Austro Bakery — Restaurant in Melbourne

I visited this bakery this morning and got a single hot cross bun and a semla bun. We came from Perth and were so keen to try this bakery, but it was so disappointing. The hot cross bun was inedible. As seen in the image, it was SO DRY and the flavour was terrible. There was clearly no salt in the dough (all sweets should have salt to balance the flavours) and it was as hard as a rock. It was low, not fluffy at all and there were too many sultanas. There was no cinnamon flavour throughout and it was just awful. I recently baked hot cross buns at home and it was not difficult at all. Mine came out fluffy and delicious.

The semla bun was dry and stale and the cream didn’t taste right. There was no almond flavour throughout the pastry and it was barely edible. The almond paste inside was so sickly sweet that it had to be taken out.

All of the sweets and bread products sit out and I believe this is why they go stale to quickly. They’re not in a fully enclosed cabinet and today was a 30°C day. There were products with fresh cream and other dairy products sitting out of the fridge in the open warm air.

All items have no prices displayed and it cost over $16 for 1 hot cross bun and a small semla bun. There was a sign stating “public holiday surcharge” but there was no percentage stated. We were so disappointed with our experience here. Melbourne has such incredible bakeries around and I will not be returning to Austro.

EDIT: The reply received from the bakery owner regarding my review is very disappointing. We did message you privately (multiple times) and all messages were seen, but we were left with no response. I understand what it is like to have a small business, my family has owned one for 15 years, but customer service should always be a priority. I have read some other replies from the over, to negative reviews and they are of the same calibre, with a slightly passive aggressive undertone. All feedback should always be taken on board and the customer is always right - it’s the key to good hospitality.

You can produce a mediocre product, but have FABULOUS customer service OR you can produce an incredible product, with terrible customer service and the customer will always choose the place with good customer service. Eating out in this economy is a luxury and negative experiences can always be resolved and all feedback should be taken onboard and used to improve. I won’t be removing my review, as this is a true depiction of my experience and it is an honest review of the items I purchased and the overall experience. No one should be asked to revoke a review of their experience if it was negative, isn’t it the whole point of having reviews in the...

I visited Austro Bakery for the first time yesterday - I never write reviews for places but this place stopped me in my tracks & I had to share how fabulous my experience was. From the moment I opened the door, the staff were all smiling and greeting me! The patisserie display was filled with various sandwiches, sweet and savoury pastries and beautiful cakes. I was absolutely spoiled for choice, I had to ask the kind server to help me! He was so friendly and warm, asking me my preferences and giving me suggestions whilst describing each item with perfect detail ~ I could have bought one of everything if my stomach allowed it!

I ended up getting two of their specials for the day: The potato gratin with garlic confit and the strawberry romanoff croustade with an ice tea on the side! Truly the most beautiful and tasty pastry I have eaten in a very long time. Every single bite was flavoursome, buttery and perfect. But OMG the strawberry romanoff croustade - the best thing I have EVER eaten!! It was like Victoria sponge cake meets croissant - topped with beautiful whipped fresh cream and a light drizzle of strawberry jam on a round pastry, filled with a delicate sweet & gentle almond meal filling and a thin layer of strawberry jaw. Truly 100/10 ~

The dedication to detail and warm friendly human interaction really make a huge difference to your overall view of a place, combine that with the most beautiful pastries, you have a truly wonderful bakery and I could not be more grateful to have been able to experience it! Thank you Austro Bakery!

Beef goulash pie was good, whole chunks of beef, beesting cake ok (not as good as Hahndorf SA) they don't sell their cakes by the piece so bought the whole chocolate tart whch looked decadent as recomended by the waitress as being her favourite. Very bland, no choc flavour at all.very very disappointing After half slice wanted to throw all $50 worth if tart in the bin as dont see eating a whole bland tart that literally tastes like nothing. Puts me off trying any of the cakes now as they won't sell a piece and definitely can't be buying awhile one with this experience. Seeded bread was very good & flavoursome. The bread had more flavour than the chocolate tart! How does that make sense??

In reply to the owners reply. The cakes were NOT sold by the slice, NONE of them I was told , only the beesting is sold by slice...I asked. Such a waste of money to buy a whole tart that tasted like bland gelatine, close your eyes & no idea that it was chocolate as there was no flavour. "Dollop of cream" tasted like butter...who wants to eat a glug of butter?

Update... Did have to throw the whole tart away after 1.5 slices as uneatable.such a waste of money that I've rarely had to do. Think they put enough cocoa in for a chocolate colour but too...