Laur H.
Yelp
My dear friend S told me that we had to go to LuxBite for our next date. I hadn't heard of it, but I definitely trust her judgement. As usual, I was glad I did- it was amazing!
I heeded her advice, and only had a light breakfast before we went there for lunch and dessert. The way that it works is that you basically build your own breakfast off the menu. I chose: a feta potato cake, garlic roasted field mushroom, roasted herbed tomato and brie, and S chose a feta potato cake, chorizo, avocado with preserved lemon relish, and a poached egg. Each of these ingredients is $2.50, so it's up to you how many or little you choose. Knowing that we were going to have amazing dessert later on, we decided to go light on the lunch. Service was polite and helpful, although our food did take a while to come out. Our lunches looked great when they arrived and were well presented, but I thought they seemed on the small side. Only one [large] mushroom for $2.50? Though I guess, my whole plate of breakfast was only $10, and I would have been happy to pay $12.50 for that with an egg or a piece of toast, which I could have done. Overall, our breakfasts were very good. My mushroom and tomatoes especially were really tasty, and had been infused well with flavours so they weren't boring. We both agreed, though, that the feta potato cake was a bit disappointing- it didn't have a strong feta flavour, or even a strong salty flavour. It just tasted like a little potato cake, and was smaller than we both imagined. I have made feta and potato cakes before that had more flavour to them, so maybe they need to use more seasoning, and bigger chunks of feta, or maybe a stronger cheese like haloumi.
Then it was onto the main event: dessert. This place is famed for its macarons, so we were both excited to try them. The dessert cabinet was extremely impressive as you can see. I will let the pictures do the talking, but it's suffice to say that the desserts all looked amazing, and slightly unusual.
S decided to have the 'Endless Love': rosewater macaron, lychee ganache, rose cream, and fresh lychee and raspberries; and I got the 'Epic Chocolate Cravings': dark chocolate filling with hazelnut crust and a salted caramel sphere. We each got a coffee as well; their beans are from Toby's Estate.
Both desserts were extremely well presented, which I think is important.
S said her macaron tasted a bit like eating perfume. I tried it and thought it was pretty nice, but I can see what she was saying. The overall flavour was pretty sweet, and S said she was glad to have her coffee to balance it out. She said that she didn't regret getting it, but would probably try something different next time.
Mine, on the other hand, was exactly what I expected, and I wasn't disappointed. The hazelnut base provided a great crunchy texture to the dense filling, which was really welcome. The filling itself was creamy and delicious, and the white chocolate cigar was a nice contrast. I saved the sphere 'til last, and was very pleasantly suprised when the mousse-y filling burst out of the crunchy shell. It was salty and caramelly and delicious- the best part I think. I kind of wish they had put a ribbon of salted caramel through the filling to vary the flavour, and lighten it a bit. I will definitely be getting this again!
To top it off, our coffees were good as well. My decaf cap was a lot stronger than S's caffeinated flat white, but both were creamy and well-made.
Lastly, we may have bought some macarons to take home. I bought the salted caramel, and the creme brulee, and S got the salted caramel and the passionfruit. Sharing is caring, right? My family were very excited about my macacron purchases, so that's my good deed for the week done.
All in all, it was a fantastic visit. The cafe itself is well fit-out, light and bright, and manages to have its own personality. It's in a good location, and we even got a park easily. I was extremely jealous of all the people who lived in the surrounding streets in their cute little terrace houses, and proximity to good macarons. Service was helpful and pleasant, and the prices weren't too expensive in the end: my breakfast, dessert, coffee and 2 macarons was $27. You could easily spend that on just breakfast and a coffee elsewhere. A definite success!
