MELBOURNE | Her Cafe is a place that I’ve passed countless times on foot and on the tram since it opened in March last year. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago, however, when I popped in to grab some photos for What’s On Melbourne, that I stepped inside. My delay, my loss, as this tiny, unassuming spot is doing some quite delicious things.
Her Café is owned by Mimi Leung, who has developed the café’s selection of Asian-inspired baked treats with head baker Vanessa Yau. The focus is on lighter cakes – sponges, Swiss rolls, and the like, with a focus on quality ingredients, well balanced flavours, and a light touch when it comes to sugar.
The Swiss rolls are a signature, with flavours like black sesame; taro; and strawberries and cream. I usually avoid cream heavy cakes as I find them to be too cream-heavy, but the cream used at Her is very light and airy, as is the cake part.
The matcha Basque cheesecake continues the trend, with an unexpected lightness from a cake that’s usually a lot denser and richer. I had few bites of everything that I photographed, and was very impressed with just how light and not too sweet everything was. I think that I could have eaten every cake that was on the table in its entirety and not felt like I’d overdone it.
If you’re after something savoury, there’s a rotating selection of sandwiches and toasties on offer, and an assortment of Cantonese soup packet mixes which you can take home. To drink, it’s coffee, tea, top notch hot chocolate, and alternative lattes with similar flavours to the cakes. Black sesame, taro, matcha, and more.
Her Cafe
1R/516 Swanston Street
Carlton
Victoria 3053
Australia
Telephone: 0412 719 933
E-mail: [email protected]
Website
Open
Mon – Fri: 7:30am to 4:00pm
Sat: 9:00am to 4:00pm