If you’ve read my previous post, you probably know that I was recently in Surry Hills. Being there, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to visit this French bakery I’ve read about on Facebook. To be honest, it is SO HARD to find good pastries here in Sydney. Why is that?! I was so disappointed when I found out that most (like 99%) cafes sell defrosted commercially-made cakes and pastries. So when I see any sign of something being made in-house, that really gets me excited! 🙂
Lavie & Belle Bakery is a cute front-shop bakery with just a few seats on the sidewalk and is owned by a French baker. I had the chance to converse with a very kind lady behind the counter in French which was nice. I didn’t think I would be speaking so much French here in Australia but I have quite a few times in the (almost) 5 months of being here.
They have a variety of breads, Viennese pastries and cakes on display. Everything looks very rustic and homemade which has a nice appeal. I would think that this is what a typical local bakery in France would sell too.
I ordered a pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant), a few chouquettes(hallow choux buns covered in coarse sugar(not sure if this is the correct translation of sucre en grain), a chocolate eclair and a lemon tart. The pain au chocolat was so flaky, buttery and had great quality chocolate sticks on the inside . You can tell they use really good ingredients. The chouquettes could’ve had some more sugar for my liking but that’s just personal preference. Although the eclair shell was soft, the chocolate pastry cream was plentiful and chocolaty. I didn’t personally have the lemon tart (it’s my mum’s fave) but I was told that it was nice and lemony but unfortunately maybe due to the transportation of the tart back home, it was slightly crushed and mushy.
The locals of Surry Hills are definitely lucky to have this bakery nearby. I will definitely be going back if I’m feeling for an authentic pain au chocolat!
