Huge selection of Asian pastries — I love their pineapple buns(especially the ones with coconut filling)! Supposedly best egg tart in Melbourne as well. Love it!
Feren Y.
Place rating: 4 Melbourne, Australia
Fresh warm egg tarts, wife cakes, pineapple cakes… I love it all! Every single time I pass Chinatown I have to go get an egg tart or dozen from here. They are warm and just gooey enough and if you aren’t a fan of egg, don’t stress there are plenty of other options. Items in the shop range from pastries both sweet and savory, to drinks, traditional cakes, and birthday cakes!
Amita S.
Place rating: 4 Kingsville, Australia
Yep, their Swiss rolls are the bomb. These cakes have that unique asian sweetness to it that you just can’t get enough. You can either grab a tray and pick your sweets and savories a la bread top and pay at the counter. As I said above there Swiss rolls are good, my picks are taro or pandan. Whole rolls are $ 11. Fyi — cash only!
Robert Y.
Place rating: 5 Melbourne, Australia
If it’s egg tarts you’re after, there’s no place better; also if you come at the right time, they might be warm from the oven! Bliss.
Scott T.
Place rating: 4 Melbourne, Australia
After a night of drinking delicious negronis and chowing down on cheap dumplings and beer, the only logical next move was to stop in to Maxim’s for something sweet as we made our slightly drunken walk down Little Bourke St towards our tram stop. We made our selections, and our hazy eyes seemed to drift towards items that looked pretty. Leisha T picked a brightly coloured marble cake and I promptly proceeded to drop a slice of pineapple cake on the floor. After this was cleaned up by the staff amongst many apologies and much embarrassment from me, I carefully selected another piece and went to pay for all three pieces(including the one I ruined already). I was happily told that it was not necessary to pay for the piece I dropped, and we were out the door with two treats in hand, both barely over $ 2 each. Not wanting to travel much further than the front door, partly because we wanted that sugar in us NOW and partly because I’d probably drop them both, we found a nearby arcade/alley/laneway/I can’t remember what it was I was tipsy and chowed down. The cakes were light, delicious and very moreish. I’ve walked past Maxim’s many times and have never stopped in before this night. I’ll definitely be back, next time with steadier hands and more sober eyes that can take in all of the goodies that I no doubt missed the first time around.
Terrence L.
Place rating: 4 Manhattan, NY
Egg tarts, Swiss Rolls, Chinese Cakes, Soft white fluffy buns. My head goes into a tizzy just thinking about all the amazing Asian goodness I can get from this tiny little shop on Little Bourke Street. Get here before 9pm. They won’t serve you if you arrive a minute later.
Candi R.
Place rating: 4 Melbourne, Australia
I feel a little unfair reviewing Maxim’s and giving it a star-rating, because I’ve only ever ordered one thing from here: egg tarts. Egg tarts, the way you’d get them if you were in Hong Kong on a hot humid, smoggy day waiting at the traffic lights when the latest batch comes out of the oven and is plunged into a little glass box to prevent your drool from sullying them as you fondle quickly for your HKD. Egg tarts, with the perfect, impossibly crumbly crust that ends up with you losing precious morsels while trying to save the deliciously gloopy, just-set custard contained within. Egg tarts. and I don’t even eat egg! Legitimately! As scandalous as it it, I’m a Melbournite who doesn’t enjoy an eggy-breaky! Now, if that isn’t the highest praise for these delectable treats, I don’t know what is. Egg tarts — do it to your tastebuds now and you’ll understand!
Jason H.
Place rating: 3 Melbourne, Australia
There are some places you see and can never see yourself ever going in. Ever. Maybe it’s the glass boxes of product that could very well be yesterday or earlier. Then a friend of yours brings you this delicacy of a pastry. You salivate at the sight, the smell, the taste and texture of it. And where did they get such a magical piece of heaven? Maxim’s Cakes. Looks can be deceiving. The set up of the place makes it feel cheap and tacky at the same time. The tongs and trays for cake selection suggest mass production. Look past it, I swear it’s worth it. The lady found behind the counter is very much about efficiency and may appear blunt at times, but it’s for the best you’re out of the place as son as possible. Find a park with your delicacy in hand and dig in to the magical sugary cake that awaits you. They also have more savoury style pieces — your cheesey ones, your meaty kinds, as well as cream filled delicacies and tarts.
