Monarch Cakes

In the heart of St Kilda. Had a toasted coconut vegan fudge brownie with an almond latte. It was nice to sit outside and enjoy the sights and sounds of St Kilda.

This place is extraordinary. You have to try the baby kugel which is excellent. My only regret: not having tried the vanilla slice which is apparently an Australian specialty!

A St. Kilda institution. Coffee isn’t great but that’s not the point. It’s only there to accompany the star of the show, the old school, (Eastern) European-inspired desserts. Gotta try the chocolate kugelhopf, which is a dense, doughy cake with chocolate swirls.

Had the Polish cheesecake. Not what it use to be! 100 year old recipe my foot! It was too mushy. It’s supposed to be drier. Maybe it was undercooked. ‍️ The plum cake was good though!

Really love this cake shop. Whenever I have a cheat day it's my go to. They've been around for many decades and it's clear the labour of love they put into their selection of cakes and other sweets. They also have one of the best selections of gluten free, vegan, & flourless, options that I've found. I'm not even vegan or gluten intolerant and yet I gravitate strongly to them for just how darn good they taste. I walk nearly 4km to get there and another 4km home and it's 100% worth it.

Most delicious traditional European cakes. So lush. The Polish baked cheesecake is to die for.

Cake Heaven. So authentic, travelling back in time. I loved it so much. The cheesecake and baby Kugel are just incredible, add an ice-cream to it and eat it warm. Yummy yummy and such a peaceful and out-of-this-world place!

The kugelhopf is our family go to birthday cake. You heat it slightly so the chocolate is gooey and serve with ice cream. Monarch is an institution and an absolute gem of a place. I hope it stays the same forever

Chocolate Kugelhopf was highly recommended by friends.

It's an Austrian / Alsatian? Bundt cake!

It was very tasty. The chocolate was very rich and well integrated into the cake. Would recommend!

Monarch Cakes has got to be one of my absolute favourite Cake Shops in Victoria hands down! With so much history and expertise how could anyone not fall in love with Monarch Cakes.its like going back in time as soon as you step through the door,
I Highly Recommend Monarch Cakes.
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The baked Polish cheesecake is the BEST! I've eaten it every year for the past 7 and it never disappoints. The flavour and texture is perfect.

Family business been here for ever. Excellent cakes. Quirky, fun, iconic and welcoming ambience. The home of the world's best baked cheese cake!

I went today at 5: 30 pm. I saw the marzipan sticks and wanted to try them. Before buying them, I asked what was the filling of the sticks. And the lady's response was "if you don't know what marzipan sticks are, why are you ask me? " I was very surprised with his answer and I replied "I ask because I want to try them but I would like to know what they are filled with" and his answer was "the marzipan sticks are filled with marzipan" and she added "if you have never tried them before you won't like them, I don't understand why you ask me". I was literally speechless. After an awkward silence I told her are you serious? I just wanted to buy but you are too kind for that thank you very much and I left.

So the moral of all this is if you haven't tried the marzipan sticks before and you want to try them for the first time in this place they won't sell them to you, look for a bakery where they do want to sell them regardless of your gastronomic knowledge.

Gideon is the owner of the iconic pastry store (Monarch) in Acland st. St. Kilda.
A wonderful man full of character, charm.
Not only does he have the best coffee in the street, but his traditional home made cakes are amazing. Treat yourself next time you are in the area. Gideon lives a chat, so say hello to him.
God bless Gideon.

Thanks Nikki, for all the beautiful cakes you supplied and cut for our small group recently. A lovely selection of your signature items. Cherry crumble would have to be my favourite! I'll be stopping by again with my next tour guests.

Had a coffee and lemon tart there today - yum! Good coffee and delightful pastry to accompany it. Nice to meet Gideon and his son Dan. Hopefully next time Gideon will pluck up the courage to test my hand cycle! Thanks for the memorable visit

There's the rest of the cake shops on Acland, then there's the best.
Seriously, the others are tourist traps that use cheap ingredients and fake cream. Monarch is a thing of beauty, I hope it's captured in a time capsule and never dies. There not flashy, new or gimmicky, they are tried and tested classic pastries, recipes over 80 years old. And I'm unable to find anything particularly bad there. The cherry crumble wasn't entirely satisfying, I desired more bite to the cherries, I really wanted more chunks of cherries. But that's personal taste. Outside of that it's as good as these kinds of pastries get.

Chocolate Koohlhoupf and Vanilla Custard are some of my favourites,
The plum slice is also moist and nice.

I am Polish, born and raised. I just want to make everyone aware that what this shop sells is NOT Polish cheesecake. Not even remotely. What they sell is a standard Sara Lee/New York cheesecake. This is totally unlike Polish cheesecake and I wish they wouldn’t misrepresent it. Or besmirch the good name of proper Polish cheesecake. Sorry but this needed to be said.
I also I had the poppy seed cake, which was OK but sickly sweet. The place is overrated.

Coffee is fantastic, cake is beautiful, staff and owner are so friendly. Highly recommended. Will be travelling here for all my desserts from now on!

Best poppy seed cake and gugelhupf I’ve ever had. The poppy seed cake reminds me of how my late grandma used to make it, so it’s incredibly special to me. Please, never change Monarch.