If you are in Melbourne/Australia, you should definitely give Laurent a try!!…read moreThis is one of the best, and one of my favorites Bakery/Cafe I have been to. I tried their Hot Chocolate & dessert cake, called "Monte Carlo". It's a Chocolate mousse with cafe creme & chocolate biscuit covered with milk chocolate glaze. The glaze outside was shinny, smooth, and light, which is perfect for me. Texture, creamy, but not too sweet. Dessert was great, and Hot Chocolate too. Located in the city, 5 to 7 minutes away from Flinders Street railway station by train (Melbourne, Victoria). A cute, nice, fancy French bakery/cafe in the city, nothing can be better than spend a free day with your friends/love/family at Laurent. Services and staffs are great! I didn't have to wait for long, they take good order, and give you great recommendations, and ask for your opinions after. Customers will always feel welcomed, and happy when the staffs are always smiling. Overall, great place + dessert! Try it out, if you have a chance, definitely worth it. Love and miss this place.

During our two week stay in Melbourne we've seen a couple of these little French bakeries, one on…read moreToorak Rd and then this one on Little Collins in the CBD. Finally succumbed this afternoon. Pleasant surprise - they serve a pretty large latte in a bowl (like those I recall from trips to Paris) rather than the thimbles served all over the city! I also tore up a delicious lemon tart. Woohoo - good times!

The first thing I will seek out on any adventure is the quintessential coffee and croissant…read more Obviously not expecting a croissant to deliver a French baker seal of approval outside of a French bakery, but I'm not picky. Croissants are my kryptonite in any form because...butter. And buttery flaky layers will always be welcome in my food kingdom. In the other hand, Melbourne is known for being the coffee connoisseur of the world, so I was confident I would find many memorable coffee experiences on my Australian journey. Luna is tucked away in the ritziest part of the Melbourne CBD, so I found myself wondering along with the guy in line behind me who asked the quiet part out loud...'how expensive are these croissants?' Well...the French would riot at the cost of these beauties starting around $7 AUD+ (about $4.50+ in US) but the French riot at most things (which I totally appreciate btw, so no shade, my frenchie comrades) I'm going to say the price is pretty reasonable considering the cost of a plane ticket nowadays to get the real thing would be a lot more, so moving on. Also, this is a pretty average price of a croissant or pastries at most coffee shops in the states, especially considering it's located next to Chanel and Dior. The line was out the door and down the block, but moved impressively quickly. I was through the line within 5 minutes, and had my croissants and coffee within 3 minutes, then was on my way to food heaven. Now to the croissants. I think I half expected these to be over-hyped because of the bougie location and who's who status of these croissants. Literally 4 different people on my walk back to the hotel, and a girl in the elevator saw the bag and asked if I had ever tried these before. Luna is THAT girl. Luna IS the instagram influencer. Starting with the impossibly glossy exterior, then I started into the first layer. Layer by layer flaking off one by one until you start to reach the perfect buttery soft, stretchy layers inside that melt in your mouth, one by one. It was marvelous. Frenchies don't come for me, but this rivaled any croissant I had in my travels through the French countryside, (except they weren't $1.50). I sampled the ham and Gruyère croissant, the pain au chocolat, the classic croissant, and complimented it all with a white coffee. Tomorrow I'm returning to sample their lemon cruffin & famous kouing aman

Man oh man was this an awesome stop. It's worth the wait in line for probably the best croissants…read moreI've had out of France. So fresh and so good. Service was so great everyone had a smile and they looked happy to be there. Highly recommend the twice toasted almond. The chocolate and crème combination was absolutely divine. Do yourself a favor and come on by this location or I'm sure any of their locations in Australia. You won't regret it.

Probably more of a 3.5 but worth rounding up rather than down…read more Love the pork floss buns, the "wife cake", the cocktail cake, the jam basket, the BBQ Pork Puff and the red bean puff. The Egg tarts are just OK for me. If you have ever had the Golden Gate Bakery egg tarts in San Francisco, these will seem pretty average in comparison. The staff are friendly though a couple of them are a little clueless about packing cakes for transport.

Yep, their Swiss rolls are the bomb. These cakes have that unique asian sweetness to it that you…read morejust can't get enough. You can either grab a tray and pick your sweets and savories a la bread top and pay at the counter. As I said above there Swiss rolls are good, my picks are taro or pandan. Whole rolls are $11. Fyi - cash only!

Pandan croissant was fantastic, but the pandan custard was a bit too eggy for my tasteread more

When I told my local Melbournian friend I was hitting up the South Melbourne Market early in the…read moremorning, she immediately recommended I grab pastries at Agathe Patisserie, and boy were they delicious! Pandan croissant and pandan flan were our favorites. They were not too sweet. The croissant was nice and flaky. Flan was so smooth... I could've eaten another one and not regret it. Definitely go early if you can because the lines do get long and you can tell with all stanchions set up in front of the bakery. It's crowded, it's loud, but it's all part of the wonderful morning market experience. There is some seating (for 6-7 people) on the side, but I wouldn't count on the bench being available all the time. I would continue exploring the public market with a pastry in hand.

Such delicious cakes and slices. I really want to eat them all!! So sweet, perfectly rich and in…read moregood proportion, I have just found my new favourite cake shop!! I happened to hear about Beatrix from a colleague who mentioned wonderful biscuits they made according to the Beatrix cook book. Quick to look the business and pay a visit, I certainly was not disappointed. The brownie was superb, with a hint of espresso and chocolaty rich as it should be. Luckily the shop is a little bit of a stroll away, otherwise you might find me there every day.

3 years... It took me 3 years to get here. I read an article about this place back then and only…read morechecked it out early last year. All that time I could have been enjoying wonderful, delicious cakes. This place has an older fashion vibe that feels like you're at grandma's place. The back wall is covered in old beaters (the kind before electricity), simple furniture, quiet neighbourhood, and everyone is friendly! Even the customers are really friendly to other customers. It makes for such a good community feel. They have such a great variety of cakes on offer, all made on site. Some are hard to find though. They usually have a list on the wall near the till saying what's on offer. Two things to look out for: Glim Glams and vanilla slice. The Glim Glams are their (better) version of Tim Tams with 24c gold leaf, hence the name, and they are amazing. The vanilla slice I often describe as the best vanilla slice on the planet. Better than my mums! I've had them from Aussie bakeries to French patisseries but no one is as good as Beatrix. The pastry is the perfect balance of flaky, buttery, and stability. The custard is the perfect texture and the passion fruit icing is genius! The right amount of sweetness but with delicious sourness that cuts through everything. Damn they are so good! If a paragraph just on their vanilla slice wasn't enough to make you want to go then I'll eat your vanilla slice for you!

Baker D has been a favourite carb heaven for many years, but I love it especially more at Easter…read morewhen they bring out their hot cross buns. Dense, fruit-packed with some decent spice, these are always a crowd pleaser with the grown-ups at Easter time. While you may need to take out a second mortgage (you'll need $20 to buy a half dozen) they're well worth the investment as they'll last for several days on the bench in their bag waiting for someone to say "is it time for a cup of tea and a hot crossie?"

I'm am proud to say that this is my local bakery. Friendly staff, wonderful bread and pastries. So…read morefar I've tried their sourdough, caneles, pain au chocolat - and the best, ever Christmas fruit mince pies. Can't have enough of those mince pies.

Not bad but I definitely had better. I've had these products a thousand of times elsewhere so I'm…read morea tough customer. The mochi was really disappointing. I had the egg tart, and the best item was the sponge cupcake.

I'm normally very conscious of eating healthily, but I make the exception for a bit of Breadtop…read more It's a bakery but it's very typically Chinese version of what bakeries tend to be like here. There's lots of buns, cakes, bread, pastries and croissants on offer, but the name of the game is sugar and soft, light and fluffy. The Breadtop experience is the opposite of the artisan bakery movement that is gaining ever increasing vitality in Melbourne. That's not to say that it is bad. It's absolutely delicious and certainly has its place in the great bake-off competition in this town, but it's all style over substance. All the ingredients taste overly refined - very refined flours and sugars, overly sweet toppings, plastic-y cheese bits. And somehow it all comes together beautifully and ends up as tasty, naughty doughy treats. The set up is fun too. Grab a tray and some plastic tongs, whip open the cabinets you like the look of, and select your own pastries and buns. Take your selection to the counter, pay and go. Easy.

I fall into the same trap every time I visit the QV via the Big W escalators out on the corner of…read moreSwanston and Lonsdale - I end up coming up the escalators from inside the QV and am faced with the shining beacon of sugary doughy glazed treats that is Breadtop at the top of those escalators. It's then near impossible to change trajectory as I step straight off the escalator and into Breadtop and am propelled by forces beyond my control, tongs in hand, ready to fill my Breadtop plastic tray with all manner of naughty things. I usually end up with at least one each of the tuna roll, the spring onion and mayo/cream cheese roll, a donut twist and an almond croissant. These are my tried and tested winners. For now.

I strolled past Bread Top today and was sucked in by the light reflecting off a glazed treat (Well…read morethat's my story and i'm sticking to it). Breadtop is an Asian bakery that is here to impress, popular amongst some... it is some interesting cuisine at first glance... You have savoury items such as the Sacha Pork Floss Bun and Chicken Puff but whats more appealing is the sweet stuff, Milky custard buns and my favourite the 'blueberry yogurt bun'. Yum! They have a large assortment of sweets that won't set you back too much, the cakes presentation wise are glamorous and available for purchase. They focus mainly on fruit as a decorative resource which adds a lot of colour to their cakes but after laying eyes on the ice-cream cake (ice-cream scoops toppled one atop of another in the form of a giant cake), i know where im getting my next birthday cake!

French Quarter is an east meet west French style pattiserrie. When I visited I had come in for…read morecoffee but was tempted by the mini strawberry tart for $2. I gulped this down while waiting for my coffee. Perfect size for little mouth of course, I picked up another four on my way home for my kids lunch box treats. There is a petit four tray for $7.50 which contains 4 selection of their mini tarts and eclairs. Savoury wise, there was cheese and prosciutto brioche ( I would eat anything on a good brioche) and a veg savoury tart. Lovely and simple little shop, mainly good if you are looking for a cheap and delicious afternoon tea. It's nothing fancy or elaborate like the nearby Beatrix, but it's a good option as they are open till later (5pm) and the cakes are fresh and just perfect .

Coming to the French Quarter is like taking a quick trip to Paris, but without the traffic…read moreproblems... I stumbled on The French Quarter when waiting for my car service to finish. The car place mucked up programming the key, so I got to come back! Every cloud, silver lining and all that :-) Loooove the pastries here, very French, even the seats are French Cafe. And the 57 tram goes right to the door. The petit fours are excellent - they really don't last very long though... And the coffee is quite okay too. But the pastries are why you really need to come here ;-)

Solid brunch place with some inventive breakfast items on a cool street. Ordered the babaganoush…read morebreakfast plate with two poached eggs on top of toast with grilled halloumi and a smear of babganoush on the bottom of the plate. It was tasty but the threw all of the items on the two pieces of toast piled on top of one another - like they were in too big a rush to notice or care and I had to reconstruct it myself. Would have liked a bit more of the eggplant spread given that it was featured in the menu listing up front and not barely enough to call it a condiment. Coffee looked pretty but was just okay. Nice place overall.

Great little place. Long line moves fast. Delicious inventive babaganoush poached egg brekkie…read more Also very generous portion of side smoked salmon. Great service and lively atmosphere. Definitely a worthwhile experience.