Local bakeries should all be like Bourke Street, which stuffs its small corner shop with impressive artisan breads, pastries and gourmet goods that keep the Surry Hills regulars coming back time and again. The brainchild of breadmaker Paul Allan (ex-Bird Cow Fish) and pastry whiz David McGuinness (ex-Victoire bakery), who met while working at the Brasserie Bread Company, the bakery cafe offers a leafy position and community atmosphere that feels almost as organic as many of the ingredients, including Kialla organic flour from Queensland. Space is tight, but somehow not cramped, and you can curl up in the window-box bench seats with the Sydney Morning Herald, a chocolate croissant and an espresso made from quality Belle Caffe beans. Look to the blackboards for the daily sandwich and salad specials - last spotted was a lamb mince, iceberg lettuce, pearl barley, almond and artichoke salad with lemon dressing - or tuck into the gourmet meat pies or the pork-and-fennel sausage rolls. With prices rarely breaking the $7.50 barrier, you're certain to have enough spare cash to grab a Belgian hot chocolate, any of the several types of sourdough (white, rye caraway apple and oat, walnut and current, soy linseed or wholemeal) and a pastry snail and be on your merry way.
Michael Shafran
Open
m
t
w
t
f
s
s
Breakfast
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
Lunch
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
Dinner
Late
Mon-Fri 7am-6pm Sat-Sun 8am-5pm
Cafe and Patisserie
Signature dish: Pork and fennel sausage roll
Cuisine notes: Bakery
All reviews and ratings are the expressed opinions of our users, and in no way reflects the opinions of yourRestaurants, its staff and its affiliates.
Posted by:
jpsw
|
12 December 2008, 12.02pm
Great for takeaway
This place has quickly become an institution. The inside is cramped and I have never stayed for food, but the food is delicious and pretty well priced. Coffee is tasty, there is always a queue out the door. The staff seem to be students, often hungover and grumpy, this is a place where the cool and informed rather than the chirpy and friendly work. But they do their job, I'm there for the pastry anyway...
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Visit: Fri 12 December 2008
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Posted by:
tighesy
|
16 March 2008, 2.16pm
Cheerful on a Sunday?
Pasiphae, ichiban and Surry Foodie, I hear you loud and clear!
Since I'm a dedicated foodie, I often read about great places to head for tasty food. It doesn't matter how far I need to go as long as the trip is worth it, in order to sink my teeth into some mouthwatering delights.
Bourke Street Bakery has been recommended countless times as the one of the best bakeries Sydney. So today we decided to head across the bridge to experience what all the fuss is about.
Let me start with the positive: wonderful food. I could keep writing for pages, on how fantastic the food is, but that is well known, and the chefs should be praised for their efforts.
I prefer on this occasion, to talk about the negative: the service. Visiting on a sunny Sunday morning, when most people's attitudes are at their best, the staff seemed as though they had all woken up on the wrong side of the bed.
It may have just been this staff member I lucked out on? No, my friends also had similar bad attitude from another.
A great food establishment in Sydney, has attentive and friendly service, not only excellent food. Unfortunately, even though the food is great, the service is enough to keep you away.
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Visit: Sun 16 March 2008
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Posted by:
pasiphae
|
28 June 2007, 4.27pm
stunning pastry. awful service.
I have to echo what several others have written. This is some of the most wonderful pastry and bread in Sydney. Great ingredients, great produce.
But being groovy and hip doesn't neccessarily mean having to be rude and/or disinterested. Indeed, because I don't come to your shop every day, or know the produce and menu off by heart, or fumble with my order and my change - does that mean you have to be condescending and ever-so-slightly arrogant?
Crack a smile once or twice, hell, even just be pleasant. You'll get repeat customers who love your product, even if they're not as hip as you.
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Visit: Thu 28 June 2007
Mealtime: lunch
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Posted by:
annamg
|
11 November 2006, 3.04pm
Amazing Bread, What a Find!
I don't know if the other reviewers have just had bad luck but as furniture hunters who discovered this cafe/bread shop last year - we are hooked. The atmosphere is charming and we have always found the staff delightful - down to earth, friendly and professional. Would recommend to locals and visitors alike.
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Visit: Sat 11 November 2006
Mealtime: breakfast
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Posted by:
M T
|
8 September 2006, 12.43pm
Trendoids
It must firstly be said that the food here is really very good. It is not somewhere I usually go, however. There is usually a queue of young Surry Hills trendoids jostling for position. It is expensive and frankly too much of an effort.
Food:
Visit: Sat 12 August 2006
Mealtime: breakfast
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Atmosphere:
Posted by:
Surry Foodie
|
3 September 2006, 7pm
Talk about rude!
I would like to echo the comments posted by Ichiban. Bourke Street Bakery has wonderful food, but sadly the rudest staff I've ever encountered. Certainly there's a lot of pressure to cope with in the shop, with huge numbers of customers lining up and very little space to work in. But does this give staff the right to be incredibly rude and consistantly discourteous? I don't think so. I'm not asking for a massive smile, just not to be yelled, snarled at, or made to look like an idiot. Sometime's it's not worth the punishment.
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Visit: Sun 3 September 2006
Mealtime: brunch
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Posted by:
fandango
|
14 August 2006, 10.01pm
How many staff can you fit behind a counter?
I live and work in Surry Hills and I visit the Bourke Street Bakery almost daily in my 'quest' to sample absolutely everything that this little goldmine has to offer. No doubt about it, this place PUMPS!
Finally an eatery in Surry Hills that offers so many delights for under $8.
More often than not there is a queue out the door but the lines move quickly and frankly this time is needed to make up one's mind whilst wrapped in the aroma of freshly baked goods.
With a style reminiscent of 'gay pari', the windows are stacked full of delicious breads and the staff are never short on great suggestions for presenting the perfect platter.
If bread delivery was an olympic sport this team would take the cake, pun intended! They are fast, attentive and seem to do their best in such a small space, and like the coffee, they are all HOT.
Food:
Visit: Sat 12 August 2006
Mealtime: lunch
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Posted by:
ichiban
|
12 July 2006, 8.35am
Great food pity about the service
I live just around the corner from Bourke St Bakery - and I love their food. However, I don't go there that often. Why? Because the service is appalling. The staff are constantly arrogant, rude and make disparaging comments about customers as they leave the store. Such a pity that the bakers' fine work is undone by the worst service I have experienced in a very long time.
Food:
Visit: Sat 8 July 2006
Mealtime: brunch
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