Oasis Bakery & Cafe, Murrumbeena

Oasis Bakery - Murrumbeena
Driving down North rd in Melbourne’s south east, the last thing you expect to find in it’s semi-industrial surrounds is an Oasis. Well the Oasis Bakery, that is… A Middle Eastern bakery, cafe and specialist grocery store.
After living and working in Melbourne’s north for most of my life, where middle eastern food and pastries are delicious and plentiful, I developed a Lebanese Meat Pizza (Lahm bi Ajeen) habit. Travelling to Thornbury to satisfy my cravings isn’t that easy now that I live southside, so finding Oasis Bakery just a few suburbs away means that my penchant for Middle Eastern flavours can finally be appeased.
Oasis Bakery
I headed over with Emma for lunch and was overwhelmed buy the hot food and pastry choices but settled on a Kebbeh & salad plate and a Moroccan chicken & chickpea parcel. It’s always super busy, so having a pager that buzzes when your order is ready means you can browse the grocery section or play outside with the kids in the mean time. If eating in, try to bag an empty table as soon as you see one, it won’t be empty for long.
oasis bakery lunch

Oasis Bakery mypoppet LIVING

Lamb kebbeh, salad & hommus $15

My Kibbeh platter was tasty, or what I got to eat from it as Emma practically stole all my Kibbeh (I’ll know what to order for her next time), although I could have done with an extra helping of the smooth and nutty hommus.
But the winner this visit was the Moroccan Chicken Parcel with it’s mild warm spice flavours and crispy pastry. The chickpeas really lifted the filling and at only $6.50 it’s a hearty and healthy lunch for the price.
Tender chicken w Moroccan spiced chickpeas & halloumi cheese $6.5

Tender chicken w Moroccan spiced chickpeas & halloumi cheese $6.5

Moroccan chicken pie
Make sure you leave some room because the sweet offerings are syrup soaked and delicious.
On offer are traditional Lebanese and Middle Eastern pastries as well as cafe style cakes, biscuits and slices. The Almond and Cranberry Makroud caught my eye, it was sweet, fragrant and rich, probably something I’d share with a friend next time as the portion was too much for me.
almond makroud
Cranberry and Almond Makroud

Cranberry and Almond Makroud $3

We had a wander around the grocery section which has an expansive range of spices, nuts and dried fruits as well as other Middle eastern essentials.
Oasis bakery
shisha pipes
But my absolute favourite area is the section where the giant wheels of nougat, Turkish delight and (oh so delicious) Halva is rationed out. Just the thought of it is making my mouth water.
giant turkish delight
slicing turkish delight Oasis bakery
Halva always reminds me of Christmases as a kid, traditionally in Argentina nougat (turron) and halva (Mantecol) are eaten, but I haven’t had it in years. I’ll be popping into Oasis to get some for my Christmas table this year.

Can you bring the kids?
Yes, it’s very casual although during peak times it may be hard to get a table. Put the kids in charge of the buzzer to keep them entertained.
High chairs are available, I forgot to check the bathrooms (sorry).

Worth crossing town for?
Well it’s certainly worth making a detour for if you are in the general area, especially if you need to stock up on spices and other staples. They also run regular cooking classes which always seem to book up quickly.

Oasis Bakery
9/993 North Road, Murrumbeena 3163 VIC
03 9570 1122
Saturday to Wednesday: 8am – 7pm
Thursday & Friday: 8am – 9pm
Public holidays: 9am – 5pm
oasisbakery.com.au

Oasis Bakery on Urbanspoon

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.