Uptown Chunk, Potts Point review for real New York style chunky cookies.

Real New York style cookies that are super chunky and made with quality ingredients? Uptown Chunk is a cookie shop that makes incredible cookies that you just have to try. These cookies come with a warning: you can't stop at one!

The story of cookie shop Uptown Chunk starts when American couple Ann and Dave Bolleson arrived in Sydney in 2016 from the West Coast. In the United States, Ann first worked as a journalist then in PR before she got another degree in education and became a teacher. When they arrived in Sydney her skills as a teacher required her to take another qualification to become transferable.

But Ann always had the idea of having a bakehouse in the back of her mind. Dave was not as keen on the idea but Ann continued baking and testing cookies and in 2022 she started selling online and through markets. She rented kitchen space to fulfill these jobs and in June 2025 they opened up their first permanent store on Victoria Street in Potts Point, quite a commute from where the couple live in Sydney's Sutherland Shire.

The name Uptown Chunk is a play on the Bruno Mars song Uptown Funk, "I kept trying to come up with names that sounded chic and uptown-y, since the cookies are made from high-end ingredients. I thought of that song and then thought it was a good match given the big "chunks" of chocolate (or Biscoff or cinnamon streusel) in the cookies," explains Ann.

I first came across Uptown Chunk from my friend Carla, originally from New York. She has great food taste and when she brought over a pink box of Uptown Chunk cookies one night I tried them and loved how they had a real home baked taste but in a thick aka thicc cookie so that every bite is pure cookie heaven. In store they also sell a range of drinks including iced strawberry matcha, caramel thick shakes as well as all the usual coffees using Maverick coffee.

The cookies come in a large size (around 180G/6oz) which is some serious chunk. We try the classic BFF made with choc chips, caramelised butter, brown sugar and both dark and milk chocolate chips which is delicious both when heated so that the chocolate is gooey. I also love the feel of biting into the chocolate chunks when they're firm.

Mr NQN's favourite cookie is the Dawn to Dusk cookie made with caramelised butter, dark chocolate, caramels and topped with sea salt for its intensely dark chocolate and salty finish. Ann uses Callebaut and Tribute chocolate in her cookies.

As for me, as an avowed Biscoff lover, I love the Bisco Inferno which is a cinnamon sugar cookie with caramelised butter, white chocolate chips, a dollop of creamy Biscoff butter in the centre and topped with a Biscoff cookie on top.

Carla pre-ordered the smaller size which is around 90-100g (3-3.5oz) each and these were the ones tried these at home. The Campfire is a S'mores cookie with caramelised butter, marshmallows, dark chocolate and bits of Biscoff cookie.

The Fetti White is also delicious with a vanilla bean cookie with 100s and 1000s and dusted with icing sugar. It's sweet and fun and I like the extra texture from the hundreds and thousands.

Another favourite of mine is the Swizzles which is inspired by a cinnamon scroll but filled with cinnamon streusel and topped with a maple glaze for its spice forward aroma and surprise sweet filling.

Live Love Lemons is their first lemon cookie and is made using Carla's If and When Preserved Meyer Lemon paste. And damn if it isn't one of my favourites. It's salty and strong in lemon. If you love lemons (guilty!) and love adding salt to your baked goods (guilty!) then this baby is for you.

So what's the secret behind Ann's cookies? Part of the reason for their appeal is how they taste like home baked cookies fresh from the oven. Also Ann uses browned or caramelised butter in all of her cookies to give them that extra flavour superpower (y'all know how much I love browned butter!). She also uses Pepe Saya butter as it has one of highest amounts of butterfat. Keen bakers will know that this is what makes a butter great for baking. Another tip is that she also adds an extra egg yolk (another trick to making baked goods moist). She also uses the humidity feature in her oven to lock in moisture.

And a peanut butter cookie is coming up. Initially the idea was to have a completely nut free bakery but the requests for peanut butter cookies now outnumber the requests for nut free and one is in the works.