Having recently concluded my tour of North King St with Cafe Newtown, today I started the southbound journey – the side of King St with which I am far less familiar. And so, I approached the fork in the road excitedly wondering what the first cafe would be. My face fell: it was a Bourke Street Bakery on the entrance corner of a shopping arcade. I was like “Noo… that’s not a real cafe.” Don’t get me wrong, I remember the original Bourke Street Bakery, on Bourke Street. My friend’s sister used to work there and would often bring home these amazing house-baked goodies in the evening. It certainly was a real cafe. But, after a string of bad experiences at Alexandria, Banksmeadow, Parramatta, and also one in the CBD years ago, I was starting to think Bourke Street Bakery was just another way of saying “home brand”. So I literally did a triple take around the block to make sure there wasn’t another, more legitimate, cafe around. I seriously considered skipping the BSB altogether and jumping straight to Corelli’s (with which I am familiar). But no, I needed to give it a fair go. I remembered my own advice re Black Star Pastry: only great things ever get the chance to sell out. So in I went, and was pleasantly surprised. 90s grunge rock was pumping (or grinding, whatever grunge does). The staff team looked like a badass girl band. The cakes and snacks in the window all had a uniquely-odd handcrafted look about them. Then the guy who picked up his coffee just ahead of me literally popped back in a few seconds after he left to say thanks to the barista for such an excellent coffee. He was either hitting on her or legitimately impressed. Cautiously optimistic, I sipped my coffee… and tasted an impressively bold coffee flavour. The guy was right, it was great! The toddler had already devoured most of the banana bread before I got to it, squished and a little cool, and yet it was perfectly moist, just the right density and sweetness. Perfect. This list is just full of surprises and I’ve gotta say, this one takes the bread ðŸ¤
Coffee: 1
BB: 1