Le Ble: Spoil yourself at this luxury Sheffield cafe with every sweet treat under the sun

After two years standing empty, the storefront on the corner of Church Street by the Cathedral opened as Le Ble in July 2022. There was a lot of buzz beforehand when, peeking through the impressive sheet windows, the interior decorating included a blossoming tree and a frankly massive display counter. There was even more buzz when it was finished.

In a spread that has to be seen, this ritzy coffee shop is a colour wheel of cakes, pastries and delicacies, lined up wall to wall like keys on some decadent piano. In every direction are gateauxs on lazy susans, dusted croissants and decorated tarts lined up like a jewellery box. There are ganaches, frostings, fruit glazes and icings with the variety of a Dulux paint pallete, and lots of bite-sized gems I don’t know the proper name for. I would guess there were more than 70 individual options, and that was just at a glance. How Le Ble sources it all is a mystery.

It might be a lot to take in on arrival, but have no fear. When I arrived with a friend, a very charming member of staff came around the counter to greet me and walk me and my friend through the options – over here are the vegan options, these are honey based, these ones cream, let me know if you need any help. This was all alongside the artisan bagels on offer, the range of coffees and the fridge full of the more gucci soft drinks one can think of.

Of course, I had to suffer for this review and order two pastries instead of just one. With a friend along, we went for an ornament heart cream tart (gorgeous), a crusty blueberry muffin (dense, lovely), a plain old croissant (spot on) and a spicy warm apple tart (wintery, best of the bunch). It all looked stunning too, and with the interior design will make for a pretty Instagram post, if that’s your thing.

On top of that was an oat milk flat white (silky, strong as it gets), a salmon and rocket bagel (as good as I’ve ever had one) and a pastrami sandwich, which my friend didn’t let me try because they enjoyed it too much. The team was out of apple fruit tea when I asked for it, so instead I had some of their Japanese green tea, which came in the form of an extravagant loose leaf plunging thing and was fun. I didn’t like it myself, but my friend, who knows better, had a sip and said ‘no mate, that’s really good’, so I’ll defer to him and recommend it anyway.

I said Le Ble isn’t the cheapest, and it’s not – but I hope I’ve swayed you see it’s something of a treat. The team has such a huge range of choice and a fairly luxurious take on an afternoon bite that it more than makes up for it. Well recommended.