Laurent Cafe, Melbourne

I used to walk past Laurent a lot, and it used to be really intimidating at me, gazing into the beautiful white paneling with the gold trim and the exquisitely made cakes. It took me awhile to actually work up the courage to walk in and decide to get a table. 

View from Little Collins St.

The interior is very white, very French, right down to the delicate gold trimmed china that is used. You’ll be spoilt for choice at the luscious looking pastries, and the glistening cakes.The selection looks amazing, and although I was hard pressed to pick between the pastries and the cakes, I finally settled for some hot chocolate and a chocolate mousse option, while a friend tried what we called a van Gogh cake. 

Hot chocolate was delicious, and reasonably priced – had a hint of hazelnut, and lovely and smooth – just the way I like it. 

Cakes were beautifully made, that much was obvious from the sculpted masterpieces on display, but they tasted just as good as they looked. The chocolate cake was velvety and creamy, and topped with a decadent chocolate topper. Their sponge cake was light and airy, full of vanilla and lemon flavor, and blended well with the fruit toppings. I have to admit their cakes are a bit on the pricey side, ranging between AUD8-10 depending on your choices, but they were delicious. 

It’s very much your luck when you can get a seat, often it seems like the place is crammed full, and service is patchy – fantastic at times, and absolutely crap at others. It’s moments like that which bring down the whole atmosphere a little bit, but I suppose with the service industry it’s always an effort to try and maintain staff attitudes. 

Laurent is on 306, Lt Collins St, Melbourne, VIC 3000. 

Telephone: 03-96541011 

Opening Hours: 800H – 1800H