Aux Merveilleux de Fred — Specialty Store in Passy, Paris

This is a branch of Aux Merveilleux de Fred, a pastry shop rather than a grocer, and it sits on Rue de l'Annonciation in Passy, where the shelves are given over to brioche, buns and cake rather than to a weekly shop.

The giant pangocciolo is what you carry out first. It is a large chocolate-chip bun, soft and warm, with chips running right through it, and it costs €4.70. The brioches come plain or with sugar and chocolate, and they are at their best fresh from the oven, which makes them a breakfast buy. The chocolate Cramique is a big brioche-style loaf that works for a child's afternoon snack, and the Merveilleux, the layered cake the shop is named for, is very sweet and comforting, its flavours arriving slowly.

The shop is small and cosy. Queues build, so plan around them rather than walking in at the last minute; arriving close to closing can also mean thin shelves.

Prices sit at the moderate end for what you get, and the quantity is the argument: a bun that size for €4.70, a loaf that stretches across several snacks. Pay at the counter as you order.

Who it suits: anyone who wants one specific, very good thing to eat in Passy, and families buying something large enough to share. The trade-off is the wait, which you accept for a bun worth crossing the neighbourhood for.