Gilberts Bakery Specialists

Gilberts is a traditional family run bakery situated on the A13 London Road in Leigh on Sea, 3 miles outside of Southend.

A good baker these days is becoming increasingly difficult to find. If you have one in your Town, you really are lucky, as nothing tastes better than traditionally baked bread, cakes or pastries, cooked in small batches with the care and attention that larger ‘establishments’ seem to have left behind.

Gilberts has been owned by the Hill family for over 50 years. Charles Hill now runs the shop with the help of his wife Pat. Charles is the 6th generation of family bakers, and honed his skills as a young boy before graduating from the National Bakery School at Borough Polytechnic.

The small shop and bakery has a good selection of wonderful tasting freshly baked breads, rolls, baguettes, pastries, buns and delicious, light, fresh cream cakes – all hand made from scratch; using the finest of ingredients and traditional time intensive preparation methods to produce the finest results.

Among their specialities is yeast free white, wholemeal and cracked wheat breads, rye bread and spelt bread loaves. People travel for miles to buy these tasty speciality breads, which are also available frozen, so you can stock up if travelling a distance – it’s best to give the shop a quick call before travelling, to make sure they have exactly what you require in stock.

Mr Hill is also an accomplished pastry cook and freshly prepares wonderful light pastry in house. Not only can you buy freshly baked sweet and savoury filled pastries to eat now, you can also purchase a range of frozen fresh fruit tarts, classic favourites like profiteroles, treacle tarts and bread and butter pudding, or apple sponges and turnovers - all prepared for baking at home. You could even pass them off as your own and bask in the compliments – oh come on, we have all done it.

If you are planning to make a pie or tart of your own and do not want the lengthy and sometimes tricky job of making your own pastry, you can also buy professionally in house made puff or sweet short crust pastry to be served with a filling or topping of your choice. Having tasted some of the light and flaky savoury pastries sold at the shop, I would certainly recommend.

Our Summary
An excellent, family run bakery that uses traditional time intensive preparation methods and quality ingredients to produce superb breads, rolls, baguettes, pastries, buns and cakes. Speciality yeast free, spelt or rye loaves are available fresh or frozen. An extensive range of sweet and savoury pies, tarts, pizza bases, classic desserts and puff or sweet short crust pastry available frozen; to be baked at home. Friendly and attentive customer service. Highly recommended.