2025 Pyney’s 🥧 Reviews
Review No 39
Piehole
(Cessnock NSW)
With the Springhill Beef Co review ticked off the list it was time to make my way back to Clarence Town via Cessnock. I had one more review booked in for the day and that was to see the crew at the Piehole. This place is legendary around the Cessnock area with the crowds often seen lined up and out the door. I’d heard so much about this place and was excited to get there in person and see what all the fuss was about.
The Piehole is located at 138 Wollombi Road but within the next 3/4 weeks the crew will be re-locating to the new premises at 127 Wine Country Drive Nulkaba. The busy Wollombi Road will soon be under major construction which will see it go to double lanes and take several years to complete. Current owner’s Matt and Kylie have been crazy busy getting this new location up and running.
Matt and Kylie started this thriving 🥧 shop four years ago during Covid. They probably couldn’t have picked a more worst time to start a new business, but they got through it with flying colors and the kicking some serious goals.
Matt started his career as a pastry cook at the age of 15 but left the industry and went into real estate. After 12 plus years listing and selling properties he got the itch to get back into the 🥧 game which eventually saw him opening up the now successful Piehole shop.
As mentioned earlier, the the current serving area is relatively small, but don’t be fooled, this place was ridiculously busy on the day of my visit. I was totally amazed by the constant string of people walking in and out smashing 🥧’s left right and centre. The cabinet display was filled with every product imaginable and some products I haven’t seen for several years. After getting the tour of the place it was time to head over to the warmer and choose a 🥧 to review.
There is a whopping 29 different flavours to choose from at this joint. Yes, that’s correct 29. How the hell was I meant to make a decision with all these fantastic options on offer. I sat staring at the board for an eternity until one of the staff suggested, that if I wanted to try something a little different I should give the “Chilli Chicken Mango 🥧” is go. To be honest, it wouldn’t be one of my first choices, but I was first intrigued then so keen to give this a go and get started.
🥧 THE REVIEW 🥧
1. Value for Money – In my opinion seven bucks was great value for this particular flavoured 🥧. Weighing in at 265 grams this was a decent size in weight and diameter. 9/10
2. Meat/Fill Ratio – Totally full like all good 🥧’s should be. 10/10
3. Flavour – How could I describe the flavour of this 🥧 in one word “Different” The shredded chicken tasted fantastic, the mango purée sauce wasn’t what I expected it was better and the chili flakes, yep, they were definitely there. This was a totally unique flavour which I’ve never had experienced before. The chicken was the still the main attraction, but the mango purée, chili flakes and mornay sauce all combined brilliantly. I actually really enjoyed this flavour and Matt and his team have done a terrific job. 8.5/10
4. Pastry – Color, shape, shrinkage and most importantly the stability were all very good. Both the top and bottom bakes needed more time in the oven and was slightly under done as pictures will show. The thicknesses was pretty good with maybe the top bake, being a tiny smidge too thick, but that’s really nitpicking. I was really impressed with the pastries overall flavour. A few things to work on, but overall the standard was very good. 8/10
5. Serving Temperature – Perfect serving temp 10/10
Overall Rating
🥧🥧 45.5/50 🥧🥧
This was a unique flavoured 🥧 and one that I absolutely loved and glad I choose. If you want something different this is gonna be right up your alley. The price was on point, the 🥧was full, the flavour and pastry were great and it was served at the perfect temperature. This was a fantastic product and Matt and the team have done a great job with it. There was only a couple of things to work on and that was the pastry. This is a easily fix or could simply have been a once off. Great job guys well done.
If you haven’t been to this place, you’re definitely missing out and I now know what all the fuss is about. 100% add this place to your list, but keep in mind they will be relocating to the new shop in the next few weeks.
To Matt and Kylie a very big thank you for your incredible hospitality. It was so busy the day of my visit, but Matt still showed me around the place and took the time to share his incredible 🥧 journey with me. What they have achieved in four years is quite remarkable, but the 🥧 journey hasn’t finished yet. You wouldn’t meet a better bloke than Matt what a fantastic human. As you can imagine it would be very stressful setting up a new premises, but these legends are almost there and I cannot wait to see the end result in a few weeks.
