St. Malo Bakery

The breads are good but I’d skip the muffins unless you like cake — the chocolate one I had tasted like a mix and the peach and almond one was a white cake with some bits added. Their croissants are average.

Love to drop in to buy bread and pastries. The focaccia is great, although not ideal if you’re restricting your salt. Love to have the rosemary and sea salt or tomato and basil focaccia at home for a simple lunch or to snack on over the weekend. Also can’t go past getting a muffin or other pastry too.

A bakery and café in one, St Malo was unique on Willoughby Road until a few other places opened in 2014. It’s still popular with ‘Lululemums’ and weekend caffeine addicts but there’s been a noticeable drop-​off in trade as options multiplied.
Which is a pity because they still bake some of the tastiest French pastries on this strip. The coffee is consistently excellent and the staff pleasant (although not quite as attentive to clearing away outdoors as I’d prefer in my jaunts here).
Personally, I’m not a fan of the croissants I’ve had here — I find them too flaky (frankly, they explode into buttery, crisp shards when I bite into them that results in immediate clean-​up problems).
But check out their special cinnamon scrolls that come in a variety of flavours. The plain ones, swept with icing sugar that will make you look like a coke addict if you’re not careful, are sweet, soft and buttery.

St. Malo Bakery used to be a favourite of mine. I still drool over the pastries by the counter, but I don’t anticipate buying from there again.
A colleague and I went to St Malo’s for brunch on my recommendation and she was as impressed by the breakfast options as I was. However, we spent the duration of our meal being terrorized by a cockroach, which frankly provided a welcome distraction from the food (the queens breakfast), which arrived looking nothing short of sad. I spent the rest of the morning apologizing for taking her to an apparently unhygienic venue.
Hoping this was an off day, I went again with my sister yesterday. We both ordered the organic eggs. The eggs took ages to arrive and when they did arrive, we seriously contemplated sending them back. I was so embarrassed by the standard I apologized to my sister and suggested St. Malo perhaps had a different chef on weekdays.
On the plus side, looking at my sad little plate of overpriced eggs, bread and lettuce inspired me to make my own scrambled eggs and toast at home– quicker, cheaper, better looking and better tasting.
Sorry St Malo, you’ve lost my vote.

Good coffee and a pretty mean chocolate croissant.
Staff is friendly and it’s got a perfect store front. Wide open windows and outdoor seating area.

Definitely my go-​to café for a light breakfast on the weekend. I absolutely love their pastries, scones and muffins. The coffee is also above average. It’s a nice spot to relax on the weekend. I look forward to trying their bread sometime soon!

Great feel when we grabbed a brunch and a breakfast with our son. He ordered the big breakfast and we ordered sourdough raisin toast. The breakfast had a good range of food all very tasty. The coffee was well made for both orders.

This place is one of my favourites (as you can see from my past reviews). Last year new owners to over and this is the first time I’ve had a sit down meal there since.
We had weekday brunch and were easily able to find a table. This is unusual and I’m not sure as to whether to chalk it down to a drop in quality under the new owners or it being late January.
I had what was essentially eggs benedict. Don’t get me wrong, I ate most of it, I won’t lie, but it could have been sooo much better. The eggs were lukewarm, not hot, the toast was burnt around the edges (why wouldn’t you just cook some more?) and the dish was very salty. I ordered the smoked salmon and I think that was where the saltiness was coming from– but i think a good chef would have tasted the smoked salmon to know how salty the batch was.
As I said, I still ate most of it. I then took home my normal box of pastries– while still yum yum yummy, (sour cherry danish!), they certainly not up the normal standard which is AMAZEBALLS! So to ‘outsiders’ the standard may be outstanding, but to regulars, disappointing. They were uncooked and not crispy like they normally are.

Great coffee, nice outdoor seating area.
A dead-​set winner.
I particularly enjoy the caramelised onions served with their big brekky.

This is by far the best coffee in Crows Nest. I regularly visit St. Malo’s for both meetings with colleagues as well as socially and I’m consistently impressed.
Service is always friendly, the organic food is delicious and the atmosphere great on a sunny day.
St. Malo’s is an essential destination when visiting Crows Nest.

Fantastic brekky and, great coffee. The berry-​custard brioche’s are amazing.

Today was a lovely sunny winters day so was looking for a café in Crows Nest where I could sit outside and do some work. Was delighted to see that St Malo’s was open until 4pm. Been here a few times before and it never disappoints.
The St Malo designer had input into the design of Brioche in Balmain (an organic bakery /​café in Balmain with lots of gluten free options).
As I was there to do some work, wifi would be nice.
Ordered a long black (with a side of milk) and a mini lemon meringue tart (wanted a sweet treat but it had to be soft due to a temporary crown that needed to be treated with care).
The coffee was rich, strong with great crema.
The mini tart easy on the eye (probably not so easy on the hips), light, slightly tart and oh so tasty.
Relaxed setting with a good reputation in Crows Nest.

I can totally +1 Nicki’s endorsement of the Lemon Chicken with aioli sandwiches. Those guys are the business!
I have to thank my sister-​in-​law for introducing me to St. Malo. Crows Nest is packed with cafes, so it’s always to have a recommendation to try. And hey, isn’t that what Unilocal is all about!
The café itself is long and thin, so mums with strollers be warned. If you manoever up the back there’s a light and bright space in a void by the kitchen that is pretty perfect to spread out and set up a high chair.
Foodwise, everything is delectable. There are sausage rolls (oh so good), sandwiches and lots of sweet goodies to accompany a cup of coffee. The coffee can be a bit hit and miss — but on thing that’s always spot on is the bread. Ohhhh yes indeedy. Go and have a sandwich!

This is one of my favourite little cafes in Crows Nest. It was the artisan organic bakers tag line that drew me but it was the gorgeous range of pastries, cakes and sandwiches that kept me going back. The sandwiches are the kind you make at home when you’ve bought a be Italian loaf and have just been to a fresh food delicatessen… like that but better in my sorry sandwich making house.
Whenever I get lunch here I can’t go past the lemon chicken with aioli dressing sandwich. But what I love is that they don’t mind making one up fresh for me with gluten free bread — homemade bread. And as far as gluten free bread goes this one is a winner. I’ve tried all sort but this tops it for me. Even better — I buy a loaf for home consumption (my sandwiches are never as good as St Malos’ but I make a mean avocado on toast drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper… don’t forget the butter!).
The coffee is smooth and the organic bottled juices and fizzy drinks are tasty too.
Price wise a loaf of the gluten free bread is $ 6.80 and the sandwiches are about $ 8. To use a card for payment you have to spend over $ 10 which is pretty easy to do in this place.
Children’s high chairs are available. No WiFi.
One final and worthy note is that one time when I was eating said sandwich mentioned above Mr Gary Mehiga — the Masterchef judge himself — sat himself down and ordered the same sandwich I was eating. Good taste buds munch alike ;)