Bourke St Bakery, Surry Hills - 26 July 2013

My wife (aka Qoo01) and I finally got to try some pastries from Bourke St Bakery (633 Bourke St, Surry Hills) recently after all these years of hearing how great their baked goods are (in particular the crowd favourites ginger brulee tart and pork and fennel sausage roll). We decided to put a phone order in for some goodies to make sure that we wouldn’t miss out on anything (call 9699 1011 for Surry Hills stores orders). My wife picked up our order before our mini Friday night Surry Hills food crawl, which started off with an enjoyable fish burger at Chur Burger and also included a stop at Vacanza for an excellent Margherita pizza.

         

Our order today included the following items:  ginger brulee tart ($5), lemon curd tart ($4.50), chocolate mousse and raspberry tart ($5), rhubarb and almond tart ($4.50) and a half loaf of beer and rye sourdough bread ($5.50). The beer and rye sourdough bread is only available on Fridays and is an excellent sourdough that I would highly recommend to anyone. The tarts were our desserts for the night.

Ginger brulee tart ($5)

The BSB signature is a massive crowd pleaser for a reason. The ginger brulee tart is a seriously awesome tart that I cannot fault!  Out of all the tarts, the ginger brulee is by far the most interesting and has great depth of flavour. Encased within the tart shell is a gooey custard that is so rich, creamy and of course delicious. The ginger notes in the tart are just genius and never overpowering.  The brulee top has a wonderful shine and is a nice thin layer with a great crackle. Everything works so well together and makes it a real winner!

Lemon curd tart ($4.50)

The lemon curd tart is another exceptional tart. I found the sour, tangy lemon curd filling very addictive but my wife found it a little pungent (the Chinese call this ‘sou’).   

Chocolate mousse and raspberry tart ($5)

Again, the chocolate mousse and raspberry tart is another fine tart. The chocolate mousse uses dark chocolate, which I enjoy because of the bitter notes to balance out the sweetness. The mousse was very smooth and a pleasure to eat. Raspberry and chocolate are match made in heaven and it shows again in this tart. The tartness from the raspberry is a perfect complement to the sweet and bitter dark chocolate.     

Rhubarb and almond tart ($4.50)

This is getting repetitive, but the rhubarb and almond tart is yet another enjoyable tart. A great combination of sweet, nutty almond filling, that was almost cake like, and tangy, tart rhubarb.         

To provide two different opinions, here is how my wife and I ranked the four tarts in order of preference:

MAB:

1. Ginger brulee tart
2. Lemon curd tart
3. Chocolate mousse and raspberry tart
4. Rhubarb and almond tart

Qoo01:

1. Ginger brulee tart
2. Rhubarb and almond tart
3. Chocolate mousse and raspberry tart
4. Lemon curd tart

We may not be able to agree on the order but what we do agree that the ginger brulee tart is the clear standout. Just a delightful little treat that makes me want to go back for more! The tarts at BSB are all very good, really. We both enjoyed the four we tried. A great tart always starts with the pastry shell, which is of exceptional quality at BSB. I don’t know too many places in Sydney that do a better shell. And of course the fillings are all delightful. I hope to be back soon to try some of the savoury items, in particular the pork and fennel sausage roll (see the end of my post for tips on how to score a freebie).      

Verdict

Highlight: The ginger brulee tart is as good as everyone says it is.

Lowlight: Be prepared to wait for your favourite baked treat as the queues at BSB can be quite long, particularly during lunch hour.   

Overall: Bourke St Bakery has a deserved reputation for churning out top notch pastries. BSB is one of my favourite bakeries in Sydney and wish I could be back more often to indulge on their wonderful baked goods. 7.5/10 (Great)    

TIP: To receive a free pork and fennel sausage roll, all you need to do is spend more than $15 at Bourke St Bakery, pay using your MasterCard and be registered with Priceless Sydney. You can register your credit card online at www.pricelesssydney.com.au. Don’t worry, your credit card won’t be charged and you only need to enter the first 6 digits of your card so fears of your credit card details being stolen. This offer is valid til 15 September 2013 and available at the Surry Hills, Alexandria, Marrickville and Potts Point stores. If the store is out of sausage rolls, you get a lemon curd tart instead.

   

There are other dining, travel, shopping, and entertainment offers available under Priceless Sydney so be sure to check www.pricelesssydney.com.au. For deep-pocketed Black World MasterCard holders out there (which does not include me as I am not special enough for a WORLD MasterCard and I am certainly not deep-pocketed), you can even get Alessandro Pavoni from Ormeggio at the Spit to come over to your place and be your personal private chef for a night, complete with waitstaff from his restaurant. Prices start at $3,100 for a group of 6, so it is not cheap. The evening includes canapés, a risotto cooking demonstration, dinner and dessert.