Luxe Bakery Café, Newtown – Rating: 18.5/25 (re-review)

Luxe Bakery Café

We have been to Luxe Bakery Café once before.  The score wasn’t fantastic but I have always wanted to return to give them another go and to sample some of the baked items.  The line for coffee and bread here is constant.  We were lucky enough to find a spare table almost immediately but be prepared for a short wait as there are not that many tables.  Baking is now done offiste but bread is still brought in fresh each morning.  Breakfast is served until 3PM, lunch from 11AM-3PM.

The two waitstaff had the entire café under their control which was impressive.  They were attentive, quick and polite throughout and one even gave us a free coffee when I opened the door for her as she approached it with her hands full!

Flat white

Skim cappuccino

There’s an obvious reason for the line of customers waiting for their caffeine hit.  The busy barista quickly served up hot cups of well-presented, strong coffee ($3.80).  So unlike last time, we really enjoyed our drinks.

Schultz pickled beef, horseradish, lettuce and pickle sandwich

The counter contains various sandwiches.  One of today’s offerings was Schultz pickled beef, Jarlsberg cheese, horseradish, lettuce and pickle ($12).  Lightly toasted enough to heat the ingredients and melt the cheese, this was a great combination of flavours.  Personally I prefer my sandwiches overloaded (not necessarily with lots of different ingredients but I like volume!) but we certainly weren’t disappointed.  The horseradish had a nice kick but we would have preferred more of it!

Tijuana special

The Tujiana special ($17) is a dish that is available all day.  If it wasn’t, I would have sat there patiently until lunch time!  There are quite a few elements to this dish: pulled pork, a crisp yet fluffy-inside hash brown, avocado, a poached egg, a slice of toast, corn salsa and chipotle mayonnaise.  I tried each component separately at first and could see why the waitress recommended it so highly.  The centrepiece of the dish, the pork, was rich, well spiced and melted in my mouth and the corn had been jazzed up with chilli & herbs.  A small well of olive oil in the centre of the fresh avo helped it to spread smoothly onto the toast.  The chipotle mayonnaise was a triumph – quite spicy but it’s one of those condiments that seems to go well with everything.  I’m not sure how long this dish is around for, but I recommend you go try.

Almond tart

Finally, as promised, some Luxe baked goods!  There are a few to choose from but we limited ourselves to three.  The almond tart ($3.50) is reasonably priced and a tasty sweet treat.  The outer crust was slightly too hard to be broken with a fork so we used our hands.  The interior was moist and I imagine would be even better slightly warmed.  The rhubarb on top was sweet and a nice match for the subtle almond flavour.

Belgian chocolate chewy

The Belgian chocolate chewy tastes pretty much as expected with plenty of gooey chocolate and a ‘chewy ANZAC biscuit’ consistency and flavour.  We also took a loaf of soy and linseed bread home.  Very enjoyable but overall the baked goods are not something that we would necessarily go out of our way to acquire.

So Luxe Bakery Café earns itself a well-deserved boost to its previous score.  There were few-to-no negatives.  The warm interior and friendly smiles were a bonus and we’re glad to have returned.

Taste: 
Presentation:
Service: 
Atmosphere: 
Value: 

Overall Rating: 18.5/25

Phone: 8084 1775
Address: 194 Missenden Rd, Newtown, 2042

Payment Options: Credit card, EFTPOS, cash