2024 🥧 Tour
Review No 58
Mal’s Pies and Pastries
(Townsville QLD)
Sept 2024
After smashing a few 🥧’s with the lads from Bakeaway, I jumped in the luxy and headed off to my next review. The next stop was Mals Pies and Pastries. I’d actually smashed a few 🥧’s here before in my previous visit to Townsville but never got to meet the owner. So I made a few calls and arranged to meet Brock.
The bakery itself has been in its current location for over 30 years, but Brock only took over the place a couple years ago. Brock’s short 🥧 journey is quite remarkable and one I had to triple check to make sure it was accurate. Brock initially moved to Townsville to flip a few houses and do a bit a spear fishing. Every day without fail this 🥧 loving legend slipped into Mal’s for a 🥧. This went on and on until the bakery came up for sale and next minute he was the proud owner of his first bakery !!! Seriously what a dead set champion !!! Fast forward 2 years and the place is humming along. Brock had zero and I mean zero baking experience, but that didn’t matter and as it stands the the bakery employs 25 staff including 6 bakers. One thing Brock loves is giving back to the community and that shows through the bakeries countless 🥧 drives and community activities.
One thing you will always see here is a line up out the door. OMG !!!! this 🥧 shop gets busy, the morning and lunch rush is out of control. I’ve never seen so many high viz in my life. The day of my visit was no different and the 🥧 warmer was consistently getting refilled. The shop is also spotless clean and the cabinet’s are always full and that’s one of Brock’s mantras. As always after getting the brief tour and meeting the staff, it was time to check out what this place has on offer.
As you would expect there is great selection of 🥧’s on the menu. A few flavours caught my eye, but it was the high viz brigade that heavily influenced my decision. The amount of “steak, bacon & cheese” 🥧’s walking out the door was insane, so I jumped on the band wagon and grabbed one to review.
🥧 THE REVIEW 🥧
1. Value for Money – $6.90 represented more than reasonable value for 🥧 of this quality and size. While it wasn’t the biggest of 🥧 it’s more than enough to fill you up. No issues with the $6.90 price tag. 8.5/10
2. Meat/Fill Ratio – 95% full !!! I might be a bit tough, but there was a couple of little gaps here and there that could have been filled. Plus the middle part had sagged a smidge. Overall you would be very happy with the fill in this 🥧. 9.5/10
3. Flavour – Terrific !!! This was a sensational “Cheese n Bacon” 🥧 and the lads in the high viz certainly know their 🥧’s. Every ingredient was blended perfectly and tasted great. Enjoyed every bite right to the end. Great job 10/10
4. Pastry – The overall pastry was pretty good. The stability, shape, color, and shrinkage were all of a high standard. The top bake and thickness were spot on as was the pastry’s flavour. The only negative was the bottom bake and sides were under done and needed more time in the oven. The bottom thickness was pretty good, maybe a touch too thick but only a fraction. Great job with this pastry guys. 8.5/10
5. Serving Temperature – Once again another perfect serving temp. 10/10
Overall Rating
🥧🥧 46.5/50 🥧🥧
Great bakery !!! Great product. To be fair there wasn’t much wrong with this 🥧 only a few minor things here and there. The flavour for me was the stand out, it was absolutely sensational. The price point was fair, given the 🥧 was pretty much full and the pastry had a real nice flavour to it. It was only the bottom bake that affected the pastry score and this could easily been a once off. On my initial visit I couldn’t get over the amount of punters purchasing the “Cheese n Bacon” and after having one, I can now see why. Brock and his team have done a great job with this one.
If your floating around Townsville this is one 🥧 joint you don’t wanna miss. There is ample parking, great variety and the cabinets are always full. Another hidden gem to add to your 🥧 list.
Brock is a absolute champion and I cannot thank him enough for his incredible hospitality. His brief 🥧 journey has only begun but the story so far in incredible. One minute he was a customer the next he was running the show and gee wizz he’s done a great job. From what I’ve seen visiting other bakeries it doesn’t matter if you have experience or not. It’s about assembling a great team around you and trusting that team and that’s what Brock has done. Thanks for having me in legend, see you again during the year.
