San Francisco has so many great bakeries such as Tartine Bakery & Café (read my review here), b. patisserie, and Craftsman and Wolves. This city is filled with foodies where people will literally wait up to an hour in line to get their hands on some of the hottest baked goods in town.

Mr. Holmes Bakehouse is known for its cruffin, a hybrid of a croissant and muffin stuffed with a creamy filling. Everyday they bake a select amount of cruffins which come out at 9:00am and they sell out quickly (they only allow two cruffins per person). They also have a different flavor everyday such as rocky road, hot toddy, triple chocolate, matcha, white chocolate raspberry, coconut caramel, chai, pear cobbler, and pink rose champagne, just to name a few. Unlike some of the previous bakeries I mentioned, Mr. Holmes Bakehouse sells more unique and unusual pastries.

We went on a rainy day during the week and guess what? No line!

Mr. Holmes Bakehouse.

We decided to order a bunch of items since it was our first time there and wanted to take advantage of the non existent line.

Bakehouse Box of Goodies.

Cruffins of the Day: Raspberry Pistachio (8.5/10), Artichoke Danish with Feta Cheese (6.5/10), Thai Pumpkin Curry Brioche Bomb (7/10), Dried Fruit Bread Pudding (6.5/10), Kouign-Amann (8.5/10), and Raspberry Cheesecake Donut (8.5/10).

The main attraction, the cruffins, were pretty freakin’ delicious. Crispy flaky layers of pastry filled with a creamy raspberry pistachio filling. Since everyday there is a different flavor, I wish I could have tried chocolate, chai, matcha, or anything with caramel so I guess I’ll just have to go back another time! They also offer two flavored donuts each day which change everyday. That day they had cranberry ginger jam and raspberry cheesecake. The raspberry cheesecake donut was also a winner but I saw that later in the week they were going to have a salted  dulce de leche donut, my dream! The kouign-amann, a cake like pastry made with bread dough containing layers of butter and sugar folded in and baked until caramelized, was another favorite of mine. I know at B. Patisserie, the kouign-amann is their specialty so I’ll have to try it! The thai pumpkin curry brioche bomb was definitely an interesting pastry with a slightly spicy topping.

Some of the other pastries weren’t as successful as the donuts and cruffins. My least favorite pastries were the artichoke danish and the bread pudding. While the actual pastry of the artichoke danish was well made, I didn’t care for the canned artichokes on top. The flavors weren’t as vibrant and tasty as I imagined. Other popular savory danishes that looked delicious and interesting were the sweet onion and nigella seed danish and the reuben danish with pastrami, sauerkraut, and thousand island dressing. The bread pudding, which happens to be one of my favorite kinds of desserts, was extremely dense and had a strange texture. However, I liked the taste of it with various dried fruits which gave it a very wintery holiday flavor.

California Croissant: Smoked Salmon, Nori, Wasabi, and Ginger (8/10).

Inside the California Croissant.

The California croissant was one of the most unique pastries I’ve ever seen and I actually really liked it. A perfect flaky croissant filled with smoked salmon, nori, spicy wasabi, and aromatic ginger. Creative and delicious.

Cruffin Time!

Even though some of the pastries I didn’t care for, I liked the fact that Mr. Holmes Bakehouse doesn’t make your typical pastries and is willing to experiment with various flavors. Overall, I rate the bakery at an 8/10.