The Flat Baker in Manchester

I heard about this bakery from TikTok food bloggers. However, the experience was not good. I got a hot chocolate, a pastel de nata, and a cinnamon swirl. The hot chocolate was the tiniest hot chocolate I’ve ever been served. Like minuscule. Tre pastel de nata pastry was really hard and there was way too much custard in it. Sickly sweet and cloying. Also, the top was over torched and just burned. The cinnamon swirl, I’m not even going to start. Just no. I hate food waste and I still dumped it after two bites.

I have got to be honest and having read the long list of 5* reviews I see that the majority are for the sweet pastries. I have previously visited and had the sweet croissant and it was great, but this time I had a sausage roll and a cheese croissant. I saw that American guy on tv and he gave such a rave review on the sausage roll that I had to try it. The flaky pastry was good but there’s far too much of it compared to the meat content, but the meat wasn’t as good as others I’ve tried either. 1st and last time for that. The cheese croissant was just plain and bland, not having another of those either. Finished with a Nutella muffin which was great, it deserves 5* on its own but have to knock the rating down for the savouries.

They have incredibly delicious pastries, the people who work there are SO nice and they work reaaalllyyy hard to do the best service possible! They create some amazing sweets and original pieces!

Wanted to try everything when we got to the window after around a 20 minute queue. Settled for the pistachio croissant, a cronut, the speciality passionfruit supreme and one of the Brazilian cheese balls. Everything was really good, my favourite had to be the passionfruit supreme and my husband loved the cronut!

This used to be a good baker, and their pastries were incredible but at some point something changes and I stopped liking some of them. I shared my feedback with the business, and I was attacked on social media and accused to be a “hater”. Eventually, they told me they don’t have time to waste with customers and that I wasn’t welcome. I think that customer service is equally important than what they sell, and when a business lowers the quality of their food, and disrespects customers should probably ask themselves if they’ve chosen the right career. Ultimately, baking should be a passion aimed to please customers. But if customers are perceived as a burden to make money from, well…