Jerilderie Bakery
After meeting the team at the Ganmain Bakery we hit the road again and decided to punch our way through to Echuca. We were passing through the little town on Jerilderie when I suddenly noticed the Jerilderie Bakery and I’ve course I had to stop.
I walked in, found the owner and introduced myself. This bakery is is a real family affair. The place is owned by Grantley (pictured) his sister Rachelle and his brother in law Andrew. They bought the place thirteen years ago from the previous owners Butch & Nelia who happen to be Grantley and Rachelle parents, who had the bakery for fourteen years.
After chatting with Grantley, it became very clear that Covid had a significant impact on this bakery and Grantley’s personal life. The town relies heavily on the traveling tourists like ourselves and they were non existent during these boarder shut times. Jerilderie sits very close to the VIC border and Grantley lives just over that border. So when the borders closed he had to make a decision home or business. Of course he chose the business and this decision meant he virtually spent months and months away from his home. With Border restrictions now a thing in the past the tourists are slowing coming back here. We still had a couple of driving hours left, so we decided to get this review underway.
After perusing the menu, one 🥧 caught my eye, this was the chicken chili and cheese. This was something a little different and I was keen to give it a crack.
🥧 THE REVIEW 🥧
1. Value for Money – $5.80 was sensational value !!! This was a good sized 🥧 and extremely well priced. 9.5/10 (If you want even better value check out the 🥧 and a half 🥧. That’s right if one 🥧 isn’t enough but two is to much try this beauty at $6.50 it’s insane value. ( photos attached)
2. Meat Ratio – Overall not bad, but there could have been a bit more fill. 8.5/10
3. Meat Flavour – Excellent !!! Everything about this flavor was stunning. The chicken pieces were a generous size and the sweet chili sauce and cheese were a great mix. Loved it !!! 9.5/10
4. Pastry – Like most recent reviews the color, shape, shrinkage and stability were all terrific. The pastry had a real nice flavor to it, but the bottom and top bakes were underdone. 8.5/10
5. Serving Temperature – Could have been a little warmer, but overall pretty good. It’s a fine line to get the serving temp right, but either way can change the 🥧 experience. 8.5/10
Overall Rating
🥧🥧 44.5/50 🥧🥧
This was a very unusual 🥧 for me to review, and I’m so glad I did. As soon as I saw it on the menu board I was intrigued. This was a really enjoyable 🥧. Something so basic was so good in flavor and price. The chicken pieces were plentiful and tender, while the sweat chili sauce was the perfect mix. I really enjoyed the cheese as the topper this blended into the flavor beautifully. The only negative was the pastry was underbaked on the top and bottom. While this wasn’t huge issue, it still effected the overall score.
This is a really nice bakery. Heaps of seating, parking and more than enough variety of food on offer. As previously mentioned this bakery was smashed for six during Covid, so if your passing through this town make sure you pop in, stretch the legs and smash a few 🥧‘s.
As always a huge thanks to Grantley and amazing team for their hospitality. This was a cold call visit and yet the team was so accommodating. It would be pretty intimating for any bakery to have a bloke rock up and say he’s there to review your product, yet these legends took it all in there stride and were bloody awesome.
The drive from Ganmain to Echuca was beautiful and picturesque. The little towns on the journey are all worth the stop in, Jerilderie in particular is a cracking spot. The history behind this place is pretty awesome. It appears Ned Kelly and his gang robbed or held up nearly every joint in town. Behind the bakery is a great little trip down memory lane with numerous buildings directly associated with the infamous Kelly Gang.
