Brunetti, Myer Melbourne and Carlton

Brunetti is Melbourne’s iconic pasticceria, and the flagship Brunetti store on Lygon Street in Carlton was on my Melbourne To Eat List. But on our first morning in Melbourne we were delighted to discover there is a Brunetti very conveniently located in Myer on Bourke Street.

The display case is impressively long and overwhelmingly abundant with mignons (Brunetti’s bite-sized cakes and pastries), chocolates, gelati, mini pizzas and fresh bread rolls with savoury fillings. How does a greedy tourist decide when faced with all of this? My ridiculously long short-list will require follow-up visits.

Jac ordered a soy latte with Bigne San Giuseppe, a doughnut pastry dusted in cinnamon and sugar and filled with Strega chantilly cream. I ordered a soy flat white with Bigne Caffe, choux pastry filled with coffee custard, topped with coffee fondant. The pastries and fillings were rich, but just the right size. The coffee was excellent.

On our final night in Melbourne, we took a tram to Lygon Street after dinner and dropped in at Brunetti Carlton. This Brunetti location is relatively new; they closed their shop on Faraday Street to move into this much bigger 400-seat venue last year. Another extensive display case of heavenly treats awaits inside, and to get to it, you’ll walk past a mesmerising wall to wall display of celebration cakes. If there was a Land of Cakes up the Magic Faraway Tree, you just found it. But delve deeper into the store, and there’s so much more than coffee and cake – it’s a Brunetti empire, with a gelateria, pizzeria, panetteria and a la carte restaurant. The cafe has an almost palatial grandeur you might miss due to the clamourous swarm of locals and visitors. On this Friday night, we decided to keep walking rather than join the mob. But we’ll be back.

Brunetti Myer Melbourne’s hours of operation are defined by the department store’s opening hours, but Brunetti Carlton will cater for early bird and late night sweet cravings – it opens at 6am every day and closes at midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, and 11pm every other night. Both stores have plenty of seating for dine-in customers, but you may have to wait for a table during busy times.

While researching Brunetti, I found this article on the lack of toilets at Brunetti Carlton – we didn’t stay long enough to notice the loos (or lack of) – is this still an issue?

Brunetti Myer Melbourne
Level 3, Myer
Bourke Street
Melbourne VIC
Telephone: (03) 9661 1380
Opening hours
Saturday to Wednesday 9am to 7pm
Thursday and Friday 9am to 9pm

Brunetti Carlton
380 Lygon Street
Carlton VIC
Telephone: (03) 9347 2801
Opening hours
Sunday to Thursday 6am to 11pm
Friday and Saturday 6am to midnight

Brunetti is also at City Square (Flinders Lane), Camberwell and Singapore

This is my final post in this Melbourne series of blog posts. It was my first time in Melbourne, and I had a fantastic time. There was so much we couldn’t get to within the available time/tummy.

About this series

In December 2013, my partner Jac and I went on holiday – Melbourne (3 nights), then 3 nights in Launceston (Jac, to stay with a friend) and King Island (me, for a photographic safari with a couple of friends), and finally, Hobart, where we spent Christmas (6 nights). This trip was not sponsored in any way.

The complete set of Melbourne posts
Not bad for three nights’ ‘work’, eh? Hope you’ve enjoyed the series.

• Cumulus Inc, Melbourne
• Queen Victoria Wednesday Night Market, Melbourne
• MoVida, Melbourne
• Orient East, Melbourne
• LuxBite, South Yarra
• China Red, Chinatown
• N2 Extreme Gelato, Fitzroy
• Cafe Gaia, South Yarra
• Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio, South Yarra
• Steer Bar & Grill, South Yarra
• Brunetti at Myer Melbourne and Lygon Street, Carlton – this post

There’s more to come… from Tasmania

Next to come: a real change of scenery with King Island. Then Hobart.

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