Otway Bakery — Restaurant in New York

Great food is not only food but the experience and atmosphere. I have to give it one star in place of the five star because the counter staff leave a bad taste in my mouth over and over again. I’ve been going to Otway for years. When they we’re selling pastries out the window during the pandemic it was great to have such awesome pastries at your disposal so when they opened up the bakery I was really excited but as the lines grew the staff seems to be less and less enthusiastic about selling you a $6 pastry. I travel all over Brooklyn for a great croissant and Otway does a great croissant but they also have a lot of attitude along with it. They also automatically add an 15 or 18% tip to your order if you don’t realize it. I don’t know if many places that do this and I also find obnoxious because sometimes you don’t feel like adding $4 tip for a guy putting four pastries in a bag. I mean Is it too much to ask for a smile or a thank you after spending $26 on 4 pasties? It’s funny to see the entire neighborhood is covered with murals of biggie because he lived down the block and then you find a bakery with a long line of predominantly young white urban professionals on their phones in Birkenstock’s being snubbed by a 26 year guy with a beard and glasses selling you a Cardamon bun. I go back to Otway because I like good pastries but I’m reluctant to go there more because every time I do it reinforces my belief that they do not have nice people working the counter. I guess I’ll travel back to L'imprimerie for Croissants with some authentic French attitude...

Obviously, the pastries here are amazing. I had a tomato ricotta danish that was simply dressed with salt and pepper and olive oil. Really awesome and I'm not a danish person, even less so a savory danish person.

Patisserie/pastry + bread bakeries usually have cookies that are kind of there as an afterthought. Even so, I always try them because I like to know where the best chocolate chip cookies are.

I was kind of taken aback by how amazing the chocolate chip cookie at Otway Bakery was? There was a nuttiness that indicated it wasn't made with all white flour, maybe whole wheat, spelt, or rye. Whatever it was, it was delicious, soft, chewy, thicc, and finished with the perfect amount of sea salt (a lot of bakeries have become aggressive with the sea salt these days!). It's a top tier cookie that ranks with the best in New York City - your Levain's, Seven Grams, Maman, etc.

Lastly. I've been meaning to try this bakery for a minute but was kind of put off by the reviews mentioning bad service. I went in on a Monday between 9 and 10 a.m. I didn't experience any rudeness or impatience from the staff. It was busy but not more than a 10-15 minute wait to order. I say this not to discount other people's experiences, but to say I think it depends on when you go and who happens...

The Verdict: It is a blessing to have a fantastic bakery in the neighborhood that churns out a good variety of baked goods that are (in my limited residency) best in NYC.

The Highlights: The plain croissant is impeccable. It has a nice, thin, crunchy shell with moist, chewy layers inside. The amount of butter is just perfect! Dare I say better than croissant au beurre I had in Paris!😬 Also: having pastéis de nata is an automatic win (just needs packets of cinnamon to take away)!🇵🇹

The Surprises: I visited on one of the first days it's been open (March 10), and they run out of pastries pretty quickly. By 11 am, most if not...