For the early morning commuters, having the time to grab a quick French pastry in the morning is a luxury.
Luckily, most supermarkets provide a wide variety of pastries, cakes and savoury treats freshly baked from their in-store bakeries. If you can get there on time, they're sometimes still warm.
But the question arises, which supermarket is the pastry king?
Read more: I compared Lurpak to Aldi, Lidl and Morrisons spreads and one was a cut above
Well, someone has to try them, so off I went to Tesco, Sainsbury's, Lidl and Morrisons, and after consuming four different pain au chocolats, there was certainly a clear winner.
Tesco
First off, I headed to Tesco. The supermarket giant has certainly upped its game when it comes to its bakery. Along with pastries, it produces fresh loaves of bread, and an impressive selection of gluten free options.
Sadly, the pain au chocolat left a lot to be desired, however.
It was served in a pack of two for £1.30, ideal for a breakfast on the go you would think.
But, whilst the pastry was light, the chocolate was dryer than you would have expected, and I found myself not wanting the second one. If I didn't have someone to gift it to back at home, I fear it would have been binned.
Overall, it was okay, not awful but it gets a 6/10.
Sainsbury's
Sainsburys was next, and I struggled to find the bakery section In this store. It wasn't as well signposted as in Tesco, and I was surprised to not see the same level of pastry options as its competitor. It did, however, have an excellent selection of breads, but that's not what we are here for.
Like Tesco, the pain au chocolats were served in a pack of two for £1.30, but, sadly, they just weren't as good.
At first, I thought my pain au chocolat tasted the exact same as Tesco's offering, but then I tasted the chocolate. It was strangely nutty, as though it had been sat on the side for a few days. The pastry was also staler and harder too.
It was also a lot flakier than Tesco's, and whilst a certain level of flakiness is to be expected, it does not change the fact I have croissant crumbs all over my car.
Overall, it gets a 5/10, and I think that's being kind.
Lidl
Lidl was next on my hit list and, oh my, what a treat it was.
This had to be the best bakery I had visited, easily. There was so much choice, they had everything from bread, to croissants to mini pizzas, some with goats cheese, some with pesto.
It was also set up so you could pick how many of each item you wanted and bag it yourself, which would have solved my earlier problem of having to buy more pastries than I needed. It cost 49p for one pain au chocolat, cheaper than the supermarkets.
And the pain au chocolat from Lidl was a delight. It was light, chocolaty, all in all the perfect breakfast food. I was sad I only bought one!
It was, however, a logistical nightmare to eat. I think the pigeons got more of my croissant than I did, as it flaked absolutely everywhere. There was no way to hold it which meant that I wasn't covered in crumbs.
It added to the flakes caused by Sainsbury's' offering, and now my car looks like the inside of a bakery.
Despite this, it was by far the best tasting pain au chocolat I'd had so far and it gets a 9/10. It would have got a 10, but I'm knocking a point off just for the inconvenience of having to get my car cleaned.
Morrisons
Last, but not least, we come to Morrisons. The 'Our Brand. Lower Prices' retailer certainly had big shoes to fill after Lidl but it did not disappoint at all.
The selection was not quite as broad as Lidl's, but certainly the biggest of the other 'big four' I'd been to. It sold your usual bread, pastries and and an interesting selection of savoury pizza size flatbreads that looked delicious.
Sadly, I'd arrived too late to get a pain au chocolat as they were all sold out. I got the next best thing which was a chocolate croissant. Shaped like a traditional croissant, filled with chocolate, although not as much chocolate as the name suggests it should be.
It was also sold as part of a two pack, like in Tesco and Sainsbury's., for £1.30.
It was nice enough. The pastry was denser, it tasted closer to a bread roll than pastry, but the chocolate did sweeten it out. There wasn't a great deal of chocolate in there, it was like someone had stuck a butter knife with some chocolate spread in to the croissant and smeared it around.
It was a car-friendly snack, however, and I was not left covered in the same level of debris as in the case of its predecessors.
Overall, it gets a 7/10. Good, but could be better.
The verdict? Lidl bakery and its pain au chocolat was the winner of this contest by a mile. The bakery had the widest range of products, the pain au chocolat tasted the nicest, and it was the cheapest. What's not to love?
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