Pastry: Soggy bottom, dry top, too thick and not fresh 4/10
Presentation: Tri-layer, pastry:filling ratio wrong, neatly wrapped 6/10
Value for money: $5.50 (estimate) - Decent portion but a bit meh 7/10
Overall score: 5.9/10
|
Filling: Average creamy custard 6.5/10
Pastry: Soggy bottom, dry top, too thick and not fresh 4/10 Presentation: Tri-layer, pastry:filling ratio wrong, neatly wrapped 6/10 Value for money: $5.50 (estimate) - Decent portion but a bit meh 7/10 Overall score: 5.9/10
Heading down Lygon street en route to the musuem I took a punt at grabbing a takeaway vanilla slice from Filou's. With only two remaining, I should have known that the batch were baked yesterday. For the higher than average price I would have expected more from a 'French patisserie'. The pastry was the real let down; three heavy, slightly wooden layers that were too thick. The top layer was too dry under the slab of icing, and the middle and bottom layers too soggy under the weight of the custard. There was no real flavour or richness to the sheets either - so pretty much lacking in all areas here. The custard, again, was very underwhelming. An OK consistency, but lacking richness and vanilla flavour. The icing too was not up to scratch. Too thick in its construction and not overly sweet. Would I return to Filou's? Not for a vanilla slice, but maybe for something savoury.
1 Comment
Filling: Piped vanilla cream custard 6.5/10
Pastry: Fresh, crisp and robust 7.5/10 Presentation: Tri-layer offering, pastry join visible, average piping 7/10 Value for money: $4.50 - Decent portion, tasty but not blown away 7/10 Overall score: 7/10
Walking through North Melbourne on a Saturday afternoon I spotted an opportunity for a French pastry and a coffee. I duly obliged, sitting down to a pain au chocolat and mille-feuille styled vanilla slice with the family. Mrs B noted that the sweet brioche pain au chocolat was nearly as good as the Parisian Baker in Essendon, though it lacked any creme patissiere to really rival our beloved local patisserie. My vanilla slice was fresh and a decent value for the area. The pastry was baked to a slightly harder than usual state, making a clean cut through with a knife somewhat challenging. The filling comprised of sizable lines of piped creme custard. There was some vanilla content present but not overly abundant. The texture, though smooth had more than a hint of cornflour about it - obviously their thickening agent preference over an egg yolk. All up, not bad - but could do better.
Filling: Sweet vanilla scented custard 7/10
Pastry: Biscuit-like, dulce de leche inclusion, crisp and rich 9.5/10 Presentation: Flatter than the average, neatly assembled 7/10 Value for money: $3.50 - Decent portion, very rich, fresh as a daisy! 8/10 Overall score: 7.9/10
In a suburban backstreet of Sunshine North lurks a small, mainly derelict shopping strip with an unassuming South American bakery propped in the middle. There's plenty of people coming in and out, proving these guys clearly have great word of mouth custom. I purchased an interesting looking vanilla slice, Mrs B a dulce de leche circular puff tart. Clearly dulce de leche is heavily used in South American baking as even my pastry included a thin later of the sweet caramel spread nestled inside the biscuit-like layers. This made the whole thing incredibly rich, but enormously satisfying. The custard was average by comparison, but still rather nice; a decent consistency and sweet, but perhaps lacking in quantity compared to the overall size of the slice. Mrs B found the dulce de leche tart very rich, but did well to finish the whole thing on her own! A great little find off the beaten track.
Filling: Lackluster, bland, unsweetened cream 4/10
Pastry: Bullet-hard layers of tasteless pastry 4/10 Presentation: Oozy and enticing 8/10 Value for money: $5.50 - Decent portion, very disappointing 3/10 Overall score: 4.75/10
Had I read the reviews of this chain on Zomato prior to making my purchase, I might have reconsidered doing so. Nevertheless, a vanilla slice came home with me for a hefty $5.50 and I proceeded to eat it. This is not a vanilla slice worthy of being sold in a patisserie, or at least what I would expect a patisserie to sell if they are worth their salt. Clearly in Australia the word patisserie is thrown around and standards vary hugely compared with mainland Europe. The pastry was tasteless, overabundant and actually too hard - causing real trouble cutting and biting through. The cream filling was a real disappointment too; an effortless, bland dollup of bog-standard cream that forgot to include any texture, richness and vanilla content. I ate a little over half and threw the rest away in anger. These guys really are making a poor product and selling it at a ridiculous price.
|
WelcomeThis is the Snot Blog.
A journal of vanilla slice hunting, consuming and reviewing. Categories
All
External LinksSNOT BLOCK & ROLL
www.mezzacotta.net/blockandroll/ Archives
January 2022
|