‘Look at us,’ exclaims a woman in the 50-strong line trailing down Dulwich Road at 9.45am on a Sunday morning. ‘We used to queue for clubs and now we’re queuing for bakeries!’ Such is the way of modern London, where the sesh has, for many, been replaced by a got-to-have-it pastry that offers as much of a serotonin boost as anything that might happen post-midnight at Fabric.
Bunhead Bakery is the bricks and mortar debut for Bunhead Bakes, a pandemic-born organic and sourdough-specific food market favourite from self-taught baker Sara Assad-Manning. After serving up seriously sticky buns for the past few years across south London, she’s finally found a forever home in a sweet little storefront opposite Brockwell Park and, if the queues are anything to go by, isn’t far off ‘local legend’ status.
One bun is inspired by the Palestinian pudding knafeh, drenched with syrup and studded with wisps of shredded phyllo and rose petals. Simply gorgeous
Assad-Manning’s Palestinian heritage is key to what makes her food so important. Of course, there are the buns; lovely, sticky hunks of sweet bread, from pink-glazed rose and cardamom swirls to a juicy baklava-esque take on proceedings and an OG cinnamon offering, as well as one inspired by the Palestinian pudding knafeh, drenched with syrup and studded with wisps of shredded phyllo and rose petals. Simply gorgeous. There are savoury options too, a ‘salty’ bun stuffed with zingy za’atar and crumbles of feta or a vegan-friendly musakhan with spiced red onion and pine nuts.
Though most things here veer to the sweeter side of the spectrum, there’s also focaccia, with hot and hearty slabs of potato and mozzarella bread with bouncy middles and crispy bottoms, as well as tiramisu brownies and cookies (tahini and honey or brown butter miso), in case your sugar rush isn’t speedy enough.
Open Thursday to Sunday mornings until they sell out (which is earlier than you’d think) Bunhead is an important addition to London’s indie bakery scene.