2024 🥧 Tour
Review no 32
Beechworth Bakery
(Beechworth ViC)
A few months ago, I decided to do a little mini trip to North East Victoria and visit a number of bakeries that have been on the bucket list for sometime. I had a list of 4 to 5 bakeries that I wanted to tick off the list during this tour and the first bakery on the list was the original Beechworth Bakery. Beechworth is a well-preserved historical town located in the north-east of Victoria, famous for its major growth during the gold rush days of the mid-1850s.
This particular bakery is one of 8 locations scattered around Victoria. This juggernaut was the brainchild of Tom O’Toole who founded this bakery over 40 years ago. In 1993 a young 16 year old apprentice named Marty started his apprenticeship at the bakery and in 2001 bought a small share into this incredible business.
Tom O’Toole while still a shareholder has now retired and has handed the reins over to Marty. As mentioned above, there are now eight Beechworth locations around Victoria employing over 300 staff. This is one impressive set up and after getting the grand tour it was time to hit the 🥧 warmers.
With over 12 flavored pies on the menu, this was going to be a difficult decision choosing one to review. Bakers, Peter and Sheree did mention that two of their Sri Lankan bakers have created a traditional beef curry 🥧 with authentic spices. This had me drooling at the mouth, and I knew immediately that this was the 🥧 I wanted to review.
🥧 THE REVIEW 🥧
1. Value for Money – $8 is more than reasonable value for a 🥧 that would easily be classed in the gourmet range. The pie itself was a good depth in diameter and totally full. In my opinion the $8 price tag is spot on 8.5/10
2. Meat Ratio – Totally full no room left in this one great job guys 10/10
3. Flavour – Absolutley loved this flavor. Tender beef chunks in a traditional curry with authentic Sri Lankan spices. The meat was cooked to perfection while the spices were not enough to blow your head off, they certainly let you know they were around. Great job guys absolutely nailed this flavor 10/10
4. Pastry – Color, shape, and stability were all no issue with this pastry. There was a little shrinkage on one side but nothing major. In relation to the bakes, the top bake and thickness was almost spot on, while the bottom bake and thickness needed a little bit of tweaking. The pastry did have a great taste to it and the top was nice and flakey. 8/10
5. Serving Temperature – No issues here this pie was a perfect serving temperature. 10/10
Overall Rating
🥧🥧 46.5/50 🥧🥧
Overall, this was a terrififc product and one I thoroughly enjoyed. I’m not surprised this bakery has been kicking goals for the last 40 years and this doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon. The flavor for me was a clear stand out. The beef was beautifully cooked while the authentic Sri Lankan spices tasted amazing. The $8 price tag is more than reasonable given the 🥧 was a decent size and totally full. Only real negative was the bottom bake and thickness apart from that the pastry itself was really good. I’m so glad I gave this particular flavored 🥧 a go and I have zero hesitation recommending this 🥧 to all the punters out there. Great job guys.
This bakery or in fact, any of the Beechworth Bakery locations are 100% worth visiting. Each store is exactly the same and has the same feel and epic service from the moment you walk in. For all the sauce lovers out there every Beechworth location offers free sauce and has its own sauce station, now that’s great value.
A monumental thanks to Marty and his team for their incredible hospitality. This bakery is a pie institution. If you haven’t been to this place, you are certainly missing out. What Tim and Marty have achieved over the last 40 years is simply incredible. Employing and managing 30 staff is a big effort, but to manage 300 is mind-boggling. With the help of production managers and store managers these bakeries are well oiled machines and that is a real testament to Marty and his incredible management skills. Not only is Marty‘s management skills second to none, but he’s a humble human and a ripping fella. Hands-down, the best part of this review was getting the grand tour of the area in Marty’s 1935 International.
