sugardough, Hove

Simply gorgeous! Mouthwatering baking smells as you step inside the place – cakes, breads, sausage rolls, pies and chocolate truffles – everything made on site. Tiny and perfect little bakery with three teeny antiquey tables inside for coffees and freshly baked goody munching. Tea and bakes served in lovely old china with pretty antique silver cutlery. A real treat (and they didn’t even mind that I squeezed my baby’s enormous pram in there (bearing in mind it’s a little shop). Will be stopping in for weekly treats on my way home from baby group! X

I am just eating a fruit danish as I write. I had to write. I have never eaten such a fine pastry in my life. I mean it. 'Fruit' and 'danish' don't do it justice. The pastry is light, not too sweet, the patisserie creme is creamy without being sickly, the fruit and jam are good and tart. A sublime combination for a heavenly experience. I never write reviews on websites, I don't have time.

I feel like packing in my day job and getting a patisserie apprenticeship.

Try one.

You'll have to go back for more...

Came across this by accident and amazed to find they have been there for a year. 'Home cooked' has to be one of the most misused terms in catering but here it is the real thing. Everything is home made, from the cakes to the croissants to the bread to the sausage and if you want proof, it's all done in front of you in the tiny kitchen. If you have a vision of a French village bakery of 20 years then this is that reincarnation. A wonderful place and Brighton (and Hove) should go down on its knees in gratitude at being so blessed.

Almond croissants a near religious experience. Everything freshly baked. Unpretentious but tasteful and cosy wooden decor. Friendly. Just perfect little place.

It is fabulous.. the pies, the sourdough bread is the best ever... it is very popular with the locals and the people are lovely. They are also very obliging if you want to do a party order. We hovettes love it.

There is nothing quite like a refreshing slap in the face which is what I got when I stumbled across Sugardough, aiming to be somewhere else.

The first thing that strikes you is the small quantity but nice variety of cakes, biscuits, buns displayed on rather ordinary thin bookshelves in baskets. BUT you can tell by the 'bake' this is not your run of the mill baked goods you'd typically find. These are handmade.

The second thing that struck me, next to shelving your likely to find in a small flat was the typical large industrial shelving you'd expect to see in a bakery filled with trays of cooling goods including PIES.

What is all the more strange is this place has sprung up from nowhere in what I consider a quite inhospitable Victoria Terrace - an odd line of shops next to two lanes of traffic flowing each way.

Now just because something looks good doesn't mean it tastes good and perhaps out of pity felt obliged to buy a cupcake.

Inside, there are a couple of tables and chairs at the front. To the rear the Baker is working away in what appears to be the most open kitchen in the world, as if they've gone out and bought all their equipment from a catering supplier, set it up and just got on with the job.

The Pies did look good and were not long out of the oven. So I bought one along with now two cupcakes from a lovely lady behind her small counter who is clearly one of the proprietors.

Everything is made from scratch. They do not use premixes so dominant in supermarkets and their in-house bakeries as well as high street bakeries (which are actually not very healthy at all).

Despite all this the proof is in the taste.

I've would never say I was a pie fan. When I've tried Artisan pies sold at Festivals and the such. I've often felt slightly disappointed.

When I tried Sugardoughs (still warm from the oven) pie I was blown away. The combination of the filling with what I can only describe as the most delicious buttery pastry just was awesome. I felt a road to Damascus moment as I became enlightened to PIE.

Guess what. That pie only cost £2.50

Whether you're looking for pie or sweet bakes or just taking a stroll along the promenade. This place so deserves a visit and your patronage even if you just go buy a coffee or a tea.

Check it out.