Cafe Villaggio - Saint Ives Australia

Nice local place for a quick breakfast of pastrys, coffee and tea. Good view of the harbour and within easy walking distance of Coal Harbour Hotel. Try the cinnamon bun, yum.

Relaxing with a great view. The food is surprisingly outstanding. Recommended.

Relaxed Setting, Decent Java. A low traffic area results in a quiet, peaceful setting to enjoy a cup of coffee. If you're in the neighbourhood enjoying the waterfront, Cafe Villaggio is a great little place to warm up with a hot drink in hand. Nothing pretentious about the service, making for an easy time.

Unfortunately, I found the Cappuccino Cake and Chocolate Swiss Roll to be somewhat disappointing; they tasted stale and had a freezer-burned flavor. On the brighter side, the cheesecake was fantastic, and the croissants were tasty as well. While not quite as exceptional as those from top-tier bakeries like Thomas Haas, they were still enjoyable. The prices are quite reasonable, and the staff is friendly, making this a nice spot to relax and enjoy treats, especially when the weather is pleasant. **Cappuccino Cake ($5.00): 3/5** According to the label, this cake is made with hazelnut daquoise, coffee crèmeux, and vanilla custard. The layers of cream and custard were rich, creamy, and quite sweet, with a lovely coffee aroma. However, I found the chocolate used to be somewhat waxy and had a strong, stale taste that I found unappealing. **Hazelnut Chocolate Croissant ($4.50): 4/5** This is a double-baked croissant filled with chocolate hazelnut paste and topped with flaked almonds. While it wasn't as crispy and flaky as those from top-tier bakeries like Thomas Haas or Chez Christophe, it was still rich and buttery, with a pleasant almond fragrance. I’m not sure if they make the filling in-house, but it isn’t Nutella, as I had expected; rather, it's a ground nut paste mixed with chocolate. It had a nice almond aroma, although I couldn’t detect much hazelnut flavor. They also have an almond version of the croissant, which I got for my mom, and she loved it. **Chocolate Cheesecake ($5.50): 4.5/5** This dessert features a layer of cheesecake topped with chocolate mousse and chocolate ganache. The cheesecake was smooth and creamy, with a nice mild tang. While I prefer firmer New York-style cheesecakes, this one was still solid. I was initially apprehensive about the chocolate ganache, having found the chocolate in the cappuccino cake to be stale and waxy; fortunately, the chocolate here was smooth, rich, and had a perfect bittersweet flavor. Overall, this cheesecake is excellent—I might even prefer it over the ones from Trees Organic. **Chocolate Swiss Roll ($4.50): 2.5/5** This roll consists of chocolate cake filled with mascarpone cream. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy the cake itself; it had an unusual chewy, gummy texture and was almost completely flavorless, with what seemed to be a stale taste. However, the cream filling was quite good; it was light, soft, and creamy, and appeared to be very fresh.

Not bad at all! I stopped by for a late breakfast and found my latte to be excellent. The croque monsieur was good too, though I typically prefer the egg served on top of the sandwich rather than inside it. Overall, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this place.