Three Mills Bakery is located on the ground floor of a modern office building, just a short drive from
Majura Park Shopping Centre near Canberra Airport. This tucked away bakery and cafe is also a short drive from
IKEA, making it a tasty stop off on the way home for a sweet pastry or two. This delicious-smelling bakery, who supply
A.Baker restaurant and other hospitality venues around the city, is a little hard to find. In the past I haven't been able to find it, however I was recently chatting to a courier who mentioned that Three Mills Bakery is his favourite pastry and coffee spot in Canberra. After being open a year, it seems that the couriers, tradies and local office workers have all discovered this tucked away little gem. I was told that to find it, look for the large sculpture of a hand throwing a paper plane and then follow the path behind it (photo below). If you visit in Autumn, you will also be able to enjoy the surrounding trees in their burning glory.
Poached Pear Tarts, with Autumn colour
Look for the paper plane sculpture and walk behind it
As you walk closer, there is a spacious dining area outside the bakery, with white umbrellas and a leafy outlook. When you walk inside, the delicious baking smells draw you in, as well as the timber counter which is jam-packed full of gourmet sandwiches, pastries, rolls and breads in a wide variety of seeds and grains. A highlight of the cafe is also being able to watch the bakers in the open kitchen, expertly kneading and creating croissants and a variety of sourdough. If you love sourdough bread in particular, then give Three Mills Bakery a try as they recently won a Silver Medal at the
Royal Easter Show for their House Sourdough, as well as a Bronze for their Ancient Grain Sourdough. See
here for details and
here for the bread menu.
Sit inside and watch the bakers at work
Range of breads, baked early each morning. Source: Three Mills Bakery Facebook
Customers regularly pop in to buy their bread for the week, however if you would like to sit and enjoy the smell and ambience, Three Mills Bakery also sell breakfast items such as fruit loaf, granola, chia seed pudding, toasted croissants and their award-winning sourdough with preserves. For morning tea, why not enjoy a coffee with a wide range of pastries, danishes, croissants, tarts, friands and cookies. For lunch, check out their Specials Board for freshly made sandwiches and toasties daily. Flavour combinations include
"Spiced mince, roast capsicum and eggplant, red onion, on ciabatta" and
"Ham, alfalfa, mushroom and walnut pate, caramelaised onion on grain" (both $11). You can also enjoy a chunky pie, with a different flavour listed on their Specials Board daily - on our visit it was
Steak, mustard and potato. See
here for the full menu.
Sandwich Specials Board, on the day of our visit
House milled dark rye sourdough with pistachio & pepita dukkah and lemon pepper vinaigrette. Source: Three Mills Bakery Facebook
Hot pies, straight from the oven. Lamb, beetroot and caraway. Source: Three Mills Bakery Facebook
After enjoying a gourmet sandwich in the sun, it was only fair to try out something from their pastry selection. Although everything looked tempting, we chose the Poached Pear Tarts to enjoy later in the afternoon - and enjoy them we did. The outside sweet pastry in particular was more-ish and a beautiful combination of crunch and softness.
As Three Mills Bakery mainly cater for weekday customers, as well as their wholesale clients, they are only open between Monday to Friday between 7:30am - 3:30pm. If you are in the Majura Park area, why don't you pop in and try it out for yourself - it is worth tracking down. Be warned however, if you have a particular penchent for the sweet stuff, your first visit won't be your last!
What would you choose? Source: Three Mills Bakery Facebook
