Nikos Cakes, Oakleigh by Bureaucrat

It's without a doubt that the Greek civilisation can lay claim to some pretty impressive achievements - philosophy, democracy, science and art to name a few.  In the culinary world, they've given us the lip-smacking combination of garlic, oregano, lemon and lamb and also syrup-drenched pastries.

After lunch with Big Fil at Kalimera Souvlaki Art, we wandered around to Nikos Cakes.  It's hard to miss Nikos, it's big and it commands one of the corners of the popular Eaton Mall in Oakleigh.  It's also easily one of the popular establishments.  I just had to get some pastries!

There's an incredible range of cakes, pastries and biscuits on offer.  Everything looks fresh and oh-so-delectable.  After our first visit, the Lawyer and I went back there within the week to get more pastries!  They're so delicious, so addictive and so perfect at any time of table (breakfast, a snack, morning tea, arvo tea, post-dinner nibble...).  Here are some of the pastries that we picked.

I love the galaktoboureko.  A thick wedge of very smooth and semi-solid milky custard.  The crispy filo pastry is soaked in syrup.  Yum yum yum!

Also delicious are the cannoli and baklava.  The cannoli shell is nice and crisp and the custard is smooth and not too sweet.  The baklava is good but I have to say I do prefer the baklava at Oasis Bakery (those ones are more buttery, which I like).

I forget what this is called but it was also yum (surprise, surprise!).  It's kinda like a hybrid between the galaktoboureko and baklava.  There's the same semi-solid custard of the galaktoboureko but it's topped with fresh cream, walnuts and the pastry bottom is made with kaitaifi (thin shredded pastry) that's soaked in syrup as well.  

One of my absolute favourites is the loukoumada - seen here with (more) cannoli.  These freshly made doughnut balls have a delightful crisp crust.  As with all good things, they are also soaked in syrup.  The inside is chewier and denser than an American style doughnut.


On our second visit, we also got this yoyo.  Big Fil purchased two of them when we had lunch together and I figured that's a good enough reason to try them for myself.  This was different.  Not quite what I was expected.  I thought it was a pastry that's topped with soft oozy custard and chocolate.  Instead, it's more like a fluffy bun that has a fluffy-ish custard.  It's very reminiscent of them stuffed pancake breads that you find at Bread Top.


The trigono was also very nice.  A triangle shaped filo pastry that's stuffed with custard and topped with lots of toasted almond flakes.

Verdict

We loved it.

Cheap eats.

Overall

I'm in love with Nikos Cakes!  Seriously addictive.  Not a day goes by without me thinking I should head down there again and get another box of goodies!  You must try this!

Also have a gander at Big Fil's review back in 2014.

Find it at

Nikos Cakes
25-27 Portman Street
Oakleigh VIC 3166
Phone: (03) 9569 6338