Best Bakeries In Australia To Visit On Your Holidays
With a food scene spanning fresh artisan bread, sweet French pastries, beloved meat pies, and exotic fusion desserts, Australia boasts no shortage of exceptional bakeries worth travelling to experience.
From neighbourhood gems in Melbourne to award-winning bakery cafés in Sydney, the top Australian bakeries create magic from quality local ingredients. Their passion for baking shines through in every handcrafted loaf, flaky croissant, and towering cake creation.
In this article, we will explore must-visit bakeries across five Australian states and territories. We’ll learn their specialties and the most popular menu items. Discover why these beloved bakeries should be on every foodie’s Australian bucket list.
Lune Croissanterie, Melbourne, Victoria
The darling of Melbourne’s food scene, Lune Croissanterie, makes the humble croissant an object of sheer perfection. Husband-wife owners Kate Reid and Morgan McGlone wake at dawn within their small Fitzroy bakery to hand laminate, proof, and bake Lune’s croissants to buttery, shattering flake perfection.
Beyond the classic plain croissant, Lune rotates through sweet and savoury stuffed versions daily, like their ham and Swiss or salted caramel pastries. Their cinnamon scrolls, kouign amann (caramelised flaky French pastries), tarts, and cakes also earn equal acclaim.
Tiny in size but mighty in talent, Lune’s warm service and baked splendour make it a quintessential Melbourne pilgrimage despite the likely queues. Now with additional locations around Melbourne and nationwide shipping too, Lune’s only expanded its cult-like fandom.
Most Popular Item: Lune’s signature kouign amann features layers of lightly caramelised dough that shatters into plumes of butteriness. Fans call it life-changing!
Best Meat Pie: Lune offers their exceptional all-butter pastry in a classic Aussie minced beef pie baked fresh daily.
Best Vanilla Slice: Though famous for viennoiserie, Lune nails this Australian classic with silky crème pâtissière custard sandwiched by their signature shattering, flaky, buttery puff pastry.
Specialty: Skillfully laminated, flaky French viennoiserie pastries in sweet and savoury stuffed versions.
Bourke Street Bakery, Sydney, New South Wales
This Sydney icon has developed an almost cult-like following for its breads, pastries, cakes, sandwiches, and sausage rolls, incorporating seasonal ingredients since its first opening in 2004.
From the legendary cruffins – a croissant-muffin hybrid filled with custards or fruit compotes – to hot cross buns at Easter or towering vanilla slices, Bourke Street Bakery offers familiar favourites alongside gastro takes like a brown butter salad sandwich.
Their meat pies also shine within Bourke Street’s signature flaky lard pastry. Popular flavours include chicken, leek, and thyme or chunky Aussie beef paired with flaky perfection achieved through European techniques.
While several locations now exist, many still consider the bustling original Surry Hills bakery their favourite for snagging popular items like cinnamon sugar cruffins fresh from the ovens. Expect crowds, but the superior baked goods make up for the wait.
Most Popular Item: Over 4,000 heavenly cinnamon sugar cruffins fly out the doors daily at opening time!
Best Meat Pie: Tender chicken and leek pie baked in Bourke Street’s signature triple-laminated lard pastry.
Best Vanilla Slice: An Aussie classic topped with passionfruit or raspberry icing featuring layers of buttery crisp puff pastry encasing smooth crème pâtissière custard.
Specialty: Range of artisan sourdough loaves plus Aussie bakery favourites like meat pies, vanilla slices, pastries, and cakes.
La Delizia, Perth, Western Australia
Nestled within Perth’s central business district, this cozy bakery brings authentic Italian flavours to Western Australia through its sweet and savoury bakes spanning pieces of bread, focaccias, pastries, and more.
Using family recipes and traditional old-world techniques, La Delizia’s owners, Ivana, and Mimmo Fabbris, wake early to craft their offerings fresh in-house daily.
Beyond classics like tiramisu and fresh pasta sauces, this Perth gem shines with unique daily creations. Their signature panzerotti lunch pastries bursting with fillings like slow-cooked beef, broccoli, and ricotta or tomato braised chicken earn high praise.
Locals also adore La Delizia’s bomboloni: fluffy, sugar-dusted Italian doughnuts topped or filled with sweet ricotta cream, chocolate, zesty citrus custards, and more. Perfectly paired with an expertly pulled espresso.
Most Popular Item: Sweet ricotta-filled cannoli, crispy tubes sold freshly filled daily and dusted in pistachios or chocolate chips.
Best Meat Pie: La Delizia honours the Aussie meat pie tradition with their signature tomato braised chicken baked in flaky pastry.
Best Vanilla Slice: An Italian twist features their crisp puff pastry layered with lemon curd tartness vs. traditional custard.
Specialty: Authentic Italian breads, focaccia, and pastries sharing heritage recipes and techniques.
Brick Lane, Adelaide, South Australia
In South Australia’s coastal capital of Adelaide, Brick Lane lives up to their tagline of “Damn Good Bread” through specialty loaves baked fresh daily alongside pastries, custom cakes and sandwiches.
Husband and wife owners Alex and Sam pride themselves on using local seasonal produce like Barossa fruits or Kangaroo Island wheat berries to shape their artisan sourdough creations.
Beyond whole grain, seeded, and sprouted loaves, Brick Lane’s pastries shine from cinnamon scrolls and seasonal fruit danishes to their custard and jam stuffed bombolini, an Italian doughnut.
Their birthday and wedding cakes also earn acclaim from locals and visitors to Adelaide for both eye-catching designs and memorable flavours. No matter your diet or restrictions, Brick Lane offers tasty plant-based and gluten-free items, too, like raw desserts.
Most Popular Item: Sprouted multi-grain sourdough remains their top seller for nutritious sliced sandwich loaves or flavour-packed avocado toast.
Best Meat Pie: Brick Lane pays homage to Aussie meat pie culture with their signature Wagyu beef rendition encased in crisp pastry.
Best Vanilla Slice: South Australian produce shines in their version featuring layers of apple cinnamon crisp and vanilla bean panna cotta cream.
Specialty: Seasonally inspired artisan sourdough pieces of bread starring local grains and fruits.
Laneway Specialty Coffee, Brisbane, Queensland
This café bakery perfectly pairs its house-roasted specialty coffee with exceptional baked goods in a minimalist downtown Brisbane space.
Husband and wife owners Salvatore and Louise handcraft Laneway’s fresh loaves, croissants, danishes, sandwiches, and more daily using high-quality ingredients like Belgian chocolate and seasonal fruit.
Beyond expertly dialled espressos, locals love starting their day with Laneway’s baked items like flaky chocolate croissants, organic fruit toast, or berries.
Danish custard pastries. Spiced fruit loaves also make popular gifts for visitors and locals alike. Generously stuffed sandwiches starring house bread plus creative vegetarian options like roasted pumpkin, spinach, and feta rolls earn equal fanfare for lunch.
Most Popular Item: Seasonal fruit Danish pastries showcasing sweet Queensland produce like tropical pineapple or juicy berry baked custard treats.
Best Meat Pie: A nod to Aussie tradition, Laneway’s signature wagyu beef pie baked in their exceptional butter pastry wins loyal fans.
Best Vanilla Slice: Flaky chocolate pastry replaces traditional puff for more decadence when sandwiching silky crème pâtissière vanilla custard.
Specialty: Housemade seasonal baked goods starring local ingredients enjoyed alongside specialty coffee featuring beans sourced globally but roasted in-house.
Conclusion
From French pastry perfection in Melbourne to Italian sweet bread in Perth and creative cake towers in Canberra, Australia’s beloved bakeries showcase the diversity of culinary influences shaping the country, united through quality ingredients and serious talent.
The beloved bakeries of Australia showcase an incredible range spanning old-school meat pies to multicultural fusion flavours and new-wave, sustainably sourced rustic loaves. When visiting any Australian state or territory, you’re guaranteed to find bakery treasures worth savouring.
These bakeries are just incredible to visit. Their high end machinery, the passion for baking and the layout of some of these buildings are just stunnings. From the incredibly beautiful commercial dough mixers to fancy bread racks, these bakeries stand out from the rest.
When visiting top Australian bakery destinations like those above, arrive early, be prepared to wait alongside other pastry devotees, and come hungry – because you’ll never want the delight both inside and out to end.
