Brunetti, Melbourne CBD

The long weekend was perfect (albeit a bit extravagant I must admit) for a cheeky trip down to Melbourne, and only made more perfect after hearing about the weather back here in Sydney.

We looked for a place for breakfast the next day (with me looking forward to have some eggs benedict), but I couldn’t decide where to eat and dithered so much that when I finally made up my mind, it was time for brunch. Actually, truth to be told, I gave up and decided to go to our planned lunch place a tad earlier.

Brunetti came at a friend’s very high recommendation. Kathy had named this place as the place with “awesome cakes!!” and it is so awesome that whenever she travelled to Melbourne for work she would make it a necessity to go there everyday. With a comment like that, F shuffled around our must-go-to Melbourne eats to put it at the top of the list.

Despite some debate as to which way down Little Collins St we should continue walking (I panicked and thought I had taken F the wrong way haha), we managed to find it and was greeted with the sight of what looked like a mini mob.

Mmm... sandwiches

Inside, there were almost as many sandwiches on display as customers outside that it was hard to choose. It took us a while, and the servers behind the counter gratefully weren’t pushy for a decision, though they were quickly attentive when we finally decided.

Tramezzino Salmon ($10.90) and Abbruzzese ($8.90)

I end up choosing the salmon with camembert, lime slices and aioli dill (aka the Tramezzino Salmon), while F opted for a vegetarian fare, the Abbruzzese.

My sandwich, despite being pre-made, was quite lovely and fresh with an extremely crunchy crust.

F’s roll contained roasted zucchini, eggplant, pumpkin, goat’s cheese and sun-dried tomatoes; a more delicious combination one could not ask for. He was quite convinced that his sandwich was a lot more awesome than mine (especially since it was toasted and mine wasn’t). I maintained that mine was just as good as his, if not better (not that he was convinced)… though between you and me, the Abbruzzese was the more flavourful of the two, but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of being right.

Nom!

With almost every crumb from our lunch brunch eaten, we naturally turned to the highly praised pastries. Oh my, were they delicious looking – initially we could hardly concentrate on choosing the savoury portion of our brunch!

We took turns in choosing our pastries, as we didn’t want to lose our hard-won table-in-the-sun (we were originally sitting pretty much around the back, with the big garbage bins in sight). F, being ever the gentlemen, insisted that I choose mine first. Muhahah… ahem.

Petit Fours ($1.50 to $2) and Selva Scura ($6.90)

I ended up choosing the Cremina (a flourless chocolate and hazelnut biscuit filled with white chococlate ganache), Baci di Dama (chocolate hazelnut biscuit sandwiched together with dark chocolate ganache) and a Chocolate Eclair (filled with vanilla custard and fresh cream) out of what I like to call “ze petit fours“. Finally, I chose the Selva Scura – a chocolate sponge on delicate chocolate and diplomat cream with sweet cherries. My server had to put my choices on two plates and gave me two forks, which instantly made me feel gluttonous and amused at the same time.

F’s eyes widened behind his sunglasses. “You ordered all of them?” Plus one to the gluttonous feeling. Sigh.

He was more sedate in his choices and got only the Fruit Tart from ze petit fours and a Lobster Tail (thanks to an episode of Cake Boss we’ve recently seen) (perhaps tempered by the number of sweets I had haha).

All of the “petit fours” were divine and none of them were at all heavy or cloyingly sweet. I can definitely see why Kathy came here every day – I would too if I lived in Melbourne. Looking back at them now, I wish I had bought a boxful to take back home! Sadness.

Lobster Tail ($4.90)

The lobster tail was insanely crunchy and filled with an amazing zabaione custard; this definitely would have gone into the box to take home to Sydney had I thought of it.

F thought it was f-ing brilliant and it was more than what he had hoped for and imagined, where the cherry on top, was literally the cherry on top.

Brunetti... kicking back our heels

With all that food, we had to kick back and digest for a bit before doing some serious shopping (and boy, did we shop).

Brunetti is a lovely cafe with lots of friendly staff to serve the constant stream of customers. If there is any cafe to go to for amazing cakes/pastries/petit fours in Melbourne, this should be right there on top of your list.

Brunetti
214 Flinders Lane
Melbourne, VIC, 3000
Ph: (03) 9663 8085
Web: http://www.brunetti.com.au/

6 Comments

1. My Restaurants Melbourne

   October 8, 2010

   

   I have to go there to try that lobster tail.
   My Restaurants Melbourne´s last [type] ..Errol’s – North Melbourne

   Reply
   • abercrombie

     October 8, 2010

     

     Yes. You. DO!

     I am going to be looking for a place in Sydney that sells them now.. that Zabaione Custard and pastry is utterly brilliant

     Reply
2. monica

   October 8, 2010

   

   I read in a magazine earlier this week that Brunetti might be opening in the new Westfield City, hope that’s true !
   monica´s last [type] ..SIFF 2010 Sugar Hit – Monkey Magic- Surry Hills

   Reply
   • squishies

     November 25, 2010

     

     They sure did! Brunetti Myer Melbourne.

     They opened on 21st October =)

     Reply
3. piggiepoo

   October 8, 2010

   

   Oooh I love Cake Boss also! And I agree I think ur sandwich looks bit more tasty than F’s! (Or I’m just a bit biased towards all things vegetarian at the moment)
   piggiepoo´s last [type] ..Everything Spaghetti Marinara

   Reply
4. Fiona

   October 8, 2010

   

   Those cakes look readyf or me to eat now

   Reply

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