Well, I just had a Vanilla Slice from Cafe Gaudi. They’re usually quite nice and made by some private baker. The thing I’ve noticed about them is they leave the old stock on the cake shelves for too long. Today the shelf was full so I thought they’d be nice. I’d got back to work and opened the wrapping to a dried, near fungus infected piece of crusty puss filled pastry. I brave taken a slight nibble on it. It didn’t taste bad as such, just dried out and stale. It was promptly binned and it’s definitely not worth ever buying from their again.
On a positive note about them though, I really think they have some of the best coffee you can buy in the region, and they’re baristas (in most cases badly trained noobs) do a fairly consistent job at preparing them. Coffee Guru and Gloria Jean’s can be just down right bitter and indrinkable. The problem is you need to pick your times if you want a take away coffee at Gaudi. Even with the new fandangled computer ordering system, some of the staff are just plain useless at time management. There was a really nice dude named Samuel who worked there. Many times he had the coffee ready to go before I’d even ordered. He’s by far the best staff member they ever had, but he’s unfortunately gone now.
If you want the best vanilla slice in existence (except for maybe europe), go to Sorrento on the far southern eastern point of Port Phillip Bay. By golly gee they’re fine, made fresh on site. You can’t miss them, they’re on the left as you drive into town coming from Mornington with a big sign stating that they’re the home of the famous BEST vanilla slice in Australia. They make them onsite and they’re utterly fantastic.