Acland Continental Cakes

Meh is definitely the right word. When you walk down Acland street it truly is a sight to see — many delicious looking cakes, looking at you from inside the shop windows — begging you to come and try them… resistance is futile.
There were many shops to choose from and for no reason in particular, we selected this one.
Disappointment was the main feeling. I ordered an iced chocolate which was generally nice — a redeeming factor. As were the staff who were all lovely and very friendly.
Unfortunately I came here for the sweet treats in the window — they all looked so good I couldn’t decide. I don’t know what came over me but all of a sudden I wanted a Florentine — I hadn’t actually seen them but I saw the sign saying they were there. I selected a ‘large’ one to share. The first little surprise was the price — $ 5.80 but I guess that would have been reasonable if it was good… but sadly it wasn’t. It was kinda just like a thin burnt Anzac cookie (without the taste) coated with some cheap tasting chocolate. No delicious fruity or nutty chunks like a Florentine should have. I would happily pay that price for a good cookie…
Hopefully there are other tasty treats here to draw people in, because, as I said the staff were lovely enough!!!

Before I moved to Melbourne, I heard so much hype about these gorgeous cake shops in St Kilda that the memory was etched clear in my mind. Naturally, when I settled in nicely, I was eager to try the cakes and being a dessert devotee, was geared up for a fun filled sugar rush.
We ordered the vanilla slice, black forest cake and a chocolate fudge slice and boy did the sugar rush come! Not in a good way though… In fact, we all agreed that this old style bakery was one of those places where you really shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.
The window display fully-​laden with yummy looking cakes can be quite deceiving and in this case, I was quite let down. Call me a snob but I really didn’t think much of any of the flavours and the cake itself was too dry for my liking.
Would I come back? Probably not!

I hate to give these guys a bad review, but I have to agree with Daniel.
The lettering of the window font, the window displays of delectable looking cakes, cupcakes, slices and biscuits could have you mistaking Acland st for Paris or Venice. You’ll have to look at the photo’s to see just what I mean about the appearance of this gorgeous, picturesque cake shop.
I was so excited to go here the first time. I’d walked past a hundred times before, admiring the stands and displays of these edible works of art. It looked like the most delectable, delicious sweet shop I’d ever seen, even better than Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.
And then I walked in. The aroma of fresh coffee filled the air and that was comforting. The cottage style décor of the interior warmed me as well. But then we waited. And waited. And waited. We waited with a four year old and a 14 month old for a good ten minutes before we were even acknowledged. Normally I’d just walk out, but these frickin glorified waitresses made my husband and I feel intimidated for some reason. It was almost like we didn’t look like good enough clientele for them to grace our presence. Well, FUCK them!
We still ordered, although I was feeling pissed off. My husband got a latte and hedgehog slice, I got a black tea and lemon slice and my daughter a juice and cookie.
We went over to O’Donnell Gardens after a further ten minutes; annoyed at the service but stupidly excited at the splurge (around $ 30 for these treats!!) and party-​in-​our-​mouths our desserts promised.
My husband threw his hedgehog to the birds. You couldn’t taste chocolate, just nuts and icing. Similarly, I couldn’t even get a quarter of the way through my lemon slice before I felt positively sick of the sweetness. I felt too possessive over it to chuck it to the birds so wrapped it up and put it in the fridge at home, thinking to myself that I definitely wouldn’t waste a lemon slice from such a delectable cake shop. But a couple of days later, I forlornly chucked it in the bin, finally accepting the fact that it wasn’t nice at all, and that I’d rather the bin man give it the local depot than force it down my throat.
For a while I still thought of this place as awesome. And then I thought, if they were that awesome I wouldn’t have felt intimidated, I would have been acknowledged and given more efficient service and I would have felt good enough to spend over $ 30 of fucking sweets.
Furthermore, the $ 30+ I spent would have been well worth it, the food wouldn’t have been thrown out and most importantly, the food would have tasted as good as it looked in the window displays. In this case looks were certainly most deceiving.

Cakes, cakes, cakes, cakes, cakes and more… cakes.
One of the many iconic cake stores on Acland St, where, as a local, the novelty wears off a bit. If you like your cakes however, you’ll like it here no doubts about it.
I wouldn’t go there for coffee though as mine wasn’t very appealing where the lemon slice I had made up for it luckily. Really sweet and tangy, how I like it.
Can be a good place to pick up a good birthday cake as well!

Defiantly an Acland St icon. I am a very big fan of cake as I’m sure most of the population is which makes it really hard to write something bad about an institution that is home to cake. The Acland Cake Shop is always busy but most likely due to the large amount of tourists that frequent the area. This makes the perfect customer as they are not going to be the kind that you need to please in order to come back. I must admit though although I am going to be disappointed, I still come here often and stare at the window salivating like a puppy and buy something. They really do make the cakes look nice.

What a delicious, scrumptious and tremendous display of appetising cakes and pastries. I am a fan already. Us «local tourists» to Acland Street are spoilt for choice. Their coconut turkish delight is a real treat; open up sesame. And anything with poppy seed in it is divine. Expect to receive old fashioned, friendly service at this establishment where deep down you feel like a person (a real person) rather than a just a number; another customer. And you so feel like your in Italy (or somewhere in Europe) gazing through the shop window.
It would be really sad to see this establishment go if this ever happened. It is a treat within itself to come here and see what cakes are on offer. Go with your intuition; your gut feel on what sweet item to buy. It may be a matter of simply looking at some item in the shop window that resonates with you; just being adventurous and going for it. Like a dartboard really, where ever the dart takes you is the cake you order for today. Sunny weather will make me want to come here more often in tandem with going to to beach. There are more delicacies to try and indulge in here.