Cake in a Train Arch: Comptoir Gourmand

What's summer for if not wandering through London streets and searching for coffee and cake? 

A few days a go my dear friend, who among other things, shares my love of good cake introduced me to Comptoir Gourmand, a small bakery in the train arches of Druid Street, SE1 2HQ. 

Tucked away in the heart of Bermondsey away from the river by Tower Bridge, the winding streets make this difficult to find but once you know where it is you won't forget. 

It shares the street with very little other than Lassco, an architectural antiques company, and a few bars that in the middle of the day had very little to show for themselves. This secluded street makes the cafe quiet and intimate and off the main path of the 'yummy mummy' crowd. 

The bakery itself is industrial in size as I assume the cafe is just a side business to the mass producing of fine cakes and tarts.

We decided to split to tarts as the choice is overwhelming and why try one when you can try two? We had the salted caramel cchocolate and the raspberry lemon tarts.

Despite the underwhelming presentation on paper plates with plastic cutlery the tarts themselves were divine. Although we both agreed the fruit tart was better with the sharp lemon custard complementing the sweet raspberries perfectly, the chocolate caramel with its oozing salted caramel sauce under a thick layer of dark chocolate was excellent also.

If you are searching for a new place to find excellent cake which is off the beaten track, Comptoir Gourmand in Bermondsey should be one for you to test out soon. 

Comptoir Gourmand, 98 Druid St, London, SE1 2HQ, is open from 9:30am - 4:30pm. http://comptoirgourmand.co.uk/