The pastry shops around Eaton Mall are among Oakleigh's most distinctive offerings and a different experience from the souvlaki restaurants. The glass display cases inside these shops typically hold a rotating selection of galaktoboureko (semolina custard in crisp filo), baklava (walnut or pistachio, soaked in honey syrup), kataifi (shredded pastry with nut filling), and kourabiedes (butter biscuits dusted with icing sugar). The range changes with the season and the day.
Loukoumades — small fried doughnuts served hot with honey, cinnamon, and sometimes sesame — have developed a following well beyond the Greek community and are worth seeking out. Vanilla Lounge on Eaton Mall is one of several shops that does them well. They are best eaten immediately, standing outside with a coffee.
The pastry shops tend to be busiest on weekend mornings and after Sunday church services, when Greek-Australian families come in to buy sweets to take home or to sit and eat on the spot. The atmosphere at these times is genuinely warm — staff who know their regulars, conversations happening across tables, a sense of community that a restaurant that has been open for thirty years earns rather than constructs.