On our way back to the station from an event we came upon a lovely local bakery that looked…read morefascinating. They've been here for 30yrs but have no reviews on zomato?! And only two on Yelp... But they do have a facebook presence where they announce the daily bakes. The interior has much underutilized space and makes it look like they're new. Firebrand Bakery, a small rustic bakery on main street, that creates hand-shaped sourdough bread baked in an original 1930s wood fired oven, without using commercial yeast or additives. Personally I'm iffy about things being unwrapped, people breathe on them, and bugs (flies touch them...) I prefer everything shrink wrapped. There's a large selection of unwrapped paper bagged loafs, to give that real rustic feel, some baked slices/muffins and Boscastle pies. At 1.30pm they were almost sold out of pies. We had the chicken mushroom well seasoned and herbed without being too salty or liquidy. Delicious! Yes you can buy these in the freezer at IGA. As someone who grew up on pastries (and frozen food in general) these are one of the best I've had, with a matching price tag. A flourless raspberry & boysenberry slice was what we're really here for. At $5 it was average price, though we were happy with the size. The slice was just like a friand! Moist all the way and delightful! Can't wait to get this again. I would have like the option to serve it warm with cream but it's takeaway only. Though some tables outside would be nice. Service was very friendly, unexpectedly they take card, no min. Unlike the fruit shop on the same strip. We can't wait to return for a loaf and sourdough chocolate croissants! I think a warm loaf (even if it was warmed on the journey home) is one of life's most wonderful simple pleasures!

Lovingly-made old-world style bread like this is hard to come by, even in a foodie epicentre like…read moreMelbourne. I live right by the QV Market, which has plenty of decent bread, but Firebrand is the real deal. All of their bread is made with a natural leaven (started around the same time AC/DC had their big breakthrough, how can you not love that?), hand-shaped, and baked in a wood-fired oven. Totally worth the trek across town. Each day they bake different breads, so check with the baking schedule before you go. Personal faves are the Spicy Fruit Sourdough and the Schwarzbrot (100% Rye), baked on Mondays and Tuesdays, respectively.

Living in L.A, it was an absolute pleasure to come home to Melbourne and indulge in one of…read moreMelbourne's best food treats.. real bread!! All the breads are baked on location and are absolutely delicious fresh or toasted the next day. There is a list of ingredients above on chalkboard so you know exactly what is in the breads. The prices are not listed which would be very handy but the loaves seem to be around $6 or $7 each. Pricey yes but you get what you pay for. Especially considering a loaf of mass produced bread in the supermarket can be almost the same price. The girls serving are lovely and friendly. Parking is easy right on the street out front. (non metered one hour parking)

My son calls this place, "Down the hill" as we are up the top of the hill on Barkly St. For his…read morebirthday he picked this bakery to go to for his breakfast pastries. I didn't realise how new this place was, but I have to admit, even if the pickings were sparse, they were delicious. We decided upon some croissants (both plain and chocolate) and a muffin, along with a few hot chocolates and coffees. The guys that are working like crazy behind the counter are friendly and you can tell they are well invested in the place. If you are on in the area, stop by here and taste the goods, you won't be disappointed.

This is a local gem. The staff here are so friendly. But that's not my favourite thing about this…read morebakery. It's the baked goods of course. So far I've sampled a light rye load, the mini pizza's, jam donut, the apple turnover and their quiche. I wasn't too taken by the quiche but everything else was top notch. I've also heard very positive things about the hot meat pies. Their style is continental and they really do have a traditional honesty goodness. You can taste it. The three little bakers (and Bert) offer sweet baked goods, slices, hot pies and pasties, fresh baked bread plus a fresh sandwich bar. Oh and good coffee. The only small issue at the moment is lack of parking. Hopefully this won't be a problem for too long. Either way it's worth a visit!

I love the variety, selection and quality of food at Aviv. There's a good mix of savoury and sweet…read moreitems, and you can always find something to buy to satisfy a craving or to organise a work lunch/party or whatever. Their bagels aren't my favourite, but they have great quiches, and often at work we get their cakes for various occasions and they never disappoint. However ... with all of that said, the only real negative I can say is that they are a tad overpriced and to me, it lets them down. I also happened to buy a birthday cake, a mini quiche and a cookie and I had some sticker shock for sure. When the cookie was rung up and it said $5, I thought that was the mini quiche and cookie added up together. So that day I spent $51 and when I was leaving, I asked if there was a bag to put the cake in. The only bags were the cloth ones, and they were going to charge me .50c for one when I just spent $51. I had to do a whole separate transaction on EFT-POS just to pay for this .50c bag. I feel that not only are they a bit overpriced, but they need to use common sense when charging for a bag after someone has spent a certain amount. It's a bit off putting, however I'm sure the lure of their bubka (the best I've ever eaten anywhere) will get me back there eventually down the road ...

If I could travel the world on a journey just to find the best vanilla slice I would go in a…read moreheartbeat. Until I book that flight I have found Melbourne's contender in the challenge and it is located inside what some say is also one of the best places to buy bagels in town, Aviv's. If you are planning to have people over for brunch I highly recommend pre ordering some mini bagels. Your guests will be as happy as I am when I go to someone's house for brunch and I see those little circles of holy dough.

Vanilla Slice. Multigrain rolls. Sausage Rolls. Yes it's another bakery!…read more The folks at Watsonia bakehouse are super friendly! Locals know this and come back for the great service as well as the yummy bakery offerings. If your looking for a cheap and quick lunch in the Watsonia area then this is the place to go. Get in line though as it can be busy. As well as a selection of breads and slices they also do gourmet pies, flaky sausage rolls and quiches. They have a sandwich bar so get your fresh roll ready for lunch here. There is a drinks fridge with a range of soft drinks and they also do coffee. They make to order birthday cakes, Novelty cakes and Continential Tortes so if your in Watsonia and need to celebrate with cake then Wastonia Bakehouse is where you should head.

Ordered steak & onion, steak & mushroom, chicken & veggies pie there. $4.40 each. And their French…read morevanilla slice ($3.50 each), almond croissant, ham & cheeses scroll. Great vanilla slices, almond croissant for afternoon tea. Love their meat pies, although the it is minced meat rather than chunky meat, it is the good one in the local area. Will definitely going back for their continental Aussie cakes.

Excellent Rueben and cheesesteak and key lime pie. All the baked goods are amazing. Plus basketball…read moreand ping pong. Used to be Two Birds brewery inspired California craft beer and now an American bakery and sandwich shop

Oh my this place is wonderful! We popped down before 9am on a Sunday morning to grab a quick…read morebreakfast and some baked goods. It was already full by this stage and had a constant stream of locals grabbing donuts for the morning. We ordered a ham and cheese croissant, egg and bacon bun and a coffee. The coffee was fantastic. Could not fault. The bun and croissant were delicious, the scramble in the bun was especially good. We sat was a little watching the steady stream come and go before grabbing some take away baked goods. We got all 3 donuts flavours with the favourite being hot cross bun donut. Donut dough with sultanas and filled with custard. Amazing! We also grabbed a choc chip marshmallow cookie. The size of my hand and absolutely delicious. I could live off these! Moderate room inside to sit and a few tables out. All the food is able to be taken away and it also runs as a standard bakery with beautiful artisan breads. We will definitely be back soon and it's now our go to place to pick up treats when visitors come over.

Awesome range of baked goods, fresh bread and good set up. In the Donburn row of shops which really…read morehides some secret gems. Fantastic coffee and am looking forward to trying a pie!

Stopped in here as the store said they won the national pie competition for the best pie in…read moreAustralia. Such a claim must, of course, be tested. Is Australia's best pie n Donvale? We got the plain pies to give it a fair, comparable test, and I must say, they really are very very good! The flavour of the filling is really good, very nice short crust base, and a suitably flaky top. In fact, the short rust base would have to be one of the best. I do think, though, to be fair, it is slightly pipped by the Kirra Bakery's pie, which as a slightly better, flakier top. But it is certainly the best pie in Melbourne, and one of the best in Australia :-)

This is my fourth time in Melbourne, and oddly, I've been discovering delicious bakeries this time…read more After discovering Lune CBD, I found another gorgeous croissant at this place, 'Brioche by Phillip.' It's located at Little Collins/Russell. I tried their ham & cheese croissant. The appearance wasn't so great as it looked a bit flat, but the texture was nicely chewy, and the flavor from the ham & cheese was perfect. I wish I had found this place a lot sooner.

It doesn't matter which Brioche branch I visit these places are consistently fantastic…read more 5 senses coffee and brioche inspired goods, what can go wrong? Nothing1 Oh except I spend all my money here bringing back treats for everyone in the office. Very much in love with the bronut right now. A brioche donut which some naughty fillings. So the place to stop in, grab a coffee and brioche goodie on the way back to the office.