Eat, Pray, Love

Trading hours: 1pm-11pm (Mon-Sun) 

5. Adriano Zumbo
Zumbaron is the special name of macaron created by Adriano Zumbo, one of the guest judges who appeared in the first series of MasterChef Australia. He is a patissier who has great passion for dessert and started his apprenticeship at the age of 15. If you are observant enough, you would have noticed the various premix pack to make macarons and cakes on the shelf of local supermarkets (Coles, Woolworths). 

At The Star outlet, there is a dessert train for the cake lovers whereby you get to choose the desserts off the moving belt. You can choose as many desserts as you like, but do mind that this is not a buffet and you have to pay for the individual dessert you have taken. Please note that the dessert train is only opened on Fridays and weekends.  

View from the exterior

Interior display

Aside from dessert train, you can buy zumbarons from the outlet. Interestingly, as few as one zumbaron you have bought, they do provide you with a box instead of just a plastic bag. According to the store assistant, the popular flavour is the salted caramel. Since it is fresh, as I bite on the macaron, the shell collapses and the salted caramel filling is pushed into my mouth. When I further bite it, the chewiness comes by and that makes the macaron perfect! 

Salted caramel zumbaron

A pack of 6 Zumbarons

Website: http://adrianozumbo.com/ 
Address: Shop 1, Cafe Court, The Star, 80 Pyrmont Street, Pyrmont NSW 
Trading hours: 
- Patisserie: 11am-10pm (Mon), 11am-11pm (Tues-Thurs), 11am-Midnight (Fri-Sat), 11am-9pm (Sun) 
- Dessert Train: 6pm-11.30pm (Fri), 2pm-11.30pm (Sat), 12pm-6.30pm (Sun) 



5. Flour and Stone Patisserie

Situated in Woolloomooloo, this patisserie is popular for its panna cotta lamington. The lamington is huge but yet not overpoweringly sweet. It consists of 2 layers of sponge-like cake, layered and coated with chocolate, finished with shredded coconut. Definitely a good idea for an afternoon tea, especially if you are near Hyde Park. 

Aside from lamington, they do provide cookies, savoury pies and tarts, cakes and scones.  

Panna cotta lamington

Website: http://www.flourandstone.com.au/ 
Address:53 Riley St, Woolloomooloo
Trading hours: 7am-4pm (Mon-Fri), 8am-4pm (Sat) 



6. La Renaissance
La Renaissance is a small patisserie at quaint The Rocks precinct. Even though the patisserie itself is small, but the outdoor seating area at the back has the old Victorian style. Do take note that customers who opt for a takeaway are not eligible to sit at the seating area. 

The products of this patisserie include hand crafted cakes, macarons and flans. Its popular item is the mille feuille, also known as vanilla slice or the Napoleon. It consists of layers of delicate puff pastry and vanilla creme patisserie dusted with icing sugar. La Renaissance's specialty is French based desserts and hence its mille feuille will fare better than other bakeries. 

The mille feuille is crunchy and the light cream fits the pastry nicely, creating a good soft and hard combination. It is light, fresh and not too sweet.  

Mille Feuille

Website: http://larenaissance.com.au/
Address: 47 Argyle Street, The Rocks 
Trading hours: 8am-6pm (Mon-Sun)  



7. Pancake on the Rocks
Do you know where is the best place to go for supper late at night or dinner when almost all restaurants are closed at wee hour of the day? In Australia, pancake houses are always good choices because they open 24 hours per day and 7 days per week. Pancake houses in Australia are brainchildren of Mr Meadmore. The idea was triggered during his driving trip in America whereby he noticed the pancake-eating obsession of local Americans. 

Pancake on the Rocks has 2 choices of pancakes to choose from, buttermilk pancakes and the famous chocolate pancakes. Besides pancakes, they do serve crepes, pizzas, salads and ribs. 

We ordered the Blueberry Heaven. There were 2 buttermilk pancakes with blueberries in sauce, served with cream and vanilla ice cream. The buttermilk pancakes were fluffy and light. Even though the blueberry sauce was slightly sweet, it fitted well with the unsweetened pancakes. 

Blueberry heaven

Since it was dinner time and we queued up almost 1 hour for seating, we were so hungry and decided to go for a savoury chicken and bacon pizza. The pizza had chicken breast pieces with bacon bits, fresh and sundried tomatoes, marinated mushrooms, tomato salsa on a guacamole and mozzarella cheese base. It was topped with sour cream, guacamole and shallots. The pizza was not too bad on overall. 


Aside from Blueberry Heaven, we did order another buttermilk pancake but this time with fresh strawberries, cream, vanilla ice cream and strawberry coulis. It was the Strawberry Patch. Again, it was a little bit too sweet to my liking. 

Strawberry patch

My favourite pancake from the pancake house is the Devils Delight. It has the famous chocolate pancakes with strawberries, chocolate ice cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce. If you are a chocolate lover, you will love this absolute chocolate pancake. 

Devils Delight

Website: http://www.pancakesontherocks.com.au/
Address: 227 & 229-230 Harbourside Shopping Centre, Darling Harbour
Trading hours: Open 24 hours (Sun-Mon)



8. Black Star Pastry
Nestled in Newtown, the food heaven of USyd students, Black Star Pastry offers its customers with varieties of pastries and cakes. Among all its creations, the strawberry watermelon cake is the famous one. Due to its popularity, I made a trip there just for the cake. 

The strawberry watermelon cake has tiramisu-like moist cake layered with rose-scented vanilla cream and watermelon. On its top is strawberry slices on bed of strawberry jelly, finished with rose petals. This is such a wonderful creation! With every bite, the scent of rose, sweetness of strawberry and watermelon, soft texture of cake just exude the uniqueness of the cake. It is definitely a must-try if you drop by Newtown! 

Strawberry watermelon cake with rose scented cream

Website: http://blackstarpastry.com.au/
Address: 277 Australia Street, Newtown
Trading hours: 7am-5pm (Sun-Mon) 



9. Guylian Chocolate Cafe

Guylian is a renowned chocolate brand which uses the finest Belgian chocolate. Guylian seashell is undoubtedly its signature chocolate, which also coincides with its support for seahorses conservation work in the world. 

Aside from Guylian chocolate cafe, Lindt does open its chocolate cafe in Sydney. These 2 brands produce premium quality of chocolate and it is worth visiting either one of both stores.

At Guylian cafe, we ordered the Belgian waffle. It came with praline ice cream, chocolate dip and whipped cream. Different from the traditional Belgian waffle that I have eaten before, this waffle did not have pearl sugar within. It was sprinkled with icing sugar instead. 

Unique Belgian Waffle

Visiting a Guylian chocolate store, you wouldn't want to miss the Guylian Chocolate Special.  It comes with layers of yogurt, mixed berry fruit, raspberry sauce, chocolate milk and topped with whipped cream. On its side is a Guylian praliné chocolate. The yogurt and mixed berry fruit balance the sweetness of chocolate milk, conferring the mixture of mild sour and sweet taste. A great drink which symbolizes Guylian chocolate.  

Guylian Chocolate Special

The chai latte comes with a sweet offering of Guylian chocolate. The chai is mild in flavour and can warm you up on a cold winter day. 

Chai latte

Website: http://www.guyliancafe.com.au/ 
Address: 1-25, Harbour Street, Sydney
Trading hours: 8am-late (Sun-Sat) 



10. Bondi Surf Seafoods
What to do when you are strolling along Bondi beach and your dessert craving strikes? No problem, have a fried Mars bar at Bondi Surf Seafoods! Check out here for my experience.

Fried Mars Bar

11. Chat Thai
If you are wondering what dessert to eat for supper, Chat Thai might be a good idea as it offers Thai desserts after 10pm. Mhmmmm, needless to say, Thai dessert will surely salivate you and satisfy your cravings! 

May this blog post be a saviour to you who have a sweet tooth at any time of the day. Enjoy!

Love, Victoria