Baked by Keiran — Restaurant in Sydney

BAKED BY KEIRAN, SUTHERLAND

Life just got ever so sweeter with the pastries, cakes, savoury items, and loaves of bread that @bakedbykeiran in the Sutherland area has to offer for their patrons. I had the pleasure of going on a food adventure with @bestspots.com.au to the Sutherland area part of Sydney to explore the food there as it was not an area we have delved into yet.

☆ PEAR, BLACKBERRY, AND ALMOND FRANGIPANE TART ($6.90 EACH)

Frangipane is an Almond-based filling that is made with an assortment of ingredients which results in a creamy paste that has a sweet nutty flavour for its flavour profile. The Frangipane is added in the tart shell as a filling and topped generously with Pear and Blackberries. As the Frangipane filling bakes, it expands and encapsulates the fruits that have been used for the tart.

At my first bite into the tart, the baked Frangipane filling was so lovely with the cooked down Pear halves and Blackberries. The contrast between the crisp ShortCrust Pastry, the creamy Frangipane filling and the cooked down fruits just made this particular tart exceptional taste wise.

☆ CANELE ($3.90 EACH)

To be honest, l have only tried Canele once in this lifetime so when l saw that @bakedbykeiran had their version of Caneles on display, l knew immediately that l needed to purchase some to eat on the spot. A canele is a French-based Pastry that is baked, resulting in a set Vanilla-based Custard that has hints of Rum in it and a caramelised exterior.

When you bite into a @bakedbykeiran’s Canele, it is such a textural delight due to the contrast between the crispy caramelised shell to the airy sponge-like insides.

☆ SALTED CARAMEL CHOCOLATE TART ($6.90 EACH)

When you see a Chocolate Tart filled to the brim with a Salted Caramel-based filling in the display case at @bakedbykeiran , you have already won me over.

A crisp tart shell that has been made with Chocolate and other products has been filled with a Salted Caramel-based filling and finished off with Black Salt which further adds to the flavours of the Chocolate within the tart shell and the...

Pros: Staff, coffee and pastries are excellent as expected.

Neutral: There's little car parking nearby, but it's an easy walk from Sutherland Railway Station and other shops. There's also a cycleway running past the front. I arrived 30 mins before closing on a Sunday afternoon. All the outside tables were occupied but there were several tables available inside. Music was playing over several speakers. I ordered coffee and pastries at the register to eat in. The pastries were handed to me in paper bags and the coffee was brought to the table in a take-away cup. I found it surprising that in a reasonably large site, able to accommodate maybe 30-40 patrons eating in, I was not offered a proper cup and plate - however, this could have been due to me ordering so near to closing time.

Cons: The site has no soft furnishings at all. With more patrons inside and the music playing I imagine it could get uncomfortably noisy. Tables were of two types: inside was mostly too-tall traditional cafe-style square tables with laminated surfaces, paired with wicker-style chairs that were too low and inclined back too far for the tables. At an average 165cm in height, I was lifting my hands almost to shoulder level to get to items on the tabletop. Outside were tables and benches for four to six, made of what looked like rough-hewn wood or old pallets, and possibly better seating-to-table height ratios.

Conclusion: I will probably go back to try the bread, and possibly some other pastries or cakes, but am unlikely to eat in again. It's a shame that with such a large site that they have not made better furniture choices (and used real cups and saucers, but I am ready to stand corrected on...

We arrived just after 1pm and was about to sit down, but we were interrupted by a lady that told us 'The kitchen was closed, you can't order anything from the menu, you only can select what's in the window'. She said it in her 'matter of fact' tone, which was very off-putting for first time customers. We were expecting her to say 'Hi, please take a seat any where you like'

There are nicer ways to deliver this message. Perhaps start with saying oh sorry, then tell us about the closed kitchen. Tone and manner is everything when it comes to professionalism and good customer service. We gave this place a 3 star because we didn't feel welcome, but it could've been 4 stars if the staff was a little nicer.

The window had a few fancy looking pastries, baked goods and bread. Unfortunately, there wasn't much left when we arrived. The coffee was nice and the pastries were pretty good. The bread we got wasn't that great as it was a little dense and too hard for our liking.

Overall, besides the hiccup at the start, it was an enjoyable visit and we would probably consider visiting again.The pricing is reasonable for...