Breadtop, Sydney

I've been scoping out Breadtop, a chain of bakeries, in Sydney for years.  But I already had my favorite Japanese bakery (Fujipan, sadly now closed), and my favorite bread shop (Dough Collective, also sadly now closed), along with a long list of bakeries to try out, so it took me a long time to finally go make a purchase.

Partially because even among the category of baked goods they produce (e.g. Hong Kong style), there are also 85°C Bakery Cafes nearby, and those I know are good (at least from their Pasadena location), so it took a while for Breadtop to finally make the cut.

It finally did one hot sticky evening, not when I wanted baked goods, which is what most go to Breadtop for, but, when I wanted taro ice cream.  Because, I had *incredible* taro soft serve the day before at Devon Cafe in North Sydney, and I had just tried to get black sesame soft serve at Rice Workshop (don't worry, I got it later), only to find they had closed early, and I needed some ice cream, stat.  I knew Breadtop had little packaged ice creams.

I'd like to say this visit was a success.  I'd like to say I'll be back to have more baked goods.  And, maybe someday, I will.  But I was not pleased with the items I had.

Purple Sweet Potato Mochi.

I've been eyeing the purple sweet potato mochi since the first time I ever stepped inside Breadtop just to scope it out.  They look like dinosaur eggs!  I loved the purple color, although I wished they were purple from taro, not purple sweet potato.  Still, I was eager to try, and added one to my order when I needed to spend a tiny bit more to meet the $5 minimum for using a card (oops, not having Australian currency on hand).

Unfortunately, I didn't like it at all.

The filling was sweet potato paste, thick, not really sweetened, not my thing at all.  And the pretty purple shell was really odd.  I expected a gummy mochi-like shell, and I guess it was kinda gummy, but really it was tough, hard to bite into, and not pleasant.

I took a few bites from outside, a few bites from filling, and discarded it.  I really didn't like it.

Taro Delight Ice Cream.

"Taro ice cream with mochi, shredded coconut and coconut cream."

But I was there for the ice cream.  In the little freezer section, that I literally never saw another human interact with, they have packaged little ice creams.  All sorts of flavors, including pandan and durian.  And, what I had my sights set on: taro!

But not just ice cream, each one was a little sundae, complete with toppings.

This one promised coconut cream (!), shredded coconut, and mochi.

I couldn't wait to get into it.

Taro Delight Ice Cream: Top.

When I peeled back the lid, I can't say it looked appealing.  But I had hope.

It. Was. Horrible. Every aspect of it.  I really believe it had been horribly freezer burned.  I have no other explanation for how it could be so bad.

The first bite I had was of the "coconut cream", the white sauce, I guess.  It did not taste like coconut.  It was not creamy.  It was just sour.  Did not like.  The shredded coconut was soft and soggy.

The mochi was horrible as well, it tasted stale, the texture was odd, not gummy or soft like mochi should be, but also not hard, it is difficult to explain, but trust me that it was very unappealing.

But still, I was in it for the taro ice cream right?

This could win a prize for some of the worst ice cream I've ever encountered.  Seriously.  Like the coconut cream, it too was sour.  And like the coconut cream, it didn't taste like the ingredient it was supposed to be, in this case, taro.  And like the mochi, the texture was all strange, and it tasted stale.  Yes, ice cream can taste stale.

There was something very wrong with this entire thing.  It really, really must have been freezer burned.  I have no other explanation.  So bad.  And nearly $5!