St Kilda: Acland Street
Take a stroll through St Kilda and it won t be long before you come across Acland Street. One street back from the Esplanade and St Kild, the suburb s original street. Acland Street was named in 1842 after Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, who owned the schooner Lady of St Kilda between 1834 and 1840. The street was named by James Ross Lawrence, who had been master of the vessel until 1842.Acland Street was later to be the centre of the Jewish community of Eastern Europe from around the 1930s. Today it is known for its food outlet, in particular, its cake shops. A decadent array of mouth-watering treats await, satisfying those with a sweet tooth.
Monarch Cakes at 103 is the oldest and has been operating since the 1930s and still makes the original recipes using butter flour eggs and sugar just the way a cake should be baked. In the stretch between Monarch Cake to Europa (Established in 1982) at number 81, there s also Le Bon at number 93 and newcomer Cakehole, at number 95 and Acland Cakes at number 97. All have their signature delicacies and are open 7 days a week until late.
Owner of Monarch Cakes Gideon Markham discloses that he was a long time customer of the shop before he bought it around two decades ago. As a regular on the other side of the counter, his favourites were the famous plum cake, cheesecake and pecan slice. The Polish born Gideon liked it that we both have biblical names. The most popular cake in the shop is the Chocolate Kugelhoupf. The shop is filled with sweet treasures that fill my heart Polish Baked Cheesecake (made to a 100 year old recipe) Palm Leaves (Palmiers) Continental Custard Vanilla, Poppy Seed Delight and Lemon Tart. The window is always brimming and the tables are often full.
As well as cake shops, there are numerous cafes and plenty of other bakeries see a vast range of breads, cakes and pastries. Among them is the world-famous patisserie, the landmark Edelweiss Delicatessen.Acland Street also has many restaurants offering a variety of cuisines, including Vietnamese, Indian, Italian and Malaysian.
The junction of Acland St and Barkly St is known as the Village Belle, after the Village Belle Hotel, one of the oldest in Melbourne, which stands on Barkly St at the end of Acland St. Near the junction of Carlisle St and Acland St is Luna Park, one of Australia s best-known amusement parks, which attracts large crowds during the summer. Almost next door is one of Melbourne s oldest theatres, The Palais. Also on Acland St is the St Kilda Army and Navy Club, which has recently been renovated and become a popular gambling venue.
