Dua Bakehouse

Dua Bakehouse is a Collingwood bakery and cafe set inside Collingwood Yards, and it leans well away from the usual bakery classics. The baking here is playful and Southeast Asian-inspired, built around shio pan (the Japanese-style salt bread) in savoury and sweet versions. People talk about the laksa and ramen egg fillings, a pandan version, and a tiramisu one, alongside other buns like garlic cream cheese, ube cream and a gochujang cheese scroll that one local called soft, chewy and best eaten warm. We've also heard good things about the kaya toast with whipped almond butter and the matcha banoffee cream pie.

Pies and sausage rolls get a mention too, and the confirmed word is that things come out fresh from the oven. One visitor said they could smell the warm, buttery bread from well down the way before they even reached the door.

You can dine in or take away, and they do coffee and breakfast. Flat whites get steady praise for being creamy and well balanced, and the seasonal drinks and the matcha lattes have fans, though matcha is a matter of taste here. One person found it a bit bitter, while another called it strong, fresh and clearly good-quality tea. The Princess Cake gets a mixed reception, so go in with an open mind on that one.

The space is a drawcard in itself. It's bright and pretty, and people mention settling in to read or get some work done. It does get busy, especially on weekends, and some items can sell out earlier in the day, so if you have your heart set on something, don't leave it too late. Staff come in for plenty of warm words, with one regular calling them the nicest people and saying they were never rushed along.

Seating and the toilet are wheelchair accessible, there's free street parking nearby, and they take cards and tap-to-pay. It's open daily and generally closes mid-afternoon, so check the hours before you head in. If seats are scarce, grab a box to go and wander the Collingwood and Fitzroy streets nearby.