Gorilla Bäckerei — Restaurant in Berlin

Croissants Matter - A Friendly Challenge to Gorilla Bäckerei

I’m a strong believer in supporting local, artisanal bakeries. But with that support comes a certain expectation: that the product, especially something as foundational as a croissant, reflects care, technique, and pride.

To the owners and bakers at Gorilla Bäckerei, I say this with sincerity and zero malice: Please, go to FREA Bakery & Café and try their croissant. Not as competitors, but as fellow craftspeople. Sit with it, break it open, take a bite, and compare.

Because what FREA offers isn’t just a pastry—it’s a masterclass in lamination, fermentation, and restraint. Their croissant is crisp yet delicate, shatteringly flaky on the outside, with a beautifully aerated, honeycomb interior. It smells like cultured butter and real care. It tastes like something that took time.

In contrast, the croissant at Gorilla feels underdeveloped. It lacks depth of flavour, aroma, zero and I mean zero texture. There’s no audible crackle, no airy lift inside. It’s bland, heavy, and texturally flat, a puffed bread, gummy-centred roll wearing the costume of a croissant.

This isn’t just about one pastry. The croissant is the benchmark; if it’s not excellent, it casts a shadow over everything else behind the counter.

So this is a genuine invitation: take that FREA croissant, place it side-by-side with your own, and ask yourselves which one truly honours the craft. Not as a criticism, but as a moment of reflection. You clearly care about baking, and this city needs more great bread. But a bakery with such potential owes it to itself. and its customers, to aim higher.

Let’s not settle for "good enough" when "outstanding" is...

Great food, nice drinks, and friendly staff! With organic sourcing of their ingredients and SUPER fresh baked goods, we had a delightful breakfast. We had their zucchini, focaccia and marguerita pizza which super fresh and tasty. My zucchini dish had a fresh burrata on top that together with a very nice seasoning mix made this apparently simple dish mouth watering. We finished off on a high sharing their famous Kouign-amman which was perfect! The traditionally sweet with a pinch of salt pastry, whose crunchiness would be the live of the ASMR lovers. Definitely a must try trying it when visiting!

Despite being very busy (we went on a Saturday around 10am) the staff was dynamic and kind when getting the orders and making suggestions for food.

The space is very minimalistic and not very big, which makes seating limited. During our visit, tables rotated quite often, with most customers taking the goods “to-go”. As we visited in summer, is good to ponder that the rotation might be slower in colder seasons, as the indoor tables are few. So if seating is essential, make sure to plan for an earlier arrival...

My favorite bakery in the city. I live close by since last year and have been coming here at least once per week. It’s definitely a treat if you consider the prices, but the bread is extremely good and big, the sweet treats are incredible. I am obsessed with their almond, pistachio and vanilla (during summer, currently not available) croissants 🥐 and the brioche with a whole egg, cheese and ham is delicious, especially when the egg is still kind of runny, which is not always the case unfortunately. Sometimes there is a big queue and I feel the order system is a bit inefficient. Not much space to sit down inside, self service only, but nice staff. During summer the outside seating is nice. But I usually get everything to go. All in all, I’m hooked and can highly...