The Croydon Store and Red Door Cafe

Croydon and the surrounding areas are becoming hubs for suburban brunch goodness.  I had been to Hawker Street and Queen Street Cafés so thought that I would give The Croydon Store a go. 

Walking in, the décor reminds me of a 70’s-80’s kitchen, vinyl backed chairs and retro tables – come to think of it, I think we had similar when I was growing up!  We went up to the counter and ordered our meals – the staff was friendly but our food was slow to come out.  I ordered the Mushrooms and Spinach on Rye Bread. 

The Rye bread was toasted but not burnt and the mushrooms and spinach were sautéed nicely.  Placing items on bread which have been sautéed can cause some issues by making the bread soggy (a pet hate of mine) but luckily this didn’t happen so I was pleased.  Bacon could have been crisped up a little more though. 

Price point was similar to other brunch places that I have eaten at.  Overall, I would go back again. 

From there, we were walking back to our cars and saw the Red Door Bakery, it was open so I thought I would go in for a peek.  This little bakery was packed to the brim with customers wanting to get there hands on some delicious breads, savoury and dessert pastries…so I decided to give it a go also. 

I ordered an apple danish, cinnamon scroll and their signature dessert – the crème brulee tart.  The pastry of the apple danish was puffed to perfection and the apples were tart with some sweetness.  The cinnamon scrolls were slightly sticky and not sickly sweet which I enjoyed.  Now for their signature dessert.  It had all the characteristics of a good crème brulee – good crack of the caramelised top with a strong caramel flavour, smooth, sweet crème and a short pastry.  I would definitely go back for this again and is a favourite with a number of my friends. 

PacMan gives The Croydon Store 7/10 chops on the chopping board and Red Door Café 8/10 chops on the chopping board.