REVIEW: Chester Street Bakery

This place is on Chester Street, would you have guessed?

After the markets on Saturday, even though I'd had a chocolate croissant and half a brownie, mum and I decided to go get some breakfast. I've been wanting to try Au Cirque for just about as long as I can remember but once again, they were just too dang busy for our timeframes. Instead I found myself driving through New Farm into Newstead, searching for inspiration (and a car park), we ended up on Chester Street.


It's a pretty smart use of decorations in what used to be an office.

I've been to Chester Street Bakery and was confident we'd get a good feed. Maybe it was due to the overcast weather, with a fair portion  of Chester Street's seating being outside, but we had a choice of tables. We chose a table right in the centre of the patio and perused the menu.


Drool.

Chester Street has counter service which gives a great opportunity to scout out all the baked goods, which are...amazing.


This is where the magic happens.

The  service was really quick and even though there was a mix-up with the table number - both our drinks taken on a tour of the restaurant before they found us - we were happy with their efficiency.


These charming cans were used as cutlery holders, which mum tells me would have been simply unacceptable some years ago.

The love of my life (besides Mr. Cakes and Puppy Cakes) is ice-cream. I also have a thing for ice-creams brother, milkshakes...actually, ice-creams brother is gelato. Milkshakes are the son and ice cream is the dad and milk is the mum. Anyway, now that I've explained the genealogy of ice-cream, I can tell you I ordered the caramel milkshake ($6.50) and mum got a large cappuccino. 


I don't drink coffee but that looks pretty good! Good size too.

I don't want to toot my own horn (TOOT!) but I think I know a thing or a gajillion about milkshakes, as I think I just displayed by my breakdown of the ice-cream family tree. So I can tell you with confidence, that this was not the best milkshake I've ever had but it was pretty good. My biggest problem with it was the thickness. I like my milkshakes to be thicker than milk. What's the point of shaking it if it's not gonna be thick? Leave it alone. You're just being mean. And I could have done with a bit more too, but then, I'm a milkshake guts ache. I will tell you that this milkshake had a superb caramel flavour. There were little black dots in it and dare I say they were real flecks of vanilla? Cos if they were, bravo. The flavour really pulled this milkshake up by the britches.


I'm going to give you a makeover...

...Ahhh beautiful!



To eat, I got the Field Mushrooms ($16.90). Again, the service was quick and meals came out in not much time at all. My field mushrooms were really tasty and provolone cheese was melted, gooey and just so damn good. The big pile of rocket really went well with the mushrooms and cut through the cheese. The whole thing was good ingredients, prepared simply. Which is a win in my mind. The star of the show was the bread, which to be honest, another piece of it would have been welcome. The bread was real sourdough with the distinct sour flavour and fantastic, chewy and crisp crust.

Will you look at that cheese please? Hey, I'm a poet!

For her brekkie, mum got the Eggs, poached ($13.90) with a side of Grilled Tomatoes ($4) and she found the same thing with her meal. Quality ingredients which are allowed to have their moment on the plate. The tomatoes were well done and not chalky at all, which can often be the case. The eggs were expertly poached and garnished with torn herbs. And the bread! I was a little jealous of her two slices! Pro tip: If you like bread, order another slice for only $2.50! If you don't like bread, we can't be friends.


Dang, those tomatoes look good. And they know it.

So overall, I was happy with ending up at Chester Street! It's a solid little place with speedy service and simple food, done well. And by the way, you can get the cake to go! Yessssss....

Food: 4/5
Service: 3.5/5
Price: 3.5/5
Atmosphere: 3/5