Luxe Bakery Review

Sydney

Luxe Bakery is dubbed as one of the top bakeries in Sydney, and rightfully so. Whilst it sits only a short walk from the queue-attracting Black Star, it pulls a well-deserved crowd of its own.

The bakery itself is a cute converted cottage with a decent area for seating. Aside from serving sourdoughs, pastries and cakes there’s also a decent menu for breakfast and brunch.

The bread is all cooked on-site with a crisp crust and doughy texture. It’s fairly pricey to buy though. The pastries are a highlight. The almond croissants have a perfectly crunchy outer layer with tasty almond filling. The range of cakes looked impressive but I didn’t taste any. The coffee is okay, but not very strong.

Atmosphere: 4/5
Quality: 4/5
Value: 4/5
Overall: 8/10

191 Missenden Road, Newtown

http://luxesydney.com.au/about/

Black Star Pastry Review

Small, crowded, staff flaunting tattoos, piercings and plenty of attitude – Black Star Pastry paints a pretty accurate picture of the rest of Newtown.  But there’s a very good reason why it’s constantly busy and now has a second location in Rosebery.

The cakes/ desserts, many of which are vegan, boast interesting flavour combinations as opposed to the usual selection that you’ll find in most bakeries.  The header chef behind the bakery (Christopher Thé) used to work as a pastry chef at several fine dining locations including Bel Mondo, Claudes and Quay Restaurant, and this past experience really shows through.

The strawberry watermelon cake is one of the highlights here.  It consists of several layers of almond dacquoise and rose scented cream with watermelon, strawberries and pistachios.  It’s really light and refreshing and boasts a perfect marriage of flavours.

The vegan popcorn chocolate cake does not stand out any where near as much.  Sure it’s nice, and the caramelized popcorn sitting on top creates some intrigue, but it’s just a dense chocolate cake- so only get it if that’s what you’re craving and don’t expect to be amazed.

Another iconic offering at Black Star are their “ginger ninjas”; gingerbread men with chocolate sauced used to dress them up as ninjas.  Not being a huge fan of gingerbread men, the combination of the delicate ginger and cinnamon flavouring along with the slightly crunchy  but not too hard texture impressed me.  It was a damn good gingerbread cookie. But for $4.50, this may be one thing in Black Star that is, without a doubt, overpriced.  If you opt for the naked version though, it will only be around half the cost.

In general, the price-to-quality ratio at Black Stat is very reasonable. Carefully crafted cakes with extravagant layers and ingredients will only set you back around $5-$7 per piece. They are also one of the only places I’ve seen in Sydney that don’t charge extra to have a few ice cubes thrown in your coffee (iced lattes are $3.50, the same as a regular coffee).

Atmosphere 3/5
Quality 4/5
Value 4/5
Overall 8/10

277 Australia Street, Newtown
85-113 Dunning Avenue, Rosebery

blackstarpastry.com.au