Grain and Hearth Bakery in Canterbury

A beautiful but undecided morning. Do I jump a train to Faversham or a bus to Canterbury? Bus won till the app informed me it was going to be twenty minutes late! A bimble through Whitstable found me, face pressed on the window of Grain & Hearth, listening to the temptations shouting “me, me; buy me” Cruffin, cinnamon bun and a large croissant loaf (small were all gone) later, I headed home to sit in the sun, read and enjoy this morning’s spoils with my wife. Get there early. Grab something that takes your fancy and work the calories off by running away from people who expect you to share 🤭

Sadly a great disappointment, where to start and I am not a serial complainer At the counter overcharged for a product that was not ordered and not on the menu, in response a young lady rapidly organised a refund. Waited a really long time for food but in the meantime had a mini coffee and I do not mean Espresso, what £3 really poor coffee. When the food arrived no cutlery available, being washed, eventually arrived 5 mins later still dirty. Sadly a disappointing visit, the cafe was unclean, the staff scruffy with attitude, toilets needed a good scrub. Sometimes the name is not sufficient, however those who wish to be seen will provide custom, for me sorry plate of whelks next time.

I’d seen lots of people posting photos of their food when visiting this bakery and it always looks so good so we thought we’d try. It did not disappoint. It was a hot summer day so we sat outside. There is a quiet feel to the bakery despite there being a constant flow of customers. I had the peach and mascarpone cruffin and it was one of the best things I’ve eaten in a bakery. I would definitely return.

Don't moan about the price - this is some of the best sourdough you'll find - and it's labour intensive process. The cruffins are also incredibly good. It's a top end product lovingly prepared - be thankful you've had the opportunity to enjoy it. Unfortunately I don't live locally, but if I did it would absolutely be a regular haunt. Inspiring! Now I'm off home to work my sourdough skills...

£7.50 for two eggs is nothing short off outrageous. Don't accept cash for payment but will happily accept it in their tip jar. Cup of tea in a mug without a handle. So it's too hot to touch. And no word of a lie the teabag in my mug was the size of an A6 piece of paper. Not even kidding, impressive because it looked fancy and artesian as f*ck and that's obviously the vibe their striving for - until you remove the teabag from the mug and your actually left with half a cup of tea now. No room to move in the seating area, asked if we were eating in and we said yes presuming their was tables a plenty - but no. We got our orders and had to eat standing up outside. I swear there was a dog sat on a chair inside laughing at us. If you wear a vans beanie and own anything with a carhartt logo on get yourself down here you'll love it!!!

Grain and Hearth in Whitstable is an absolute gem of a bakery that we stumbled upon during one of our walks, and it has become a regular haunt for us ever since. The consistently outstanding quality of their bakes and coffee has left us in awe, and it's remarkable how they manage to elevate their delicious treats with each visit. One thing that has impressed us is the continuous expansion of their selection. With every visit, we find ourselves trying to sample more of their delectable offerings. The addition of labels on all items is a thoughtful touch, although it doesn't make the task of selecting just a few items any easier! We're so dedicated to Grain and Hearth that we travel all the way from Essex to savor their delights. As bakery enthusiasts, we can confidently say that Grain and Hearth ranks among the best. Their commitment to excellence shines through, and we have yet to encounter a bake that falls short of our high expectations. Among our favorites are the cruffins and fruit Danish – absolute must-tries! And don't forget to grab a loaf of their bread to take home; it's a guarantee that you won't be disappointed. Lastly, we must commend the cheerful and helpful staff at Grain and Hearth. Their warm and welcoming service adds to the overall wonderful experience of visiting this exceptional bakery. We can't recommend Grain and Hearth enough, and it's a true delight for anyone with a passion for baked goods and a warm, inviting atmosphere.

Having seen the people queuing outside since it opened some time ago now and thinking, yes the DFL’s need another poncy bakery to feed rock hard sourdough to little Tarquin and Tabatha while looking for another property to add to their portfolio. This morning I took the plunge (queue was about 6 people) and bought a sourdough baguette, a cruffin of some description and a fancy Belgium bun. Well the DFL’s have been bloody fortunate if they have ventured into this place. Softest ever sourdough baguette, with such a wonderful taste it was sacrilege to slam dry cured bacon and slather it in Daddies sauce, but I did it anyway! Then, to finish off breakfast back in our garden I ate my cruffin. Oh my God, delicious or what? So no, they don’t sell Hovis or Scotch Rolls, but if what I had this morning is anything to go by, I’m going to be their new regular, and slowly work my way through the pastries.

The bakery is lovely, best pain o'raisin I have had in ages, coffee was good too. The letdown is the communication. I stood for 5 minutes in the wrong queue (coffee pick up, not ordering). There were no signs and the girl behind the counter just kept serving other people. Eventually I had to ask if I was in the wrong queue and only then did she say yes. I then asked if I could order breakfast but was told not until 10am. After I ordered coffee and pastry I witnessed another staff member going over to a table of 4 men and taking their breakfast order! Way before the 10am. A shame as the items I sampled were tasty, I wouldn't go back due to the poor service though.

…once you’ve had one of their almond croissants, you’ll question what the point of the rest of your life is. I can’t keep away.

Amazing homemade bread and cakes. Retro bakery Nice staff Wonderful garden Nice building You can watch your bread be made

We actually visited 4 times in a week! The bread is amazing, the cakes and bacon sandwiches were all lovely. Best coffee ever served in the cafe. Staff were so unhurried and friendly.

It had been raining this day…. As ever, I waited in the queue, bought bread and had coffee and one of their fab pastries… Staff were not quite as rude as last time I visited but still a little curt…. As I sat with my coffee I watched the never ending queue go by…. A man came in with his wet dog which shook itself covering the bread and everything in the vicinity ( mostly the bread in the window) with wet dog water (who knows what the dog had been rolling in previously)…. I pointed this out to the staff who were less than interested and looked at me as if there was something wrong with me… Am I the A-hole? I left thinking that it would be the last time I bought bread in there again….. about three weeks later I relented (because the food is so good) and I went for coffee and breakfast (no bread tho)…. The queue was about 20 people long so I went elsewhere….! I’m not going to bother again…. I’ll leave the wet dog and grubby fingers covered bread and rude staff to others….. shame, great food, sloppy housekeeping….

Visited with my daughter and her family. I’m a local, they had travelled 250moles to visit. We knew it was shut on Monday so we were excited to go for breakfast on Tuesday…. What a disappointment but to make it worse, the staff were so condescending. We don’t bake on Tuesdays she said with an attitude like we should have known that….. they had a few doughnuts and a couple of Croissants (9:30am)… I ordered coffee but they weren’t ready to serve anything from the breakfast menu and told us that breakfast didn’t start till 9:30 ( it was 9:28) we said that we’d order and have our coffee whilst we waited “we can’t do that, the system won’t allow us to pre order so you’ll have to come back in a few minutes”. We went to our table with drinks…. 5 minutes later we had to queue again for 10 minutes to order a breakfast sandwich… at this point they had sold out of doughnuts and the meagrer pastries they had left….. The staff attitude stank and although we love the pastries, we’re in no rush to come back…. So beware everybody, Cronuts not available on Mondays and Tuesdays and prepare to be spoken down to if you ask for one….

We love this place, following numerous visits! Absolutely recommend the sausage rolls in particular - no wonder there’s often a queue here in the mornings, this place is wonderful!

Visiting for the weekend and was taken by my host too all the best spots - I think this is probably the best bakery I've ever been to. Lucky people who can call this a local bakery!

Simply delicious bakery, Their pain au chocolat is very tasty and the atmosphere is great for breakfast / brunch. The highlight you need to taste is cruffin. My wife says it's the best pastry she ate in England. Although I don't agree with that statement. it was indeed very good, and I'll go back next time I visit the area.

Amazing bakery. Went in for a sourdough loaf and cruffins (one rhubarb cheesecake, one chocolate and vanilla) on the Friday morning. Was so good. While I was there they had a menu up for burger night which we also had as takeaway. We are staying in the Airbnb next door so really handy but seemed like there was a great atmosphere in there. And also, the staff are all lovely. Our Airbnb's wifi was down and I had messaged them asking if I could use theirs (I hadn't even been in) and Carmen sent it over straight away. For both visits the staff were great. I'm sad to only be here a couple of days and not have the bakery on my doorstep but I'll also not balloon to twenty stone having over an hour drive between us, but I'll most definitely be back.

Grain and hearth is the best bakery / cafe I’ve ever had the pleasure to find. There coffee is a taste sensation and don’t get me started on their cakes and sourdough bread. I would highly recommend this place to anyone in the area. The staff were very warm and welcoming and nothing was to much trouble. The premises was well done out and had a great atmosphere. We have just got back from their burger night and I can say it was the best burger I have ever eaten. The owners and staff should be very proud of a great business. Well done all. We are already planning our next trip to Grain and Hearth with friends.

Was so excited to visit for burger Tuesday after seeing so many social media posts of yummy burgers….in reality we ordered our food and coffees and had to wait about 40 minutes for our burger which was not seasoned and very average (tasted just like minced beef and nothing else!), the rosemary chips had no rosemary and where like McDonald’s chips and cold coffees. We were not offered cutlery, sauces or napkins. We eat out a lot as a group and we’re all very disappointed. Sorry to write this as wanted to love it.

Dropped dogs of at Groomers across the road. My wife was waiting with them so coffee and cake for me. I've had bread from here and was great. Ordered latte and then saw huge square cinnamon buns on a tray, asked if they had butter yes was the answer so one of them for me. Bun sliced and buttered great bread topping not to sweet. Only mark down was the butter bit bland. Definitely back to have some bread and other cakes. Dogs allowed on a lead.

I'm sure they would try to explain this as a customer not understanding how sourdough should be, but the bread, ALL of the bread, was over baked to the point of being burnt. The surface of the loaves was blistered and very dark brown. It...

My wife and I ate in here today. Very friendly staff with a good atmosphere. We both had egg and cress sourdough rolls which were delicious. We shared a cinnamon roll for dessert. All extremely tasty. I really don’t understand why people eat in some...

Very tasty muffin croissant (still have the sausage roll to go!) and friendly service but a bit over priced considering the location. £9 for sausage roll and muffin croissant. I would consider that London prices.

Lovely, friendly staff. Amazing food in a lovely setting. Could not recommend more highly. Definitely worth a visit!

Beautiful little bakery with indoor & outdoor seating. All of their food is good but I really recommend their 'Cruffins' (croissant-muffin). You can eat in or takeaway and you can even place orders for collection. Grain & Hearth offer different kinds of baking workshops, too....

Regular customer. My freezer always has grain and hearth bread ready for toast and honey for breakfast. Great customer service.

Just completed an "Introduction to Sourdough Baking" workshop with Adam Pagor ... brilliant. By the end of the day we had all - Learned how to create, and maintain, a Sourdough Starter - Learned the difference between a Starter and a Leaven - Baked some...

Not to take away from the fact that the bread is delicious but also London priced, they will no longer have my custom for their bad attitude and the fact of having to play with the food for the sake of a social media impression....

They used to make the sandwiches to order and they were good, now they are prepared in advance the standards have slipped. Sandwich consisted of very thick and stodgy bread, streaky bacon was almost entirely fat and the sandwich was soggy inside, definitely wasn’t fresh.

3rd visit to Grain and Hearth, first visit since lockdown. The freshly baked bread and pastries, and their bespoke coffee are superb and full of flavour. We also treated ourselves to some delicious small batch artisan Ampers&nd butter. Feel very lucky to have this as...

We visited a couple of days ago, and while yes there can be a queue, it moves fast and is worth the wait! We had a grilled cheese sandwich with 3 cheeses, and 1 vanilla and chocolate cruffin - all were super delicious and we...

They do produce excellent bread here,the wild sourdough loaf is delicious but after a lengthy wait in line the server was brusque & appeared begrudging that I only wanted a loaf.Literally left a sour taste.

Really is the best bread and when I thought it couldn’t get any better they’ve just started selling delicious cakes too!

You lucky Whistable’ers, you all get to enjoy the very best best in baked goodies on a regular basis, all beautifully and lovingly prepared, and right on your doorstep. I was only passing through, but what a bounty....that bread, those croissants and Wow...those cruffins are...

G&H is the perfect spot for a bakery. Lots of outside space and seating, and filled with lovely plants. The coffee is great, especially the ‘dirty chai’ and the bread and pastries are incredible. Staff are really friendly and great with kids.

I really can't say enough good things about this spot. I wrote a glowing review on Google at the start of the year, but felt it necessary to write another here now too. Grain and Hearth have always created beautiful and really unique bits, sweet...

Finally!! A proper bakery in Whitstable. Sensational sourdough and treats to die for - try everything. Favourites include Jamaican patties, cinnamon buns, croissants and ALL the sandwiches. Always excellent service. A real highlight in Whitstable.

We have loved coming to Grain and Hearth since it opened. The vienoisseries are some of the best I have ever tasted since I lived in France. And the chocolate brownies... Oh My Gosh ! Mahousive, moist and amazing. I see some reviewers complain the...

There’s nothing else like this around, the G&H crew make insanely good stuff to eat. Grab a cruffin and a coffee and settle down for a real treat. And don’t forget to take a loaf of sourdough home with you.

The team here take baking to another level. Phenomenal bread, stunning sweet pastries (the cruffins are insane) and mind blowing savouries too. Don't miss out on this little gem. (Great coffee too)

The bread from this place is available at the Macknade shop in Faversham but as Whitstable is closer to home I thought I'd check out the shop. I checked their website and the queue avoiding "grab a loaf and go" option sounded great. Reality was...

This place can be really good or rather awkward, depending on who's serving. Since having two awkward visits in a row, I now only go if the person I'm with suggests it. Shame really, because their bread is very good.

In pursuit of sourdough perfection and a feast for the eyes and the palette. This bakery coffee shop is an aesthetic delight. Not to be missed

The Grain and Hearth is truly a gem and fits in great in the quaint Banksy elevated sea village of Whitstable. You can go there to buy some bread - yes, just for that -, or you can go there to have a coffee and...

This is and I mean IS THE ONLY ARTISAN SOURDOUGH BREAD in Whitstable and in fact all of Kent. Would also love if you included Tortano bread at your beautiful bakery. I rely on this bakery because I love fondues and having proper Artisan bread...

This place was such a gem to stumble on. The bread is on par with some of the best bread I've had anywhere, including in France. True, artisan with perfect crustiness on outside. Made our stay in Whitstable all the better!

The sort of place that you can walk past and don't notice it's there, thankfully we were given directions from the waitress at Samphire restaurant. Some of the best breads and pastries ever found this side of the UK. Have to try the coffee next...

Coffee is perfect. Pastries are delicious. Bread is first rate-so tasty. Slight negative was that some of the customers ought to better parent their little darlings e.g, prevent standing on stools and benches that other customers will later sit upon.

I visit Grain and Hearth regularly and it’s always delicious! The sandwiches are packed full in their delicious sour dough and the pastries are great, it’s hard to choose which ones to go for! The staff are welcoming, buggies and all, and the place itself,...

I am alway coming back in here for they BLT sandwiches either to take away or have in I absolutely love them and so does my family. The coffee is amazing too and has an alternative milk, which is great. The only thing I wish...

Awesome croissants, bread, custard tart. Best bakery I’ve been to in years. And great value for kids watching the bakers at work, and they are very obliging about being observed!

Really good coffee and tasty “bear claw” pastry. Would recommend both when passing. The backyard / Courtyard is in DESPERATE need of a tidy. There is distressed shabby chic and just shabby. Water the plants at least! Staff didn’t seem all that welcoming. They sell...

This is a newly opened business and is open Wednesday t Sunday each week. They sell bread, and pastries baked on the premises, and the aromas from the bakery are lovely. The pastries make a lovely dessert when you have friends to lunch and you...

Fantastic little hidden gem in Whitstable. Don't judge by outside cover, looks like some backyard garage but as you walk through gates the delicious aromas of fresh bakery is like a virtual hug of happiness! Coffee is very good but the BLT sourdough sandwich is...

A family of 4 visit on a rainy day and although the toasted sandwiches are expensive (£7.50 for a chicken and Pesto) they were delicious. On the day we visited there were no cakes or chocolates for sale, but good bread. We found the service...

Not sure I need to say more. Not only ‘another’ coffee shop in Whitstable but one that clearly isn’t looking for local loyalty

Been in here a couple of times now and the sandwiches are fantastic had the BLT in sourdough bread is gorgeous, the pastries look just as good . And they bake all there own bread you can buy as well. It’s just of the high...

Lovely cafe tucked in a quiet spot. Set back from pavement past the Red Cross charity shop. Sat outside in sunshine amongst plants imaginatively potted in coffee bags and old kitchenware. The vegan sandwiches of spicy cauliflower chickpeas and slaw on big chunky slices of...

Popped in to grab a bit of breakfast, lovely open feel with the bakers hard at work behind the counter and wonderful smells of fresh baking in the air. Rows of freshly baked croissants and pain au chocolat as well as rustic looking breads of...