La Banette Pâtisserie has beautiful baked goods and cakes filling up its cabinets and shelves. With its unassuming frontage, you’d walk right past if not for the delectable smells of sugar and butter from baked delights. It’s a stone’s throw from the University of Sydney on the trendy strip that is Glebe Point Road.

This is the mini lemon meringue tart ($4.00). A full size version is available.

The lemon meringue tart has a crisp thin base with a sweet lemon curd topped with a generous dollop of meringue. While the meringue looks impressive, I’d have preferred either less of it or a much tarter lemon curd. The sweetness of the meringue overpowers the usual tangy tartness that draws me to lemon meringue tarts. I’d likely also be more forgiving if it were a marshmallowy Italian meringue, to give the fluffiness some more interest. Perhaps the greater lemon curd to meringue ratio in the full size version balances better?

This is the mini coffee eclair ($4.00). A full size version is also available.

There’s no missing that this is a coffee eclair, as the word ‘coffee’ is elegantly piped across the top. The choux pastry is perfectly light, with a generous coffee flavoured filling. I have the sweetest of sweet tooths but again, I found the coffee filling too sweet and without the subtle bitter notes that make the smell and taste of coffee so pleasant and would have cut through the sweetness so well.

While it serves up decent baked goods with generous variety, the service leaves a lot to be desired. On quiet Thursday afternoon around 2pm, the staff emit absolutely no warmth or the slightest indication that you’re welcome as a customer. I’m not even talking about service with a smile – we haven’t gotten past frigid.

La Banette Pâtisserie is located at 18 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe NSW 2037.