I have wanted to go to LuxBite for what seems like ages but after a series of disappointing macaron expedition in Melbourne, I have decided to steer clear away from any macaron establishments. It's so difficult to get good macarons in Melbourne. They are eithercloyingly sweet to the point my teeth would go numb upon munching them or the flavors are too artificial. Most of the time, the texture would be off. They either break under the lightest pressure or too tough to be considered chewy. Even Cafe Vue get it wrong sometimes. T_T
However, I ended up in LuxBite, with my parents. Initially, I had wanted to bring my parents to Westin for afternoon tea but felt that my parents should go and take a look at Toorak, which for me, is a beautiful suburb compared to Flemington. Going to LuxBite fits the agenda well. Moreover, LuxBite offers afternoon tea as well, which in my opinion, far superior compared to other places that serve afternoon tea and appropriately priced. Besides,
Miss Bake-nistatold me about their delicious brunch delights.
Taking all these factors into account, how am I going to resist LuxBite?
LuxBite
Clean interiors
Upon entering, one is greeted with really bright and clean interiors. It gives the place a really fresh, new look. The space is a little on the small side but there was nothing to complain about because three of us were very comfortable with th! e settin g. Most of the lightning comes from the skylight. So, LuxBite is hundred and one percent photography-friendly.
Natural lightning
Gourmet Finger Sandwiches: Vegemite and Real Cheddar, Rocket and Smoked Salmon, Spicy Egg Mayo (Bread is from La Madre)
Black Knight of Appetite - Chocolate Mousse, Kirsch, Cherries
Black Knight Dismantled
A very decadent and delicious chocolate slice - so decadent and delicious to the point I've forgotten its name
Kaya Toast, Kaffir Lime, Pa! ssionfru it, Peanut Butter and Jelly
VegoBite - Poached egg, garlic roasted field mushrooms, baby spinach, poppy seed roasted pumpkin, roasted vine's tomato and goat's cheese served with La Madre Toast
Tea forte: Belgian Mint and Chamomile Citron
Most afternoon tea establishments in Melbourne serve afternoon tea in a way that if you don't like a dessert, you'll have to live with it. This is what I really do not enjoy because you do not get to pick anything at all. However, in LuxBite, one gets to choose the desserts, macarons and beverages of your choice for the afternoon tea set for two. Only the sandwiches are determined by the kitchen. Priced at 42 AUD, the afternoon tea set is very reasonable and incredibly flexible. They better not take this set off the menu!
The three kinds of sandwiches were smoked salmon and rocket, Vegemite and cheddar and spicy egg mayo (?). The sandwiches were by no means, the most unique thing that ever happened in our lives but my parents and I had a consensus that the bread, which LuxBite sources from
La Madre, made the sandwiches worth eating. My mom could not stop praising how fragrant and wholesome the seeded bread was. My parents' favorite sandwich would be smoked salmon and rocket. I preferred Vegemite and cheddar because of Vegemite.
We had Black Knight of Appetite and another chocolat! e cake f or desserts. Black Knight of Appetite is basically a fancy and upgraded version of a black forest. I used to love black forest cake but ever since my horrible experience with black forest at Brunetti's (Too creamy and too sweet), black forest became an aversion. However, the Black Knight of Appetite was screaming "eat me!" through the glass display. Defeated by the black knight, I ordered it. Surprisingly, the Black Knight exceeded my expectations. It was a very light cake and not too sweet. Plus, there was a right amount of kirsch in the cake. The cake had generous amounts of cherries too! My mom was so overjoyed at the sight of the cherries because the only time she had that much of cherries in a blackforest was in Blackforest itself and
Senses, Hilton.
The other chocolate cake was very delicious too. It's slightly on the sweet side but not too sweet to the point none of us would touch the cake. The base of the cake had the texture of broken down chocolate rice krispies, the middle section of the cake was a very rich and chocolatey. Basically, all of us went to chocolate heaven after consuming the cake. What I loved most about the cake was the salted caramel truffle that adorned the cake. It had the right amount of saltiness, which brought out the interesting taste of slightly burnt sugar. :)
Now, onto the macarons. I picked Kaya Toast, Peanut Butter and Jelly, Kaffir Lime and Passionfruit. The macarons were not sweet to the point that biting the macarons would turn your face upside down. Also, you can taste actual flavors. The passionfruit tasted like real passionfruit without the funny "yellow" taste. The kaya toast macaron lived up to its name for it has kaya and a smidgen of butter as the filling. The kaffir lime was really kaffir lime ( I still cannot believe this and am spazzing at the thought of the macaron itself!) and the peanut butter and jelly reminded me of Goober Peanut Butter and Jelly jam that! I had w hen I was a child!
Texture wise, they were quite consistent across the macarons, with the Peanut Butter being slightly chewier than the rest (I suspected that it was the jelly). If you prefer really chewy macarons, the ones at LuxBite may not be for you. The ones at LuxBite is slightly light on the inside, a little crunchy on the outside but it will not break into a million pieces upon biting.Our favorite macarons would be Kaffir Lime and Peanut Butter and Jelly. I also liked the Kaya Toast macaron because I had not had kaya more almost 4 years. Apparently, the kaya has its origins from Malaysia, my home country.
We also ordered VegoBite, because we needed a vegetable fix. All of us loved the VegoBite. Our favorite component would be the pumpkin. They are so sweet to taste that we could not stop picking on the pumpkin! The egg was poached to perfection too!
For beverages, I ordered two pots of tea. It was part of the afternoon tea set. We had Chamomile Citron, which my father claimed to induce sleep (we went window shopping after our lunch and he actually sat down and slept by accident), and Belgian Mint. The Belgian Mint is a decent mint tea. My mom, who absolutely detests mint tea, actually enjoyed the Belgian Mint.
My sister wanted me to pack some macarons for her. I had her Peanut Butter and Jelly, Kaffir Lime and Chocolate Cherry. She loved the first two flavors but not the last. She claimed that it was too sweet to taste actual chocolate. I tried the Chocolate cherry as well and found it too sweet as well. It would be nice if the chocolate is more prominent.
If I were to rate LuxBite, I would give it 9.5 out of 10 because they actually pay attention to what we thought about the food and they really know their thing. Most importantly, the desserts are really good. :)
Man, Melbourne should have more of such places that serve reasonably sweet desserts! At least, when you eat them, you won't feel like you might get diabetes an hour later!
Li ttle things:-Cuisine: Cafe, Desserts
-Service: Prompt and friendly. The young lady who took our orders knew how to pair her desserts. :)
-Ambience: Clean and crisp, natural lightning very conducive for photography
-Budget: Total damage, 67 AUD
-Portion: Reasonable
-Toilet is located at Caroline Gardens, just 1 minute away
-Macarons and Cake available for takeaway
-The kaya used in the Kaya Toast macaron originates from Kelantan, a state in my home country
-It is near tram stop 28 for route 8, Toorak
-For information on menu, contact details etc:
