Pastry: Disappointingly soggy 4/10
Presentation: Tri-layer, artistic flair and inviting 9/10
Value for money: $6.80 - Small portion, not fresh and overpriced 3/10
Overall score: 4.75/10
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Filling: Pedestrian sweetened cream 5/10
Pastry: Disappointingly soggy 4/10 Presentation: Tri-layer, artistic flair and inviting 9/10 Value for money: $6.80 - Small portion, not fresh and overpriced 3/10 Overall score: 4.75/10
After a morning sporting match nearby, the family and I got lunch at Waverley Gardens shopping centre. I thought that Plateia Bakery and Cafe looked half decent and the lady behind the counter doting on the kids persuaded us to grab a bite and a coffee. I opted for their ‘Greek Milefei’ titled creation over the other traditional vanilla slice on offer. I must say that the presentation was excellent, and I loved the detail of the sugar glazed strawberry adhered to the top layer of pastry with additional custard. Sadly though, that was the highlight. What ensued next was just disappointing; lots of stale pastry flaking off in long thin strips rather than crumbling into pastry dust, and minimal and very uninteresting sweetened cream filling. At nearly $7 a little more quality should be offered in terms of flavour and satisfaction, I feel. Coffee also wasn’t great, but the service was superb!
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Filling: Proper eggy vanilla custard 9/10
Pastry: Freshly baked, cumbley and delicate 8/10 Presentation: Tri-layer, Artisan, brûléed top 9/10 Value for money: $6 - Small portion, fresh and tasty but too expensive 7/10 Overall score: 8.2/10
A trip down to the bay led me back to Mordialloc, where I had an excellent vanilla slice from the Paris Hot Bread Bakery last time out. With another French themed Patisserie nearby, I couldn’t resist purchasing the last Mille-Fuielle styled slice in the cabinet. Clearly a lot of care goes into the construction of such items on offer; it’s own golden paddle, piped custard, crumbly flaky pastry and bruleed sugar on top gave the slice a very Artisan appearance. Selling at a hefty $6 for a relatively small but well crafted slice still could have been a waste of money if it’s taste didn’t live up to its looks. Luckily I was happy with all components. I was really pleased to actually taste eggy, creamy, vanilla custard or creme patissiere (like I make at home). I would have given the custard 10 if there was actual vanilla bean used instead of essence. The pastry too was on point; delicately thin, almost wafer like and fresh to the bite. The bruleed top was alright, but I’ve had these before and I’m not sure that blow torching the entire top sheet of pastry is necessary. Give me a good fondant icing any day! Worth the visit.
Filling: Thick, slightly set vanilla custard 7.5/10 Pastry: Fresh, well defined layers and flaky 8/10 Presentation: Heavily dusted, great ratio of filling / pastry 8/10 Value for money: $4 - Medium/large portion, fresh and tasty 8/10 Overall score: 7.9/10 Central West Bakery in Braybrook was a good example of a Vietnamese/Aussie hybrid bakery done well. On offer they had a traditional vanilla slice, with thick white icing, a French vanilla with cream / custard and brown icing and this offering called a “custard vanilla slice” with the dusted sugar. I opted for his one as it looked the creamiest and contained the most custard, even though it was selling at 40 cents more than the alternatives. The custard, though slightly set, was creamy, sweet and with a hint of vanilla. Easy to eat with a fork or a good texture to consume with your hands as it wouldn’t squeeze out the sides. The pastry was really good; a rich, golden brown colour with neatly defined thin layers that crumbled with each bite. Worth a visit also for the large plane sculpture out in the car park that my boy loved.
Filling: Thick and lightly vanilla scented custard 7.5/10 Pastry: Freshly baked and flaky 8/10 Presentation: Tri-layer, rustic but inviting 8/10 Value for money: $7 - Medium/large portion, fresh and tasty 7/10 Overall score: 7.6/10 I rarely stroll up Errol Street, but found myself in the neighbourhood with Mrs B and the baby. I noticed Errol cafe advertising that they were also a Patisserie, so thought it wise to head inside to check out their cake cabinet. After exchanging a vanilla slice for a somewhat pricey $7 I left in anticipation, unable to immediately consume as I was carrying baby Snot Blog in the Bjorn and couldn’t risk the dusted sugar going in her eyes. After a little wait I got the slice out of its box, on to a park bench and then began to dig my teeth into its hearty cross section of custard and pastry. I was pleased that the pastry was light, flaky and golden. It allowed easy and seamless bites with minimal loss of custard out of the sides. So easy was the feast, that I actually managed to do it whilst walking along the pavement. The custard too was fresh and a thick viscoty, perhaps through an egg yolk or two. It had a definite vanilla inclusion, and was creamy and rather nice overall. A worthy inclusion into the Blog, but at $5 I think a more sensible price.
Filling: Gelatinous, heavy duty custard 4/10 Pastry: Soggy and pale 1/10 Presentation: School refectory styled - cling wrapped portion 5/10 Value for money: $3 - Huge slab, stale and poor quality 4.5/10 Overall score: 3.6/10 I broke my own sacred rule with this one, purchasing a vanilla slice in a cling wrapped, pre packaged portion from a bakery. I selected this monster of a slice over a more sensible and in truth, neatly presented offering from the pie shop round the corner, purely based on the huge amount of custard in the portion. Nevertheless, I consumed what I could of this and discarded what was almost inedible. Starting with the positives; the price and the soft and sweet icing that stuck like super glue to my fingers. Now the negatives - the huge layer of filling was merely set milky custard, but it’s not good when custard breaks away like crumbling cheese. Lastly, the pastry; clearly suffering from its plastic wrapping, the pale layers were almost wet with moisture and could be peeled back like a used band aid. This was not worth finishing. Next...
Filling: Average, on the turn vanilla custard 5/10 Pastry: Stale and useless 4/10 Presentation: Run of the mill rectanglular dusted effort 6/10 Value for money: $5 (estimate) - Average portion size, yesterday’s left overs 2/10 Overall score: 4.2/10 Taking out a vanilla slice, Portuguese egg tart and a vegan slice, the total set me back $14.50. Typically, Mrs B found the vegan slice to be uninspiring and didn’t want to finish it. Mum passed off half the egg tart to me as she was not satisfied and I didn’t consume the entire vanilla slice. Annoyingly the vanilla slice was yesterday’s, with stale peeling away from the ‘past it’s best’ custard. This actually made it easier to eat, as I spooned out the custard and left the lifeless pastry behind ready for the bin. Had this been fresh, it would still be very average. It’s the same that you see in most cafes around Melbourne, but for $5 dollars it’s a rip off. I might be inclined to shop elsewhere in Yarraville next time.
Filling: Loose consistency, slightly bland custard 6/10 Pastry: Flaky, buttery and rich 9/10 Presentation: Seen before Dulce de leche double base layer 8/10 Value for money: $5 (estimate) - Average portion size, authentic, delightfully fresh 8/10 Overall score: 7.75/10 I frequent Puckle Street regularly, and although I live in Essendon I like to think of this as my high street. Therefore, it came a shock to see a new bakery cafe of South American influence spring up in the last few weeks without notice. Similar to Dolce Bakehouse (reviewed in January) these guys were also selling lots of yummy treats with plenty of Dulce de Leche crammed in for good measure. This slice is approximately double in size to their rivals, and adequately priced. I might admit to their pastry being not quite as good but it was still fresh, crumbly and rich. To be honest, it was outstanding for a Sunday and if this was the norm I would be dishing out 10s every week for pastry. The custard was a bit of a let down; although a nice loose consistency with an excellent yellow hue the flavour just did not match. Missing any real vanilla hit and not overly sweet, I guess the inclusion of the burnt milk spread provided the additional sweetness lacking in the custard. My mum also loved her small but delicious chocolate custard profiterole. A welcome addition to Puckle Street and better than a lot of others in the area.
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January 2022
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