Dessert cafes to try at Parramatta, Granville, Mays Hill
Maybe it’s the wave of French expats hitting Sydney, or Lebanese families upholding traditional recipes, but one western Sydney community is never short of a sweet treat to live la dolce vita.
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Whether you want a small treat with your morning coffee, a sweet slice of cake for afternoon tea, or just to cave in and have an ice cream bowl for a meal, the Parramatta area serves up a rich choice of dessert cafes.
We’ve done the hard work for you and sampled some of the finest offerings from long established family businesses to newcomers wowing us with their imaginative twists.
Lucien Baked Goods
Some of this newcomer’s most imaginative sweets are also thrifty creations such as the flaky and fluffy pistachio swirl, which co-owner Adeline Ribis has crafted with croissant offcuts and the much-loved green kernels.
“People love pistachios. Everything with pistachios, I find it sells well,’’ she said.
She cites canele as the signature dish. The pint-size pastries encase burnt custard. There are staples including banana bread and chocolate croissants, and Ribis wants to expand the croissant menu to include savoury fillings.
“It’s a work in progress but I’d like to have the traditional ham and cheese and maybe eggplant harissa,’’ she said.
While her mother and grandmother were skilled cake makers and baked regularly, creating pastries came later in life for Ribis.
She met her now husband Tom Clunie on the Isle of Skye in Scotland and they worked at Parramatta’s reputable Circa cafe; her as a waitress and him as a head chef.
Working there allowed for baking “a little here and there” and now they’re spreading the love at Lucien, which opened in late 2022.
Customers should appreciate the gruelling 3.30am starts that yield not only sweets but sourdough loaves, some which are stuffed with fillings to create baguettes ready to be eaten on the run or in the cafe.
You might find surprises such as the cherry choux, laced with mascarpone, or gluten-free Persian rock cakes.
111 Phillip St, Parramatta
Profiterole Patisserie Mays Hill and Guildford
Profiterole Patisserie at Guildford has been an institution for the best part of two decades so when a crop of apartment buildings started popping up along the Great Western Highway at Mays Hill, the Yacoub family capitalised on the location and expanded their successful business in early 2022.
While the Guildford shop remains the flagship with flamboyant desserts and lavish cakes, Mays Hill conveniently offers indoor and alfresco dining for about 50 customers who file in for coffees, iridescent fruit cocktails and of course to indulge in slices of cake that beckon from the display cabinet.
The celebration cakes sit proudly in the display cabinet, ready to be ordered or purchased on the spot. Passionfruit cheesecake, caramel mousse and marble cakes are some options.
Middle Eastern biscuits such as karabiyeh can be found here alongside the French and Italian staples of croissants and tiramisu.
We savoured the tellawaffle — waffles lashed with Nutella, strawberry, banana and vanilla ice cream but the more disciplined diner can also opt for the wholesome acai bowls or ashta plates laden with a bounty of fruits, honey and nuts.
Of course the signature profiteroles are also ready to be devoured at Mays Hill.
147 Great Western Highway, Mays Hill
Abla’s Pastries and Cafe
ScoMo lost the election but at least he had some sweet fun on the hustings when he visited Granville mainstay Abla’s Pastries and Cafe before the poll, sampling some of the rich delicacies that have been tantalising tastebuds for 39 years.
Founder Milad Abla brought the exotic treats such as lady’s arms to local streets when Middle Eastern desserts were not so readily available. The business debuted on Bridge St in 1984 before jumping to the other side of the tracks and occupying a site next door to its existing Railway Pde premises where it has flourished for 25 years.
Thousands of morsels are baked daily at a vast South Granville commercial kitchen and then proudly piled up on cabinets before being savoured over a relaxed coffee in the shop or bought in bulk, stuffed in bags and bound for kitchen pantries.
We enjoy a very cool raspberry sorbet on a scorching day, and make up a small mixed plate with pistachio maamoul and a pistachio sponge cake.
The other temptations such as the karabij (marshmallow and pistachio slice) will have to indulge us another time.
The strikingly-packaged wedding and christening bomboniere display appears more like a corner of a jewellery shop with sweets encased in silky, jewel-studded pockets.
Celebration cakes are ready to be bought from the fridges or ordered. Plans are well under way to expand seating upstairs.
Scores of Woolworths supermarkets and restaurants stock Abla’s rich sweets laden with pistachios, dates and cashews.
It’s a success story Abla could not envisage when he started the business, seven years after moving to Sydney from Lebanon to study civil engineering at Wollongong University and landing a job in public works at Port Kembla.
He had some experience working at a Dulwich Hill pastry shop and recruited overseas staff to work in the fledgling Granville business. Twenty five workers now keep the business thriving.
“We started a very small business doing a lot of sweets and the business started growing very fast,’’ he said.
“I never expected it. I thought at the beginning it would be a short journey and it went all the way. It was too good to leave.’’
Now 64 and considering retirement, his three sons – two who are engineers and one a pilot – will take over what has helped make Granville a gourmet drawcard under its gritty exterior.
32 Railway Pde, Granville
Hrt 2 Hrt
Hrt 2 Hrt owner Sam Elfawal thinks he and mate Milad Abla from Abla’s Pastries must have the oldest Middle Eastern sweet shops in Australia.
It’s not quite the same vintage as Abla’s, but family-run business Hrt 2 Hrt has validated itself as a Merrylands mainstay for 23 years, drawing diners who love to meet for coffee or have dinner alfresco style on McFarlane St.
Some are sinking their teeth into baklava and coffee, others are meandering through the Mediterranean with pasta and wood-fired pizza.
Others are conquering their indulgences inside at the chocolate room where waffles, pancakes and churros beckon.
Then there’s a rainbow of Lebanese ice creams to sample, made with many traditional Italian flavours but made so it stretches, compared with being scooped.
And what would a Middle Eastern sweets emporium be without festive cakes.
“It’s a family restaurant; it’s a gathering for families where they’ve got all the benefits of savoury and sweets,’’ Elfawal said.
“Our pizzas are wood-fired, not like from a conveyor belt. Our pizza chef has 40 years experience.’’
La Galette Patisserie
Here’s a slice of the Champs-Elysees on Victoria Rd in North Parramatta, a small patisserie immaculately presented and bedecked with chic black chandeliers.
Inside the elegant shop, continental, Italian and Middle Eastern cakes, biscuits and desserts are perfectly piled in pyramids and a rainbow of gelati beckons, especially on the humid morning we visit.
Director Imad Gerges and his wife Joanne do decadence well and make no apologies if their delicacies might see customers shell out a bit more for fresh offerings, whether it’s baklava, cinnamon biscuits, eclairs, cannoli, pistachio succe or taj al malek (aka king’s crowns or bird’s nest).
“I want to eat the best quality; I don’t look at the price,’’ he said.
“I don’t change the quality because of the price.’’
Gerges boasts Lebanese, French and Ukrainian heritage and this cosmopolitan lineage, combined with his training in Europe and 37 years’ experience as a pastry chef, delivers delicious desserts for customers who help him sell 200kg of biscuits and more than 300kg worth of cakes each week.
He shifted the business from Merrylands more than two years ago and also prides the patisserie for using organic ingredients, sans the preservatives.
Gerges’ frequent visits to France usually means more inspiration for the patisserie, where a small carpark at the back makes it as appealing as the treats inside.
Taking consumers’ growing desire for less sugar into account, he also cuts back on the sweetener but the flavours are still sweet.
Special mention to the mascarpone and fig gelato, which is a refreshing burst of summer on the palate.
64 Victoria Rd, North Parramatta
Asal Sweet Patisserie
One of the first observations we make about the Persian treats at Asal’s is their size; not too big to put one in a food coma but not so tiny where you can just muster a couple of bites longing for more.
The cosy space is fitted out with booth seatings and coffee to wash down morning or afternoon tea with a good selection of cakes and desserts.
Head here if you want snacks filled with coconut, almonds, pistachios and coffee. Our syrup-soaked orange cake was rich and spongy.
The zaban (puff pastry) temptations are enticing and can be ordered with our without icing sugar.
4/196-200 Merrylands Rd, Merrylands
Bay Vista
Consider it your department store of dessert cafes. Bay Vista Parramatta doesn’t scrimp on anything, from capacity – it seats 500 – to colossal dishes including its signature ice cream bowls dripping with toppings, or its mind boggling 42-page menu.
In 2018, George Katsabaris joined Bill Mougios to open the Parramatta branch of Bay Vista which has occupied Brighton Le Sands for the past 32 years.
Inspired by the bigger-is-better philosophy of US chain the Cheesecake Factory, Bay Vista has value in mind when serving its mega portions.
Unlike its southern Sydney cousin, the Parramatta hotspot also has savoury options including chicken wings and burgers, perfect for the footy crowd who flock to CommBank Stadium before or after kick-off.
When the sun sinks and most of Eat St has shut, Bay Vista is still kicking on and offering some decent fare beyond a McDonald’s burger.
After weathering Covid lockdowns and the light rail construction, Katsabaris does not plan major changes and knows customers take comfort in consistency.
“The feedback our customers give is that they like coming to us because they can get their favourite menu all the time,’’ Katsabaris said.
Bay Vista loves its customers so much it hosts a pancake day in spring each year when pancakes with chocolate, maple syrup and Nutella are on the house. Last year, 4000 customers took up the offer.
Watch jaws drop when the ice cream bowls are served. The cafe trades to midnight and 1am on Fridays and Saturdays.
1/330 Church St, Parramatta
El Sweetie
The decor is as inviting as the glossy Middle Eastern desserts dominating the display cabinet at this established Granville haunt.
It’s the new kid on the block compared with Abla’s around the corner but has enjoyed popularity since it opened at South St over 20 years ago.
Sink into a comfy booth or perch yourself on a table to savour the array of delicacies, from rich baklava to more subtle treats, and accompany it with a coffee.
Families flock to the 100-seat restaurant run by Jean and Jeanette Abi-Daher on weekends when many file in for a lunch from the savoury options such as the barbecue mixed plates ahead of dessert.
Sweets are made at the South St restaurant every day.
73/75 South St, Granville
Watch Your Fingers Patisserie
Marion Jeffery brought a touch of her French flair to the western suburbs when she married Nigel and they opened Watch Your Fingers bakery at Constitution Hill in 2015.
Raised in Poitiers in central-west France, assembling sweet pastries is Marion’s passion and she especially loves baking cookies, which she affectionately calls her babies.
Her signature biscuit is the broye du poitou which means it is filled with almonds and vanilla and traditionally eaten as a wedding cake in France.
Marion and her husband have worked in some of Europe’s finest kitchens, but much prefer serving the community set of shops at Emma Cres where apple and cinnamon tarts and smartie cookies are on rotation, along with the pies which are “going out the door” even during the normally sleepy month of January.
The key to a memorable sweet pastry is simple. “Butter, not margarine; we use real butter and unfortunately sugar but good quality products,’’ Marion says.
“Fresh cream and good quality chocolate; if they’re all quality products the end result can’t be bad.’’
5 Emma Cres, Constitution Hill
SweetLand Patisserie
For a suburb dubbed Little India, Harris Park still has traces of its Middle Eastern past before curry restaurants and fare from the subcontinent started transforming its streets.
At SweetLand, senior gents down coffees and catch up with their mates on the footpath while other customers file in to grab a snack or order birthday cakes and maybe get some decorations while they’re there.
The profiteroles we had oozed chocolate custard and were delectable.
Threefold Pastry
The Parramatta Square debutant nails its offerings from the beautifully blistered pies to the humble wholemeal and oat blueberry muffin, but it’s so hard not to put its Oreo brownie on a pedestal. The carrot cake with its dollops of cream cheese frosting comes a close second. No, make that equal first.
Head pastry chef Ali Balapurwala leads the team to create memorable treats for the thousands of commuters who take advantage of the eatery’s position on the concourse linking Parramatta Square to the train station.
Many flock for the croissants whether it’s plain, almond or chocolate.
For the record, Threefold nails the savoury category with sandwiches including spicy Portuguese chicken with coleslaw, and salami with roasted tomato jam, basil and rocket wins our approval.
Parramatta Square, 404/12 Darcy St (underground)
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Originally published as Dessert cafes to try at Parramatta, Granville, Mays Hill
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