【Sydney Food】High Street Bakery

When I asked Ju why she picked High Street Bakery in North Willoughby for our Saturday lunch gathering with Daddy, she said: “nice food, quiet, and amazing value for money.” Ok, sold.

I was wholeheartedly impressed by, literally, everything of this buzzing suburban cafe. From the food quality, variety, portion, campos coffee, to the atmosphere. Did I mention “value for money”? We ordered this whole table of food (5 x lunch/breakfast items + 4 x coffee), and it came down to a grand total of…wait for it…$51!

—–HER{curio}MAJESTY SCORE SHEET—–

Visited: 18 October 2014 (for lunch).

Food: 9/10 || Ambiance: 9/10 || Service: 8/10

What I loved: Absolutely value for money.

Will I come back: Yes.

The fit-out of High Street Bakery is consistent throughout the small and cozy cafe, with an undertone of copper and heavy use of metal materials.

The line for ordering (for both takeaway and dine-in) literally never stopped. The seating system is “first come first serve”, so just walk right in and find a spot yourself.

Guess what the green things on the coat hangers are?

Yep, it’s their menu! Such a neat (pun intended) design.

Even the table numbers are made of metal.

Classic Vietnamese pork roll (baguette), filled with greens, cucumber, pickled carrot, coriander, spring onion, pate, homemade lemon chive mayo and High Street Bakery’s secret soy dressing, $8.

Being a huge banh mi lover (click [here] to see my Hanoi food report), this was the obvious choice for me. The highlight was definitely the baguette itself for being so crispy on the outside and smooth on the inside. The portion was pretty substantial. However, the seasoning of this baguette seems to have been modified to suit Westerners, so it’s a bit different than the other “classic Vietnamese” rolls that I am used to having.

They have cut chili for those that like their baguettes with more of a kick.

Lemongrass chicken baguette, filled with greens, cucumber, pickled carrot, coriander, spring onion, pate, homemade lemon chive mayo and High Street Bakery’s secret soy dressing, $9.

Lemongrass beef baguette, filled with greens, cucumber, picked carrot, coriander, spring onion, pate, homemade lemon chive mayo and High Street Bakery’s secret soy dressing, $9.

Eggs as you like – free range eggs served with sourdough toast ($3) + avocado ($3) + oven roasted balsamic tomatoes $3 = $9.

Like I had mentioned in my Rustic Pearl post, I always avoid ordering dishes like this because I can easily make them at home. But  at $9, this plate that Ju had put together (all sides can be added at an extra $3 each to your egg as you like. Ju chose avocado and tomato) was pretty amazing.

It’s all about the presentation.

Trio of Vietnamese rice paper rolls filled with lemongrass chicken, rice vermicelli, greens and Asian herbs, $10.

It says “trio” but we only got two rolls for some reason. We didn’t object to it, but I saw the waiter bringing the same order to another table which also only contained two rolls. Hmm, curious.

Anyway, there’s no real surprise in the rice paper rolls. However, the sauce was the bomb!

Cute latte art, with a love heart on top.

The second cup came as a swan!

All three cups of the coffee that we got had different patterns! Kudos to the barista.

This was…a phoenix?

Self-service tap water provided.

There are only limited seating inside of the cafe (4 communal tables that seat about 20 in total; and another window bench that could seat up to 3 people) and about 5 outdoor 2-seater’s in front of the cafe. Despite the never-ending queue, we observed that most people purchased their food/coffee for takeaway. I guess that’s why we managed to get a table for 5 at 11am on a Saturday morning.

I would say, don’t come in a group of more than 5ppl  because you would need to split tables. Also, if you’re coming in a group of more than 2, avoid the weekend brunch rush and come after 12:30pm.

Location-wise, the cafe is on the same block as the High Street Market, which explains why the queue was so crazy that morning. How could anyone resist taking away a quality baguette (they box it up for you extremely nicely) or a cup of Campos coffee after a busy grocery-shopping trip right?

{High Street Bakery}
Address: 201 High Street, North Willoughby NSW