What's the point of poppy seeds on pastries?

I think it’s the crunch.

To make you fail drug tests for new jobs.

Visual interest, mostly. They do have a flavor in large numbers, as when made into a paste, but that’s not what they’re doing on your hamburger bun.

Texture
Aesthetics
Illusory flavor

At work we used to have bagels every Friday. The local shop had a selection called a “Meeting Mix” that consisted of bagels that didn’t make a mess by dropping seeds or crumbs in workers’ computer keyboards. It included flavors like: plain, pumpernickel, sun-dried tomato, blueberry, etc.
Flavors like; poppy seed, onion, everything, garlic, sesame seed, etc. were excluded.
It made cleanup a breeze.

@worriedguy Nu – so what’s the fun in that?

They do have a bit of flavor.

I can definitely taste a flavour with poppy seeds, they also add texture and crunch.

They taste good and offer texture. If you haven’t had one, you should try a poppy seed cake…Yum!

To me, poppy seeds have a very distinctive and yummy flavor, but it is rather subtle. I also like the crunch.

You mean other than being edible? :D Edible and also ”highly” nutritious.

They certainly do have flavor for those of us who aren’t tastebud impaired.~ I tease.
I mean, they have flavor for those of us with an overabundance of tastebuds. Which is really more of a curse sometimes than not… I am by no means complaining.

And they have multi-textural and decorative purposes.