I have been told how good the cakes at Brunetti are by several others. So given what a gorgeous warm afternoon it was today, I decided to stop by for a coffee and 'une petit' treat.
Brunetti City Square, as it is referred to on their website, resides on the corner of Flinders Lane and Swanston Street. There is an upstairs seating room as well as an outside patio area with plenty of tables. At the back there is a bench piled high with broadsheets and tabloids, providing free reading material for paying customers.
It's a self service style café, where customers place their orders (of savoury and/or sweet) at the patisserie counter and wait at the bar to collect their drinks.
Everything here looks utterly delectable. There is a vast array of sweet mignons (dainties) which all look adoringly irresistible. As usual, I want to have more than one. But in the end, it was a toss up between the 'Vanilla Custard Tart' and the 'White & Dark Chocolate Mousse'.
Seeing as I have to watch my (non-existent) waistline, I stuck with just the Vanilla Custard Tart. At $1.80, this is hardly indulgent. I ordered a skinny flat white (at what seems to be the standard Melbourne price of $3.50), picked up my Vanilla Custard Tart and made my way to the bar to collect my beverage.
There were a few seats available outside and I chose a seat at the back along the pretty mosaic tiled communal table.
The Vanilla Custard Tart has a trio of layers - a short crust pastry base, a custard centre and a gelatin top with sour cherries. With all the different textures and sweet flavours, this little tart comes together beautifully. The pastry was slightly chewy, the vanilla custard was delicious - not too sweet at all, and the cherries were the right side of sour. It reminded me of a good old fashioned English custard tart, only with sour cherries on top.
(I forgot to take a picture before I stirred my coffee,
but at least I remembered before I ate my tart!)
My skinny flat white coffee was creamy yet strong. There wasn't any bitterness and it was the perfect accompaniment to my delicious sweet treat.
I can honestly say that I will definitely be back to try the White & Dark Chocolate mousse. And I will most probably go out of my way to pass this cafe on several other occasions, just so I can try the many other gorgeous things on offer. A girl can never have enough cake you know?!
A cautionary note of warning: Just watch out for the greedy pigeons that flock here too!
241 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, VIC 3000
Tel: +61 (0)3 9663 8085
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