Mahali Bakery - Battersea, London

(£12+ for 2 pastries) Familiar-looking pastries hiding genuinely surprising flavours

You may be thinking, not another bakery? Not another queue? You may also feel you've tried every laminated pastry going, until you come to Mahali. They do things differently at their first permanent spot in South West London. Familiar-looking pastries but with new flavours. Be warned, the price tag may make you wince just slightly on the way out. All I’m saying is it’s a good job we don’t queue for pastries every day of the week, although I’d try to if I had the freedom and the money…

Details

Website: mahaliandco.com

Instagram: @mahaliandco

Opening Hours: Wednesday – Sunday 7 am – 4 pm

Closed: Monday and Tuesday

Address: 24 Battersea Park Road, London SW11 4HY

Mahali opened in November 2024, founded by Ru-Yan and Miguel, a pastry chef duo originally from Sydney who trained under Le Cordon Bleu before planting their roots in London. Between them, they bring 18 years of industry experience across food establishments in London, Singapore, the Philippines, Sydney and Melbourne. Mahali is the first time their expertise has had a physical home.

It shows. This isn't a couple of people who fancied opening a bakery. These are serious pastry chefs with serious credentials, and the bakes reflect that.

What we think makes it special

The location is a good start. Mahali sits on Battersea Park Road, a short walk from Battersea Park itself, which, if the weather's behaving, makes for a very appealing plan. Grab your pastry, grab your coffee, and head into the park. Is there a better start to your morning? Fresh air and fresh bakes.

Another thing that won us over was their opening hours. Open early at 7 am and staying open until 4 pm — who can relate? It's late afternoon, you're craving something sweet, and your local bakery is already shut, but not with Mahali. Also, despite how busy it clearly gets, Mahali bakes throughout the day, refreshing the counter with freshly made goods. All too often, we've joined a queue only to find half the display is gone before we've reached the front — meaning we leave with a pastry, but not the one we'd been drooling over. Thankfully, that wasn't the experience here.

You can also order online. Pastries, breads, jams, a breakfast box — you name it. They also do granola and their signature banana bread, which has clearly developed a following of its own.

What you may not love

They've made the space bright and airy, but once inside, you may not get to enjoy the space fully, as there is limited seating. You may think there’s enough when you spot the ‘extra seating’… a long bench. The catch? The queue snakes around the counter, so if you actually sat down here with your pastry, you'd find yourself eating your pain au chocolat at eye level with someone else's knees — or worse. This is very much a pastry-and-coffee-to-go kind of spot. So be prepared to savour it elsewhere, though, as we mentioned, Battersea Park is only a short walk away.

What we ate

• Sticky date scroll — £5.70. A very well executed scroll. That syrup on top is absolutely delicious — more of this please! I did find that the bits of pastry not slathered in the date sauce revealed a soft dough that didn't have a lot of flavour running through it, despite the traces of spice visible between the layers.

• Curry puff — £6.60. This was the standout for us. The pastry flaked away beautifully — that contrast between the hard outer shell and the soft potato curry housed within was something else. The seasoning on the pastry really elevated it, along with the curry leaves. A beautiful piece of pastry, almost too nice to destroy with your teeth, but so worth it for that flavour bomb.

Overall Thoughts

Mahali is the real deal. Two properly trained pastry chefs bringing something genuinely different to South West London — not just another laminated pastry operation, but one with a clear point of difference and the technique to back it up. The flavours are unexpected in the best way (think pandan, sambal, ensaimada — not something you see often).

The price is a conversation worth having, but if you're going to spend that kind of money on a bake, this is a good place to spend it. We are absolutely all for supporting independent bakeries and the people who get up at an ungodly hour so your pastry is fresh by 7 am. A lot of skill and time goes into these behind the scenes. That said, these are up there with some of the most expensive bakes we've bought in London, so worth being aware of before you join the queue. If the price tag is likely to make your eyes water, you've been warned.

If you're in South West London on a weekend, this one's worth the detour. And very possibly the queue.

Map

24 Battersea Park Road, London, SW11 4HY