2025 Pyney’s 🥧 Reviews
Review No 58
Routleys Bakery
(Geelong VIC)
June 2024
After tucking into a few 🥧’s at Ocean Grove I jumped in the car and headed for Geelong. I was on my way to visit one of Victoria’s oldest if not THE oldest family run bakery in the state. Yes that’s right i was headed to the main Routley’s Bakery store located at 322 North Melbourne Road Geelong.
Victor and Verna Routley first started Baking in 1947 in a small shop on Nelson Place, Williamstown. Vic started working as a Baker at the cake shop. Soon after he began working they purchased the shop and operated it together. The family worked and lived at the same residence.
In 1971, they sold out to their son Lawrie and his wife Anne who have expanded the business to what it is today, 11 retail shops, a large production factory and a whopping 230 staff. Lawrie and Anne still manage the daily operation of Routley’s along with their 5 children and 5 grandchildren.
On the day of my visit, I was lucky enough to meet two of Laurie and Ann‘s children Sam and Kate the pair showed me around which included a very impressive tour of the massive production area. This place is huge and runs like clock work, everyone working together with one common goal that’s to produce quality products.
The main shop was like being a grand central station in New York, it was absolute chaos !!!! The amount of people I saw come and go in the short time I was there was mind-boggling. This place gets absolutely crazy busy, but the staff have it under control and the stunning cabinet display just keeps getting re-stocked. You name it and it’s most likely in the cabinets, the food options and the variety here is incredible. After seeing all the punters smash down their 🥧’s I decided it was time to head over to the warmer and start smashing my own.
Stacks of flavours, in fact 25 on the board. Choosing one could have taken some time and thought. I don’t know why, but I went with the pepper steak again. There’s something about this flavour that keeps drawing me in and i was keen to see how this one shaped up.
🥧 THE REVIEW 🥧
1. Value for Money – $7 is more then reasonable value for the 🥧 i sampled. I didn’t get the weight but it looked and felt around industry standard. $7 seams to be the norm for a 🥧 of this flavour and this one was no different. 8.5/10
2. Meat/Fill Ratio – Full 10/10
3. Flavour – For a mased produced 🥧 the flavour in this bad boy was really nice. You could taste the peppercorns with every bite, the meat was tender and the rich dark gravy sauce hit the spot. This one was as a little hotter then the normal pepper 🥧’s out there, but nothing that’s going to trouble you. Nothing flash just a good old fashioned pepper flavour. 8/10
4. Pastry – Apart from the bottom bake being a little thick and under baked the overall pastry standard was pretty good. The top bake was also smidge underdone as well, but that’s probably nit-picking. The stability, shape, shrinkage and color were all on point. The pastry flavour was actually really nice, particularly the top that was incredibly flaky. A couple of things to work on, which could have been a once off, but I’m sure these guys are all over it. 6.5/10
5. Serving Temperature – Perfect serving temp. No issues at all. 10/10
Overall Rating
🥧🥧 43/50 🥧🥧
This was a very solid product for a mass produced 🥧 and I can say mass produced because Routley’s pump out a huge and I mean huge amount of volume each day. The $7 price tag was great valued and the 🥧 was full to the brim. For me the flavour was the best part, once again another pepper 🥧 with a little kick to it. Yes as mentioned above there is a couple of little things to work on with the bake, but overall I really enjoyed this pie and wouldn’t hesitate having another one.
Routley’s is a Victorian institution that everyone should try at least once. It’s been a way of life for many Victorians for almost 80 years and still powering on. As mentioned earlier with over 11 stores scattered around the area you cannot go wrong.
To Sam, Kate and the rest of his amazing family, I extend my sincerest gratitude for the opportunity to experience your family’s remarkable 🥧 journey. After 78 years, the Routley’s 🥧 journey continues to thrive, showing no signs of slowing down. It’s truly impressive that five great-grandchildren are now actively involved in this family business. When Vic and Verna first began making 🥧’s in 1947, they could hardly have envisioned the remarkable evolution of this business. Once again thank you so much and I wish you and your family all the best.
As always thanks for the ongoing support and keep supporting 🇦🇺 bakeries and don’t forget to invite all your friends to page.
