2024 🥧 Tour
Review No 55
Mannings Pies
(Cairns QLD)
sept 2024
My time in Cairns was coming to an end, but before I left, I wanted to visit one of Cairns most iconic businesses and that was Manning’s Pies. So I made a few called and lined up a review.
Manning’s Pies was born back in 1936 and started with a simple, wood fired oven, hot bricks and push cart. The family used to push this cart 6km into town to sell their products. Fast forward 88 years and the 🥧’s are still the same and this place is still family run and family owned. I was lucky enough to get the grand tour by Dennis and his daughter Karli. Dennis is a third generation Baker and has been working the floors of this bakery for over 52 years.
This place is nothing flash but a good old-fashioned 🥧 shop that’s open 6 days a week. I can remember having a Manning’s 🥧 at Musgrave Station on my way to Cape York back in 2022, but to be in the factory meeting Dennis and the team was pretty amazing. As Dennis was really busy and quite rightfully so, we didn’t have a lot of time to chat. So we headed over to the 🥧 oven to get this party started.
As you would expect there is a huge variety of pies on the menu. I really only wanted to try one 🥧 and that was the Manning’s Plain 🥧. Locals and tourists have been smashing this one for 88 years and I couldn’t wait to get started.
🥧 THE REVIEW 🥧
1. Value for Money – $6.60 represents reasonable value for money. Manning’s 🥧’s are not huge and would be on the small end of the scale in relation to 🥧’s I’ve reviewed over the last 12 months. The 🥧 size was of industry standard and very much affordable. 8/10
2. Meat/Fill Ratio – No
complaints. This pie was completely full as was all the pies I tried during my visit. 10/10
3. Flavour – As far as plain 🥧’s go this had a really nice flavor to it. The mince was cooked well and the gravy sauce tasted great. Only negative and this is minor, was that the gravy sauce was a little runny, but nothing too much to worry about. This recipe has not changed in 88 years and why would you change it? The overall flavor was pretty good 8/10
4. Pastry – Color, shape and shrinkage were all perfect. Shrinkage was also pretty good, but as mentioned above the gravy sauce was a little runny so you had to be a little careful while eating. The top bake and thickness was spot on, however the base was a tad too thick and underbaked. Few things to work on, but nothing major. 8/10
5. Serving Temperature – This bugger was a little hot, had to wait a minute or so before tucking in. 9/10
Overall Rating
🥧🥧 43/50 🥧🥧
This was a very consistent product and the scores reflected that. If your after a good old-fashioned plain 🥧 Manning’s 🥧’s will deliver. The price point, the meat fill, the flavor, the pastry and the temperature all scored well. To be fair there wasn’t much wrong with this 🥧. The only real issue was the bottom pastry was a little thick and undone, and this could have been a once off. Overall, I’m so glad I choose the plain 🥧 to review and I would have no hesitation having another one. If you’re in and around the Cairns area, you’ve gotta pop in and try this Cairns icon and trust me you won’t be disappointed.
A huge thanks to Dennis, Karli and the rest of the Manning’s team for taking the time to show me around and for your hospitality. Manning’s 🥧’s are a Cairns institution and for this business to still be powering on after almost 90 years is absolutely incredible. I absolutely love telling the story of traditional family run bakeries and this one is right up there on the list. All the best guys see you again soon.
My stay in Cairns was sensational. The area has so much to see and do and make sure you spend a week up here because you’re going to need it to see everything. I parked the van up at First City Caravilla. Nothing flash, but very clean, tidy close to town and the park was spotless. Could highly recommended this park.
