Lorraine’s Patisserie, Ivy, Sydney CBD ($)

Address: Shop 5, Palings Lane, 320 George St Sydney NSW

Tel: (02) 9254 8009

Website: http://merivale.com.au/lorraines-patisserie/

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Atmosphere

Lorraine’s is a little Patisserie located in Palings Lane near the popular bar, the ivy.

It gets it’s name from Ms Lorraine Godsmark, formerly a Potts Point patissiere, who now delights Sydney CBD workers with her delicious treats, all from a small kitchen surrounded by glass windows.

The place itself is quite small with about a 2 metre by 1 metre area for customers to stand in. MDS and I found it quite cramped with all our winter baggage, maneuvering around eachother’s bags, umbrellas and coats to try to have a peek into the pastry cabinets and check out what was on the trays.

The kitchen area is much bigger and the glass windows on two sides make it quite open, allowing customers the chance to see how the sweet treats are made.

Service

There really isn’t much service involved as it is a patisserie with no seating. Everything is take-away so there was minimal involvement from the staff member who assisted us.

She was however quite patient considering our indecisiveness about which delicious treat to order (there are so many goodies!).

Food

As we walked in the store we were swamped with the smell of delicious chocolate, baking in the ovens at the back of the kitchen.

MDS and I immediately craved something chocolatey and I went for a cake, while MDS chose one of the delicious cookies.

We both ordered a passionfruit truffle to try, and I also got a marshmallow dipped in chocolate.

The chocolate cake was amazing. It had layers of ganache, mousse, nuts in a caramel sauce, and flaky pastry. So many textures and flavours in the one piece, it was exquisite and probably one of the best cakes I have ever had!

The passionfruit truffle was an odd combination of passionfruit tang and the sweet bitterness of dark chocolate. The shape was a little irregular but the flavour was great.

Finally, the marshmallow was gooey and soft, a perfect square with a Turkish delight base, which was hidden by a coating of chocolate. The Turkish delight was unexpected as I thought it was simply a marshmallow covered in chocolate! A nice touch!

Cost

The truffles and marshmallows were $2.50 each and the cake was $8.00.

Rating:

I would rate my experience (out of 10):

• Service- 5 (non-existent really)
• Food- 5
• Ambience- 5
• Value – 6

The Cook’s Garden, Turramurra ($)

Address: 272 Bobbin Head Rd  North Turramurra NSW

Tel: (02) 9144 5086

Website: http://www.thecooksgarden.com.au/

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I had heard good things about this place and had been wanting to visit for some time.

Prowsey and I finally got the chance one Saturday afternoon as we headed up to North Turramurra to check it out.

Atmosphere

As it was the afternoon the atmosphere was pretty quiet and calm, really serene.

The interior is decorated with lots of wood panelling and neutral colours like whites and greens and you can see the little garden at the back which is a nice touch, but the front view of the street is quite boring.

The tables were nicely set up and as we were dining the waitress was preparing them up for dinner service.

The Cook’s Garden proved to be a good spot to have a chat as apart from Prowsey and I, there were only two other ladies at the restaurant.

Service

We stepped into the little chocolate and cake shop at the front of the restaurant and waited about 5 minutes before someone came to the front of the shop to greet us.

We decided to have a tea and cake each and ordered and paid at the front counter before taking our own seats by the window.

There really wasn’t much to the service. We didn’t have any amazing waiters or friendly smiles. We just ordered, our tea and cakes were brought out and that’s it.  As we were leaving however, a friendly gentleman at the front of the shop did thank us for coming and was quite nice but other than that it was a really average experience.

Food

Prowsey and I both ordered English Breakfast teas and Persian Polenta cakes.

The Persian Polenta cakes were delicious. They were moist and very orangey, had a lovely mini-sized presentation and were slightly sticky. Delicious.

Persian Orange Polenta Cake

While the tea was also tasty and quite nice, the cups they were served in were a little stained and chipped. Not very good presentation for a place which supposedly has a couple of Good Food Chef Hats!

English Breakfast Tea

Cost

The tea cost $4.00.

There are a variety of cakes available at the front of the restaurant.

Rating

I would rate my experience (out of 10):

• Service- 5.5
• Food-  7
• Ambience- 6.5