Mr. Holmes which they pick up every morning including their Matcha Croissant. I agree with @moonboy403 in that it doesn’t quite hit the buttery notes that Proof or Chaumont but it is buttery and WAY better than most other Croissants in the area, but FAR.
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