Roll Bae, cinnamon buns in Brunswick

We are a sucker for a good cinnamon scroll!  And Roll Bae in East Brunswick gets our thumbs up for their soft gooey scrolls with plenty of fun flavours.  They also do a great line in vegan scrolls.  If you are after one, beware that they sell out.  Sylvia went there with E a few weeks back but by noon there were no vegan scrolls left.  That was why we managed to arrive there at 9.30am yesterday.  She was determined to sample a scroll and was very glad she did.

The cafe is painted a light green and has some fun details that make it a lovely place to eat in.  I loved this little ceramic cinnamon scroll by the counter.  Also livening up the cashier section where we ordered are a candle, flowers and some cute little bunnies, one of which seems to be riding in a carrot!

The first thing we did upon entering was to check out all the scrolls.  The Triple cheese and vegemite was the one savoury option and very tempting.  Sylvia was sad there was no vegan apple scroll this week but was pleased to be able to choose between the Biscoff and the Original.  I was happy to have a large selection of non-vegan scrolls including Tiramisu, S'mores, Bueno and Apple crumble.  

There are a selection of hot and cold drinks including espresso, piccolo, magic, chai latte, hot chocolate, iced matcha mango sago, iced banana pudding matcha and iced pistachio cloud hojicha.  The main food is scrolls but you can also have toasties, pies and hash browns.

The cafe reaches back into the end of the building with a narrowed space down the end.  I really liked the large mirror at the end of this space so if you were facing away from the front you could still see some of the activity there.  Mention must also be made of the gorgeous lead light design above the back door.

The back section also has a bookshelf for browsing.  I love looking at any bookshelf but was distracted by the little display on top of plants, a crocheted sunflower and crochet Totoro arranged on a lace cloth.  Above them are a quirky gathering of frames with a Secret Garden illustration, a dog with a glass of wine and a mirror that reads "the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire".  I like the think that this cafe sets the owner's soul on fire!  It should.

I wanted to try all of the scrolls but contented myself with pistachio scroll.  It was excellent soft and slightly warm  scroll with a generous topping of pistachio frosting and nuts.  A couple next to us were musing on it being like a brioche dough.  It is a tribute to the frosting that I ate it all.  So often I find frosting to be too sweet and cloying but I am guessing that this had pistachio paste in it to give the lovely flavour and thicker texture, and perhaps some cream cheese.  

Likewise, Sylvia was delighted with Biscoff scroll.  It had lots of gooey caramel Biscoff sauce topped with a good vegan cream - which is always a treat for a vegan - and a Biscoff biscuit.  Both scrolls were so gooey and soft that they needed to be eaten with a fork.  Sylvia also had an iced mango sago matcha which came with a little chunk of brownie.  The brownie was not vegan so I ate it for her.  Things I do!

The old wooden grama phone player in the centre of the cafe adds a touch of class.  After we ate at Rolls Bae we went diagonally across Moreland Road to the Wakim Antiques and Restorations.  While chatting during a purchase, the owner told us he had sold this piece of furniture to the owners and that they were a lovely Chinese couple.  If you are interested in browsing a huge warehouse of antique furniture and fascinating brick-a-brack, I highly recommend walking off your scrolls in this direction.

 

I loved this poster saying "Cinnamon Scrolls are edible hugs".  Very true.  This is one of the reasons that this cafe is popular.  People came and went the whole time, some buying scrolls to take away.  I have heard that are queues at times but we didn't have to wait too long to order.

We are now spoiled for cinnamon scrolls in Brunswick as another cinnamon roll bakery called Simply Mike's, has recently opened on Sydney Road.  I mention it here because it was we visited it when it was called Cinnabuns at its old location in Albion.  The cinnamon scrolls were amazing.  Mike had a very unpleasant experience when the giant USA franchise Cinnabons sued Cinnabuns for having a name for his bakery that was too close to theirs.  (Apparently they have 26 stores in Australia but I have never seen them).  It is disappointing to such a huge bakery chain using their might to try and quash our local talent. In light of this, I am very pleased to have two independent bakeries in Brunswick whose cinnamon buns are here for love not war!

  

I was glad to get along and sample the lovely cinnamon buns at Roll Bae but we didn't outlast our welcome, as the sign above reminds us, to beware the parking inspectors around this small shopping strip.  I highly recommend their scrolls but note that if you are after vegan scrolls they are only available on Fridays and Saturdays!

 
Roll Bae
90 Holmes Street, Brunswick
Open: Wed – Sun: 9am – 3pm
https://rollbae.com.au/