Almost too good to share...

I have just spent the last 4 days relaxing in Melbourne and the nearby Mornington Peninsula with my hubbie. It was our 6th wedding anniversary on Saturday & we were both in need of a break as work has been hectic for both of us these last few months! It ended up being a weekend of eating, shopping, relaxing, wine-tasting...but mostly...eating.

And this is where we come to one of our favourite must-eat foodie places...Brunetti. It is a bit of an Italian institution in Melbourne, comprising a restaurant, pasticceria and adjoining cafe. I discovered Brunetti with my family in January last year when we were wandering the streets of Carlton looking for a spot of breakfast. They had the most delicious savoury pastries I've never seen before. I have NEVER heard my Dad speak so enthusiastically about brekkie before. And when I told my Mum I was going to visit Brunetti's, you should have seen the look of longing on her face! It's that kinda place - once you visit it, you wanna go back again & again! I have since introduced Tiff to this place & subsequently my friends & family, Tiff has told her friends & family...and we've also told anyone within earshot who might be visiting Melbourne!

So on Friday night after dinner, the hubbie & I took the tram to this gastronomic temple of dessert. Nothing can quite prepare you for the amount of choice on offer. Here is just a smidgen of the biscotti on offer (sorry about the bad pic...it was really crowded!!):


I decided on the sfogliatelle, a pastry filled with sweet ricotta and mixed peel. Hubbie decided on a very impressive-looking pear tart, consisting of a whole pear sitting in a deep strawberry-jam lined pastry case, with vanilla custard and the top glazed with apricot jam and sprinkled with pistachios...mmm yes, quite a mouthful!

My sfogliatelle:


A cross-section of the pear tart:

It appeared that my hubbie won in his choice - the pear tart was amazing! I was a little disappointed about my pastry, definitely not as good as the one Tiff & I had at Pasticceria Tamborrino in Sydney's Five Dock as reviewed here.

Nevertheless, I didn't leave empty-handed, taking away some chocolate almond & fig nougat, some Italian lemon sweets and a mini panzerotti...a delicious shortbread pastry filled with vanilla custard! Even the next day, I popped into the much smaller city branch & bought a "lobster tail"...a similar-looking pastry to the sfogliatelle, but filled with a flavoured custard-cream. Sorry, neither the panzerotti or lobster tail lasted long enough for me to take a photo!

All I can say is that when Tiff & I shared a Brunetti lobster tail on a plane on the way home from a business trip last year, we both regretted having to share it....we were literally licking the plate clean with our plastic forks! Some things are just too good to share...N

Brunetti
194-204 Faraday Street
Carlton VIC 3053
P: (03) 9347 2801

Brunetti City Square
214 Flinders Lane
Melbourne VIC 3000
P: (03) 9663 8085