2024 🥧 Tour
Review no 13
Upper Crust
(Collaroy NSW)
The northern beaches of Sydney was a area i didn’t know too much about, plus an area I’d never visited before. So with that in mind I decided to get down mix with the silver tails and smash out as many reviews as I could. I’ve been collecting data for the past few years and made a hit list of 🥧 hang outs and first on the list was Upper Crust Pies
at Collaroy.
The bakery itself has been operating since 1948 and current owner Anthony has been here for just over 20 years. Anthony family story quite is incredible. He’s a 5th generation baker dating back to his great great grandfather. This legend was baking jam rolls for the WW1 troops as they boarded the boats down at Woolloomooloo in the early 1900’s. Then Anthony’s grandfather returned from WW2 and then he bought the building where the current bakery sits. He worked and lived there for many years and still does so today. Anthony himself has been in the baking game for over 40 plus years this has seen him own and operate a chain of over 60 bakeries at one time.
The bakery itself is located at 1003 Pittwater Road Collaroy and is open 7 days a week and employs 30 plus staff including 6 bakers. This place gets insanely busy with a line up being the normal and parking can be difficult at times. The shop itself is only quite small, however Anthony is in the process of doing a huge renovation to this site which when finished will be spectatular.
Choosing a 🥧 to review was was going to be as difficult as Parramatta trying to win its first premiership since 1986. The selection of 🥧’s on offer here is out of control with almost 25 different flavors to choose from. I must have stared at the menu for what seemed like an aternity before choosing a particular flavoured 🥧 that was totally left field for me. In the end I went with the “Mexican 🥧” and I could smell the flavour of this 🥧 from the moment it came out of the warmer.
🥧 THE REVIEW 🥧
1. Value for Money – $8.80
is 100% up there in price, I’m not going to lie. You must take into a couple
of factors into account. The first one was all the 🥧’s are a decent size in diameter and depth and this one weighed around the 300 grams. The second factor was the location !!! The northern beaches isn’t a cheap area and the cost of living is up there. Overall while $8.80 appears expensive, this was a very affordable 🥧. 8/10
2. Meat Ratio – Totally full and bursting at the seams. The fill ratio in this 🥧 was exceptional. 10/10
3. Flavour – Absolutly incredible !!! The flavour in this thing was perfect. You could taste every ingredient with every bite. Meat, beans, cheese, onions, jalapeño, chilli and various spices. Seriously this flavour was unbelievable and I didn’t want this experience to end. 10/10
4. Pastry – Almost perfect !!! Both bake thicknesseses were spot on while the bakes itself were ever so slightly underdone. The stability, shape and shrinkage was perfect. This was a heavy beast and when the 🥧 was tipped on its axis it didn’t move a muscle. The color was good, with a little inconsistency here and there but nothing major. The pastry flavour itself was also amazing. Great job team this pastry was beautiful 9/10
5. Serving Temperature – Perfect !!! Nothing to worry about at all 10/10
Overall Rating
🥧🥧 47/50 🥧🥧
I’m going to say this is the best Mexican flavoured 🥧 I’ve ever had. Every bite tasted as good as the last one and I loved it. Just to make sure I had the right score I went back the following day and had 2 more and yes they also tasted sensational. Only a few very minor things that affected the score but overall this was a 🥧 of very high standard. I also tried the chicken, brie and avocado it was simply outstanding. I know a few people has mentioned that the Upper Crust 🥧’s arn’t as good as they used to be, well they must have been out of this world back then because the ones I tried were sensational. Great job Anthony and his team, this 🥧 is highly recommend.
I dead set loved this visit and review. This bakery is a must visit if your in and around the northern beaches area. It’s no wonder the line up is out the door most days and has been for many decades. This place is a serious operation and one that hasn’t changed over the last 75 years and probably won’t. I could have listened to the story behind the 🥧’s over and over again it was incredible and I’m so grateful to Anthony and his team for there hospitality. Anthony is a genuine nice guy and I wish him and his team all the best. As Arnie famously said “I will be back” and that’s a guarantee.
