Crème Bakery — Restaurant in Claremont

I was so excited to try Crème Bakery and waited in line one Saturday to get baked goods and sandwiches. The woman who appeared to be the owner or manager was very friendly and exhibited excellent customer service and the decor and atmosphere was very nice. Unfortunately, the baguettes used for the sandwiches were extremely hard and inedible. It was a shame because the ingredients were high quality and the taste was very good but the bread was simply too chewy. Our jaws were literally sore afterwards from chewing so much. I’ve eaten my share of baguette sandwiches in France but the bread was never this hard. The baked goods were good but not great and we attributed this to being on the dry side. As an avid baker who goes to great effort to turn out moist desserts, it always perplexes me as to why bakeries leave their baked goods out uncovered all day to dry out. The tops of the chocolate chip muffins were hard and the insides were dense and dry. The cookies were also hard and not moist at all. Perhaps I visited Crème Bakery on an off day and if I’d spent $30-40, I wouldn’t have been as disappointed, but for $80, my expectations were higher and...

So here is the thing. I have to be blatantly honest. This bakery has a case full of what "appear" to be beautifully baked goods, in a cute shop, in charming downtown Claremont. So what's the problem? Looks are very deceiving. The pastries were so beautiful we couldn't wait to get home and brew a cup of coffee and try each one. To our massive disappointment, none were good. We mean, none. At best, the almond croissant gets 3 of 5. I am still baffled at how pretty the baked goods compared to tasting so bland. A total of 5 adult and teen tasters, who couldn't approve of even one pastry.

The fruit tart crust to custard ratio must be improved. Frankly, it was like eating a thick piece of crust with a few pieces of fresh fruit. Just meh.

The fruit, cheese, and almond Danish pictured are just blah.... and we mean blah...

We also purchased a loaf of sourdough bread (not pictured), that was a bit stale and also lacked in flavor. $35 wasted as we threw out the baked goods.

By far, we much rather go to Some Crust Bakery. In a blind taste test, Creme Bakery would lose to Ralph's bakery....

Wow! I'm not sure why this place has such a high rating! I had a chocolate croissant. Average. I could make a better one at home. Service was laughable. I asked for a mocha with 2% milk. The cashier says, "We have non-fat milk." I say, "Do you have whole milk?" She says, "Yes." I say, "Do you think they she could mix the two, to approximate 2%." At first I thought maybe the cashier wasn't that bright, but as my visit went on, it was clear they just don't care to do anything "out-of-the-ordinary." My croissant was understandably cold, so I asked if it could be warmed up. The response was, "We don't warm things up." No apology, no explanation. Weird! Then I asked if I could have the internet password. "We don't have public internet." I think it would have blown their minds had I asked to use the bathroom. The attitude is one of "we are so perfect, we don't need to do anything different." No, the place ain't all that. P.S. The mocha, for which I had even gotten an additional shot, tasted...