Bourke St Bakery, Surry Hills

"Gianna, have you ever been to Bourke St Bakery?" 

"Huh..., what?, where....? Bourke St in Melbourne??" 
I feel like I have let 5 great foodie friends down, as they look at me after that stupid response. I knew at that very second, they had lost all love for me - I definitely had to visit before they judged me further...This all unfolded at lunchtime on Friday, by Saturday morning - i was an obsessed woman on a mission

Yes, I have seen the gigantic cookbook before - Demos probably keeps a copy at home, and used to live a quick stroll away from their Marrickville branch. For the life of me I have no idea why I thought this gem was in Bourke St Melbourne, not Bourke St Surry Hills . Honestly, we drive past almost every weekend - and I always say to Demos "That Boulangerie place looks very popular - there is always a huge line outside" Well friends, I blame my below average D grande sense of direction, but we have finally made it and boy we were missing out BIG time.

We arrive at about 1:30 - so it was a very late brunch. Unfortunately we didn't even outsmart the crowds because there was still a long line of hungry patrons and no seating available.

The line moves very quickly and the closer we get, the more we were lured in and hypnotised by the smell of the fresh sweet pastries, savoury lunchtime treats and of course - coffee! 

Once inside, I finally got to see how tiny the place was - no wonder there was a long line. But the staff were like carb ninjas, as soon as they finish an order, they are on to the next one with extreme efficiency. I got a bit thrown when I was ordering - pretty much pointed at anything that looked good. The plan was to get our food to go, and continue the romance with a picnic brunch at the park across the road - however amongst the confusion I ordered in.

As you can see from the previous photos, the bread and pastry displays are a bit gappy - I think if we got here early, there would be a much bigger selection of pastries and bread. Early birds also get the limited seating, so with my precious pastries on hand - we tried to be seating vultures.

As one of the workers brought our picolo's out - she saw the desperation in our eyes. "Do you guys mind sitting on milk crates?". With the smell of my coffee and pastry selection driving me to madness - we crate away. What a tea party it was! She even crossed the road for two more crates for tables!

Sausage Rolls - I think it would be un-Australian to not love them. During my order frenzy I ask for one Veal and Olive Sausage Roll and one Lamb Sausage roll. The Lamb roll was to die for with chunky almond pieces, currants and just the right amount of seasoning to bring out that delicious juicy lamb flavour. The veal roll was a great with heaps of olives inside - the pastry was perfectly buttery and flaky, just as a sausage roll should be! At $4.00 each - they were a steal.

Originally - I had only ordered the 2 sausage rolls, our coffee's and a strawberry-vanilla brulee tart for a sweet treat. Naturally, this was not enough. Demos went back inside for round two, Where we got a poached chicken with taragon, mayo and walnuts. As he way about to pay - the chocolate mousse and raspberry tart proved to be too tempting. Forgive me if this sounds odd, but for some reason, the chicken sandwich really reminded me of christmas, perhaps it was the taragon. The sourdough bun was equally delicious.

Both tarts we tried just sealed the deal for us ($4.50 each). Vanilla creme brulee has to be up there as one of my favourite desserts but to combine this with a crumbly biscuit crust and strawberries made my month! Before I knew it, Demos had scoffed most of the choc mousse tart - I asked him how it was after i salvaged his crumbs but his reply was simply just "Nom nom nom nom nom" Now im not a big chocoholic, but this chocolate was pure creamy goodness.

So as we leave our crates and empty plates behind - I thank my lucky food stars that Bourke St Bakery is not in Melbourne.. Im already planning my next visit to the branch in Marrickville. I have a feeling it will be so much easier to get out of bed during weekends knowing that pastry is involved.


Bourke Street Bakery
633 Bourke St Surry Hills NSW 2010 02 9699 1011




View Larger Map