Café Review – La Banette, Glebe

By Corridor Kitchen On May 17, 2011 · 7 Comments · In Cafés

You may not know this about me, but I’m a sucker for a striped awning. Anyone clever enough to attach one to the outside of their cake shop/patisserie/boulangerie/espresso bar (because that’s where you always seem to find them) has a good chance of piquing my interest. And if it’s a sunny Saturday morning and I’ve ‘forgotten’ to have breakfast before Senhor R and I go out for coffee, your chances increase exponentially.

Thus ‘La Banette’ has always been referred to by me as ‘the place in Glebe with the yellow striped awning’. I don’t spend much time in Glebe because I find the coffee to be as it is in Newtown – a few brilliant places dotted here and there, but you gotta know where to look. And while in Newtown I have a fairly good idea (Campos, Vargabar Espresso, The Old Fish Cafe, Berkelouw Books), in Glebe I have no clue. And I’m usually too damned lazy to find out.

So I never realised it was a patisserie, boulangerie and café, let alone the second in a series (the other is in Avalon). After visiting, a quick Google reveals that the owners, Vince Luong and Uyen Le, have garnered acclaim all over for their interpretations of French classics. And it’s no surprise.

The interior is small but artfully arranged with bench seats and tables down one side and pastries, cakes and breads wherever they will fit. The selection is impressive and, to my mind, not at all on the expensive side. On our first visit we pick up a rustic sourdough baguette for something like $3 and grab our standard coffees to have in. The baguette isn’t as sourdough-y as I like it, but it have terrific crunch factor. The coffee is good. Very good. Good, rich crema, latte art which I can take or leave in real life but can’t get enough of for blogging. On our next visit we order croissant and a danish and they are divine; so buttery, rich and flaky I could eat ten.

The procedure is to order and pay at the counter before you sit down and the staff will bring your order out to you, or you can get it to go. They purport to be a bakery, not a cafe and thus although all the coffee comes with real saucers, cups and spoons the food comes in bags, boxes and on doilies. They request that you dispose of them yourself (they have bins) and I take no issue with this but if I have one criticism it’s that this policy seems wasteful. However, in the face of some of the best pastries I’ve had in my life and golden delicious coffee, this seems a small thing.

So, what less-than-subtle sign is guaranteed to pique you interest in a place?

La Banette
18 Glebe Point Road, Glebe 2037
(02) 8095 9688
7:00am – 6:00pm Monday – Friday

7 Responses to Café Review – La Banette, Glebe

yasmeen (wandering spice) says:

May 17, 2011 at 12:06 pm

this was such a joy to read and look at. a great review and beautiful photos to match! looks like my type of place. and my kind of weather!! it’s so dreary down here today.
yasmeen (wandering spice) recently posted…street food- south melbourne market-style
john@heneedsfood says:

May 17, 2011 at 1:14 pm

I was here just last weekend with my sister from Brisbane and she declared it the best patisserie she’s seen. The coffee is pretty good and the little lemon curd tarts are divine. Great to see they now have tables & seats.
Gaby says:

May 18, 2011 at 1:57 pm

Good coffee and good pastries = priceless (and also incredibly fattening, but ok once in a while…)
Gaby recently posted…Interview with Danny Parreno La Bodeguita Del Medio
Rui says:

May 18, 2011 at 4:09 pm

All their pastries look amazing.

They have many of their pastries in mini form – danishes, croissants, pans aux chocolat, palmieres etc so that trying the whole spectrum can be done without too much guilt, and considering the quality, less cost than most places. I’ve yet to delve into their savoury offerings but I will definitely be back to do so as a tray of cooling sausage rolls sat there staring at me last weekend!

The ones I have tasted have all lived up to expectations on how pastries should be on all factors, freshness, flavour, texture, crunch and a bunch of things I don;t have words for.

Seriously impressed.
Manu says:

May 18, 2011 at 8:56 pm

Yum! Look at that croissant! I would love one even now… after dinner!!! hahaha I love French pastries and this looks like a good spot to go have some! And the coffee art looks pretty too! You are right… not essential, but it is a nice plus.
Manu recently posted…Comment on PUMPKIN AND BARLEY SOUP by Beth Michelle
Lau says:

May 24, 2011 at 10:25 pm

@Yasmeen – Thanks you so much! Sorry it’s so dreary in Melbourne though…

@John – I’m pretty sure I read about this place over at heneedsfood, but I never made the connection between it and the place with the yellow striped awning. The coffee is delish.

@Gaby – Well, something that delicious must come at a price…

@Rui – Those sausage rolls did look pretty spectacular. Move over Bourke St bakery, I say. Pork and fennel my eye. I believe the word you’re looking for is ‘mmmmmmmmmmMMMMmmmmMMMmmmmm…’

@Manu – Don’t worry, there’s always room for pastries. Surely you have a pastry stomach?
Sinoma Gilbert says:

June 8, 2011 at 10:38 pm

After working in Broadway/Glebe for nearly 12months now I stumbled across this fabulous patisserie today – I was blown away. The aroma was unbelievable, the smell of fresh croissants, chocolate & caramel was amazing, not to mention the look of the pastries which was breath taking! Another big credit to the bakery goes to the owners, a lady whom could have been the owner was delightful in her approach & I could also sense a feeling of pride – why wouldn’t you be!