T55 Pâtisserie — Restaurant in Bothell

I can remember when T55 originally opened up in ID. The pastries are as delicious as their original location 🩵. When they relocated to Bothell, we waited a few months before making a visit. It is super busy. Like previous reviews the lines are long. I do find it very funny that the reviews suggest the owner should find a better system when packaging up the pastries. There could be a better system, but I find it hard to believe a display case as wide as theirs, allows for 3 people to view while waiting to be next in line to order. By the time you get up to the register one would think you would already know what you want.

Our observation while waiting to get to the display after all that time meandering in front of the case, there are customers who still can't decide what to get. The lady in front of us took 8 minutes to slowly decide, because it was that difficult. Plenty of customers took their time asking questions like, "is there butter in your pastries? Is there butter in the brioche?" If one simply does not want butter in their pastries, please don't hold up the line and find a vegan baker. There was also that one person that needed to know every ingredient in the pastry, when it clearly is written on the cards.

I don't believe the service is slow, rather folks should be considerate when placing an order. If you really can't decide what to get, please step aside and let the rest of us order. It was a grueling process watching indecisive people hold up the line.

As for the pastries we ordered the S'mores Tart, Blackberry Financier and the Gibassier. The Blackberry Financier has a bold blackberry flavor underneath the mixture of nuts. The cake itself is fluffy and the taste of sweetness balances out the tart and fruity textures. This cake is phenomenal. The S'mores Tart is a different take on the graham cracker and marshmallow campfire treat. Don't expect any chocolate gooey flavor, but more of a thick coating of caramel underneath the marshmallow. It's a unique concept, which is not overly sweet. The Gibassier is a favorite. It's such a sweet and soft pastry with fennel and orange. Sounds strange, but unbelievably a great concoction.

We plan to return again, but if you are not from the area, be advised the parking can be ridiculous, especially here on the weekend. Get here early to get the best pick...

TL;DR; Very inefficient at serving customers (3-4 minutes per client), wait line 60+ minutes. Pastries are OK, but they might sold out before you get to the checkout.

I've been to T55 Pâtisserie three times now, and each time the wait time was ridiculously long (60+ minutes each time) and two out of those three times I was too late to get the one pastry I wanted, as it got sold out. On the other hand I did luck out on a fresh batch of croissants the other time, just because I was standing in line for so long.

There's only single cashier checkout stand, and the same person who bills you packs the pastries, leading to long wait times. They have a nice welcoming small talk, but that adds even more time to the service per person. People end up buying 4+ pastries at the time, because after waiting for over an hour that's the only reasonable thing to do to somehow justify the long wait time. That obviously adds to the time per customer and increases the odds of pastries you wanted to be sold out. Adding another cashier or having someone help pack pastries might help with this. Happy to revisit this review if this situation ever improves.

Also: if there is no line outside, then they are probably sold out and left with whiskey truffles - seems like the least popular item xD

Things I tried: Focaccia is very good savory option. The Brioche was nice too, it's more sweet with the apple's on top. Hojicha Tart - always disappointed - it looks pretty, but the taste is very artificial in my opinion (tried matcha and strawberry variants) Choux - fun cream filled pastry, not too sweet Double chocolate hazelnut cookie - decent cookie for the price Almond cake - very good French croissant - they are freshly made and are really buttery smooth, but for almost $5 per piece seems a bit too pricy. Try it once probably, but not your everyday croissant otherwise. Kouign-Amann - prefer that over the...

Stopped by this place to see if the hype was justified. I arrived on a Sunday nearly half an hour before the bakery opened and there were already a dozen people waiting outside.

The bakery offers no seating and has a French boutique milieu with sundry cookware, spices, and bags of coffee beans lining the isle for perusal as you approach the counter. Although you can order drinks separateIy while in line, the wait for pastries is painfully long; it took me nearly an hour to pay and receive my order. Don’t be surprised to find the cashier making small talk with regular customers while the line extends well outside the entrance, contributing to the long wait.

I tried the orange sesame magdalene, the whisky truffle, chocolate brioche and crab curry scone.

The magdalene texture was wonderfully fluffy and the sugar icing was equally good, but the sesame overpowered the orange. It would have been an excellent pastry if the flavor ratio was inverted.

The truffle was not as boozy as expected, too soft (it was closer to a ganache than a chocolate ball), and more bitter than sweet. Overall disappointing.

The chocolate brioche was also quite good, particularly with the liquid center which balanced the slight dryness of the bread, but the crumble topping was a touch too salty. 4.5/5.

Finally, the scone was the best of all 4 options. The cheese, crab, and curry flavors were all distinct and well balanced. The crumb was soft, spongy and airy. Yum.

I did not order a drink, but the quality and sophistication of the pastries here is undoubtedly higher than most bakeries in the Seattle area. However, I would stop short of saying T55 will blow you away. Prices for the coffee and pastries are reasonable, but overall probably not worth...