Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Bourke Street Bakery, Surry Hills

Hey all,

Did everyone enjoy the Melbourne Cup public holiday today? I know I did =)

Anyway, I know I said that I would just do recipes for the next month but I realised my leftover Sydney posts (except for our Marque degustation) were pretty short so I thought I'd share them anyway cause it wouldn't take up too much of my study time =D So, yeah. Will be going back and forth between reviews/recipes again hehe.


After our really enjoyable lunch at Bills, we decided to take a walk around the Surry Hills area and find our way to Bourke Street Bakery (BSB) to have some tart and pastry goodness to share. It was the perfect weather anyway so I really loved the walk there, just soaking up the sun and enjoying the company I was with =)

Almost every person I know who's visited Sydney has been to BSB so I was really excited to give it a try. Thankfully we had that nice walk to give us time to digest before eating again. Here's a look at the food we ordered and really enjoyed...


Top Left: Ginger Brûlée Tart; Bottom Left: Lemon Curd Tart; Right: Rhubarb and Almond Tart

Ginger Brûlée Tart:
AMAZING! The ginger wasn't too sharp or overpowering and was just nice and faint enough like your favourite gingernut biscuits. I thought it was creative of them to use ginger in their custard. Also, I've always loved brûlée tarts more than crème brûlée because it's more interesting to eat. You get contrasting textures from the crunchy top/pastry and then the smooth, silky custard in between. YUM

Lemon Curd Tart:
This was great too I love how silky the curd looked and taste. The curd was nice and cold and had perfectly set consistency. Flavour wise, the curd was tangy and citric and had a good balance of sweetness too. Just nice mmm

Rhubarb and Almond Tart:
Yay for sweet and soft rhubarb. But what I loved most about this was the aftertaste from the almond meal mmm...

BEST thing about these tarts was how incredibly crumbly the pastry were. They reaaaaaally made their shortcrust pastry very well, delicioso~~


Before the "unveiling" of the Pie... ;p


Beef Pie

Beef chunks weren't dry or flaky, and I enjoyed the gravy in the pie as well. It's nice getting occasional bites of chunky mushroom too mmm...


Chicken, Pea, Sweet Potato and Lime Pickle Pie

As much as I enjoyed the good ol' classic Beef Pie, I liked this one sooo much more. This pie was SOOO NICE. The chicken was fantastic and moist and there were lots of pepper too. But best of all, the sweet potato gave a lovely creamy texture to the filling and had so much flavour YUUUUM. I loved it and I would definitely recommend this.

Again, the pies were really nice and flakey and I knew that my Mum would enjoy this. I always value the pastry for pies/tarts just as much as the fillings, which was what this place executed really well and what makes them so famous! Both shortcrust and puff.


We were really enjoying our day and our time in Sydney =)

Overall, lovely dining experience was shared with lovely people. To be honest, I would actually recommend people to do the same thing we did if they were to visit Sydney too, i.e. to go to Bills for lunch before taking a short walk straight to Bourke Street Bakery to enjoy some "after lunch snacks" haha...

Hope you all enjoy the rest of your week!
To working adults: Have a great remainder to the week "post-Melbourne Cup"
To students: All the best with your upcoming exams!!



Peace!
Winston =)

Bourke Street Bakery on Urbanspoon

29 comments :

Michelle Chin said...

the pie looks really hearty and juicy. not to mention, the flaky crust.

Anonymous said...

Yes, I've heard great things about Bourke St Bakery too so glad you've confirmed my decision make a trip there when next in Sydney :)

Winston said...

@michelle: yes, both the filling and pastry were perfect! a really well made and yummy pie hehe... i wished melbourne had as good of a pie place as this

@ames: yes...! this place definitely lives up to the hype and they're really good at what they do. let me know your thoughts once you've paid them a visit, i'm sure you'll enjoy it! =D

Libby said...

Oh wow... I don't MEAN to make a double entendre but damn, these are some mighty fine-looking tarts *drools*

Winston said...

Thanks heaps, Libby! Your comments made me LOL because it's fun to read people's honest excitement over food hahaha... What more do we need, right? Hope you're enjoying the rest of your week! =D

Unknown said...

It all looks so delicious! I love a good citrus tart but I wold have to try the "Ginger Brulee" for sure, it would be magic.

We have a gorgeous bakery in Coffs Harbour called KPane and they make the most unbelievable pastry and tarts too!! Yum!

Winston said...

WOW! I've never heard of KPane but I totally trust your judgement. Hopefully I get to try that one day!! It sounds AMAZING!! It seriously is fun to eat at delicious bakeries like these. Happy eating!! =D

Iron Chef Shellie said...

Ahhhh.... love this place!! we got there too early for pies =( i have the cookbook though ;)

Winston said...

Ohhhh cool! I didn't know they had a cookbook too. Have you made anything from it? Are they easy to make? Hahaha... Well at least you got to sample some of their other stuff. I'm sure it's awesome. Eh Michele we've really got similar foodie itineraries when it comes to Sydney! Glad you had this on your list too =D

Fatbooo said...

Mmm... pies and tarts... that's good enough for me to warrant a visit!

Winston said...

Haha... Great! I hope you get to visit them, am sure you'll love it. MAN why doesn't Melbourne have a bakery place as good as this? Or is there one already that I don't know about... Want PIE NOW! =O

Quay Po Cooks said...

I love creme brulee and made my own. I have not tasted ginger brulee before. Sounds good to me and now you get me curious how it taste. I have to go search for a good recipe and make this at home:D Glad you have wonderful day in Sydney. How sweet of you to think of your mum when you eat delicious food like this. I think your mum will love your thoughts of her even more:D

Winston said...

Hi Quay Po! Good to hear from you again haha... Yes, it was actually nice having the ginger to give it some tang as long as it is balanced by the sweetness because after all, it is still a dessert. I know that BSB has a cookbook but if you find another recipe and make them, do let me know I'd be keen to try too! =D

And thank you for your comment on my sentiments towards my Mum. I was thinking about Mum and Dad a lot during the trip because they've mentioned so many times how they've always wanted to go to Sydney so I've really really dreamed of bringing them there one day. I'm sure they'll love the wonderful city =)

Adrian (Food Rehab) said...

aaah this place was worth the queue huh?! I made the most of it by getting both savoury and sweet stuff. Yes! Loved the lemon tart too!

Winston said...

Yes we've heard about Qs there but fortunately for us there wasn't actually a line there that day, woo hoo! Maybe cause we got there in the mid arvo after lunch time? Oh gosh tell me about the lemon tart. Glad you're a fan of them too! Someone should really open a bakery like this in Melb CBD, there's such a business opportunity right there! =D

Vivian - vxdollface said...

Yes! Bourke St is a must when visiting Sydney :D the sausage rolls are legendary as well, you should try them when you're next in Syd! I've got the BSB cookbook at home but I haven't made anything from it yet since all the tarts etc make 20-30 and I'm not prepared to eat them over a period for breakfast, lunch and tea haha

Winston said...

HAHAHA! That's a lot a lot of tarts but omg that'd be awesome though... I'd love to know how they made their pastries they were SO good... Wahhh those sausage rolls sound too good, I'll absolutely need to try them next time I'm in Sydney, which might be quite soon actually if all goes well... Time to hit up this joint again woo hoo. You're so lucky to have BSB in Sydney, yay! =)

Anonymous said...

Aaaaaah, pastries! I especially love the British pies. Reminds me of my childhood in the UK. Good times. (Chicken and Mushroom Pie, I Love You). And this place looks so... I don't know. Dainty. Pretty. Sweet and Homey. We have plenty of those artisanal boulangeries back in France. :) Thank you for this lovely discovery; the list of places to visit in Australia goes on and on thanks to you! :)

Winston said...

Hahaha, yes! My thoughts exactly. I'm so glad to find that this place looked the way it looks. Simple and humble serving honest food with a friendly smile hehe... When it comes to pastries, you seem to be the person to talk to about them because I hear no one does pastries like the French!! I must go there one day haha...

Oh, I hope my series of Sydney posts don't lead you to that city alone. There's lots of great places in Melb too that I haven't blogged about so you should definitely stop by this marvellous city too if you get the chance hehe... Have a good one, Marie-Anne! =D

Bianca @ The Cooking Capers said...

Sooooooo jealous! I went to Sydney over new years and nothing was open! :( I wanted to go here so bad, but they were closed the whole time I was there -shakes fist-! Those pies look absolutely amazing, I think I would die for one of those, hah!

P.S. MELBOURNE is better than Sydney!! EVERYONE COME TO MELBOURNE! Hah! :P

Winston said...

Hahahhaa... Way to go, Bianca! Melbourne, represent! w00t w00t hehehe... It's too bad that it wasn't open when you were there, I hope you get a chance to go next time I'm sure you'll love it. After all, pie makes ppl happy... And a friggin GOOD one makes ppl ECSTATIC! Which was how I felt hehehe... Happy eating, wherever you are! =D

The InTolerant Chef ™ said...

These look really lovely, not typical mass-produced commercial types. The chunks of meat in the pies is great, and I love the idea of the lime pickle, yumm....

Winston said...

Oh, yes. Not at all! You can tell that these pies were really something else. if only I could make something like this at home =( Maybe one day haha =D And I agree with you on the lime pickle. We don't normally see lime pickle very much so this was great haha =)

Sarah said...

Glad you are finding time to do recipes and reviews because I love reading your writing! Good luck studying!!

Winston said...

Awww thanks so much, Sarah! You're always so kind and encouraging with your comments and I love your recipes/writing too! I'm glad we've got to be in this blogging community with you. Thanks for everything and have a great one over there! =D

Tenina said...

Last time I went to Sydney I made an excursion to here….YUM…great pics Winston!

Winston said...

Oh hi, Tenina! How are you? Haha... Thanks for the compliment. It's really great to hear because I'm a fan of your photography and especially your food styling too! Thanks for dropping by looking forward to more of your yummy creations =)

msihua said...

Nooo! You should have tried the harissa lamb pie as well! MMmmm.. pawned the ass of the chicken pie!!!

Winston said...

Wait! I seriously don't remember seeing lamb pie there when I went... You telling me there prolly was lamb pie but SOLD OUT?!?!?! Nuuuuuuuuuuu............ I may be going there soon again so I HAVE to try it now. Thanks, I-Hua!! =D

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