Brunetti (Carlton)
194-204 Faraday St
Carlton, VIC 3053
03 9347 2801
www.brunetti.com.au
Danni and Sylwyn’s week long stay here has ended too quickly. On their last evening in Melbourne, Vicky and I took them to D.O.C. Carlton. Fresh, uncomplicated pizzas, amazing prosciuttos and divine mozzarellas. We deliberately ordered very little to share amongst ourselves just so we could save space for dessert. And dessert was just across the road: Brunetti’s.
This coffee and cake place is a very big, busy and commercial establishment. A decade ago, I remember my ex-housemate saying it’s got the best tiramisu in Melbourne. The selection is mind-boggling. The pasticceria section boasts an almost endless array of cakes, tarts, biscottis, mignon and chocolates. There’s also a gelateria, a savoury section and an espresso bar.
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| “Choose what ah?” |
One thing I like about Brunetti’s is that they serve T2 teas here. I prefer having sweet desserts with unsweetened tea. Yeah, I know I’m a bit of a granny =D. T2′s peppermint tea is really good. The bite of peppermint is very strong and I like the look of the triangular gossamer bags that the tea leaves come in.
Everything else about this place goes downhill from this point onwards. I have had coffees here and at its other branches at least 4-5 times. They are reliably bad. Weak, tasteless and just plain lousy. Vicky had the low-fat cheesecake. Anything low-fat probably won’t taste good, so I won’t comment about the cake, except that it actually had the stale taste of refrigerator air.
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| Low Fat Cheesecake. |
The rest of us shared a selection of tarts and macarons. I loved taking pictures of the macarons, they are so colourful! This was also my second time eating macarons (my 1st was at Lindt Cafe). Sylwyn and I chose pistachio, vanilla, tiramisu, raspberry and passionfruit. We didn’t like it. I am not sure whether it’s a case of me never ever liking macarons to begin with, or that the macarons here were inferior. I found them overpoweringly sweet, and the flavours were either too subtle or tasted artificial. Maybe macarons are just an acquired taste.
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| Foreground: Créme Brulée Tart Background: Frangipani Tart |
As pictured here, you can see that despite having a light pizza dinner, we still collectively could not finish any of Brunetti’s desserts. Behold, a table-full of dessert corpses! It pains my heart to see food go to waste. Considering how much I like my desserts, this is a very very big fail. We ended up just having more tea and nibbling at the edges of the tarts and wrinkling our noses. Gosh we’ve grown fastidious.
Brunetti is overrated. I have been here at least 4 times and haven’t ever had a half-decent dessert here. The silly thing is, I know I’ll still be coming back simply because it’s the most convenient dessert place this side of the city. It’s like going to McDonald’s after midnight. You know it’s a bad idea, but you still do it.
… I hope the dessert mafia won’t target me after reading this post.
Brunetti is my old uni days hang out. With so many choices these days, I have not been back for awhile.
i'm pretty sure you just havent tried some nice ones =P. LOL. NO WAY anyone can DISLIKE macarons.
try find some of duncan's macarons at LIAISON CAFE, or even cacao's are pretty decent.
and totally agree – i have grown to DISLIKE brunetti's with a vengeance!
I'm with Allan, don't judge macarons based on the ones from Brunetti's, they are pretty shocking. I would rate Hardware Societe's macarons as well, or Le Petit Gateau (which are sadly only open for lunch, but probably one of THE BEST dessert places in my opinion…).
I find Brunetti's desserts are just filled with marzipan and sugar. ;/ What flavour?
I agree, Brunetti's is overrated. It is a Melbourne landmark but its time has passed. I used to go there as a child! So much better coffee elsewhere now. Next time, try Carlton Espresso Bar (I think that is the name) on Lygon, between Faraday and Grattan). Great coffee and very authentic Italian cafe food.
Holy moly, low-fat cheesecake? In Brunettie?! How is that not a contradiction in terms?
I'm so sorry for this experience of yours. Honestly, nothing makes me sadder than when I get all excited about having dessert out and then it tastes horrible. :(
Abit too critical I say…Brunettis is tops!
I'm SO with you about the unsweetened tea plus dessert granny bit.
It's such an experience in letting the sweetness of the dessert further texture my tea as it gradually "normalizes" to mouth temperature…. and finally, allowing the blend to run down my throat, washing and "resetting" my taste buds before the next dive back into the dessert…. sigh… :)
OK with Brunetti you have to know what you are there for. In your review you pretty much covered the worst of the worst and the reasons NOT to go there. Coffee is crap, yes. Tea is good, yes. The macs and the desserts you chose were all on the pass list. I've been going to Brunetti since 1985 so a bit of an old hand. Must try: Promessa d'Amore. The bigne`, and most of all the selection of brioss at the bar section. The involtino with belgian chocolate and a little pastry cream and the almond crescent are TO DIE FOR. They must be warmed…they will do that. Trust me. Go once more..stay clear of what an italian would not touch…. :D
Ok, thanks for the suggestions! With your list of what to try, I'm happy to visit again.:)
i liked brunettis in carlton, except the one in myer is MUCH better and less pretentious.
you should go to the one in myer.
xo newintstudents blog
Interesting…I make a beeline for brunetti whenever I go to melbourne, but I only go for the Italian things, none of which you tried, sadly for you. It’s never seemed pretentious, just packed, lots of Italians.
love your site
Thank you! I guess I did not know what items are Italian and which aren’t. You are the second commenter who mentioned that the Italian offerings are good, so maybe that’s worth investigating. :)