Tuesday 20 March 2018

Bourke Street Bakery, Surry Hills, Sydney

Ever since I received a copy of the Bourke Street Bakery cookbook many years ago, I have dreamed of visiting the bakery.  On our recent trip to Sydney, I found that many of the places we wanted to visit on a Sunday opened at 10am but the Bourke Street Bakery opened at 7am.  It seemed the perfect way to spend an early Sunday morning.

We took the bus to Bourke Street in Surry Hills to visit the original bakery, though there are now quite a lot of Bourke Street Bakeries around Sydney in various locations.  The bakery is surprisingly small with a few small tables inside and more tables outside.  The array of tempting breads, savoury pastries and sweet treats is huge.  Fortunately when we walked in, there was no queue and a table inside.

It didn't take me long to choose.  I loved sausage rolls before going vegetarian and now I love trying vegetarian versions.  The Bourke Street Bakery offered a vegetarian Eggplant, chickpea, feta and spinach sausage roll for a reasonable $5.  Tomato sauce was 20c extra but it was home made and generous.

Compared to most other brunch options, this was most satisfying and good value for money.  It is a sausage roll filling that I would never have thought of but it was really substantial and delicious with a wonderful flaky pastry.  The bakery offered a few other options such as spinach and mushroom quiche and spicy spinach and eggplant turnovers. I didn't find out what the sandwich options and vegetable salad was but I would be willing to give them a go too.

Sylvia chose a pain au chocolat.  I had a taste and it was excellent.  We also ordered an old school lemonade which was quite tart and very refreshing.

When we arrived and there was no queue I thought I would take photos later but then the queues started and filled the store for most of the rest of our visit.  When we decided to take away some bakes, I had to join the queue to purchase them.  But by then we were well sated and the queue moved steadily.  And the ambiance and service were really lovely too.

Sylvia chose a Italian meringue raspberry cream tart that was very good.  I only got a small mouthful but I really liked the fruity raspberry filling.  She was pretty happy eating it as soon as she could sit down, even though it was for later.

I had a chocolate and sour cherry cookie.  It sat in my bag for hours in a paper bag and by the time I ate it, the cookie was a bit dry.  I was really sad because I have admired this cookie in the cookbook for so long.  I like to think it would be much nicer if I had eaten it sooner.  Especially as everything else we tasted was amazing.

Lastly I bought a Semi-Sour Baguette.  This was an excellent choice to see us through the day.  It stuck out of my bag and I found Sylvia behind me nibbling the end of it quite a few times.  A satisfying breakfast and some good bread was enough to see us through a lot of the day without having to sit down for lunch.

Later I found there was a Bourke Street Bakery quite near the Aquarium which was our next stop.  However I was pleased to have visited the Surry Hills bakery, not just because it was the original but also to enjoy walking through the leafy streets of terrace houses and reflect just how many changes this suburb must have seen since Ruth Park wrote her classic Sydney novel, A Harp in the South. While it is easy to moan about gentrification and rising real estate prices in such inner suburbs, gems like the Bourke Street Bakery ease the pain.

Read more about my recent Sydney visit.

Bourke Street Bakery Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Bourke Street Bakery
633 Bourket Street
Surry Hills, Sydney
+61 2 9699 1011
bourkestreetbakery.com.au

7 comments:

  1. I hadn't heard of the gardens but I have heard of this bakery - which probably says something terrible about my cultural state and priority of food!! I'm glad you enjoyed your choices.

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  2. I loved the Bourke St Bakery too and also have the book. Their gingerbread man recipe is my go to for gingerbread men. Their sausage roll recipes are also fab.

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  3. Wow I think it is fab, to go and eat at a place from where you have a cookbook. I felt like that when I visited Demuths in Bath. What an interesting change for a sausage roll filling, glad you liked it. We don't appreciate aubergines very much in the UK. Made me chuckle that Sylvia nibbled the baguette. i have been known to do that in the past. Its interesting what you wrote about gentrification and rising prices. I was reading an article about an area of Cardiff with a long street called City Road the home of many visible minority ethnic communities that have made it their homes and set up businesses; and unhappy about rising house prices due to external 'agencies' moving in and turning it into a hippy spot, shooting up prices - but your right amongst these places you will find gems.

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  4. I used to live not a million miles away, but never visited - do they have any vegan options that I missed out on?! It would be so nice to talk a walk around the suburbs again. I think it's the highest compliment for bread that you can't get it all the way home without taking a piece off!

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    1. I think there might be vegan sandwiches and salads but did not check! And I think some of the bread would be vegan - honestly I was a bit overwhelmed at all the food so could not take it all in.

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  5. I've not heard of this place before. It sounds lovely. The veg 'sausage' roll sounds delicious and that bread looks amazing

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