Pyney’s 🥧 Reviews
Top Of The Bay Bakery
(Hervey Bay QLD)
A few weeks ago, I made a mad dash up to Harvey Bay Qld for a few meetings and to see my family. The visit was short but I did have a few hours spare between meetings, so I made a few calls and eventually locked in a 🥧 review.
I planned to see the new owners of the Top of the Bay Bakery, this bakery has been on my re-visit list for quite sometime. This bakery was actually the 9th review I ever did way back in mid 2020. At the time, the bakery was owned by Steve Sarah, who eventually sold the joint rback in December 2022. With the new owners in place, I thought it was time to pop in say gday and see what’s changed.
The new owner, Patrick, is another non-baker, and he was entirely new to the industry when he took over. Patrick’s background lies in accounting, and his former life encompassed being the CFO of several large companies in Australia.
Less then 6 months after taking over Top of the Bay bakery, he bought the Kawungan Bakery and then another location called the “The 🥧 Shed” With 3 locations this former bean counter has got his hands full, but this hasn’t phased Patrick and all three locations have gone from strength to strength. Open 7 days a week and employing over 35 staff this is a big operation.
The Top of the Bay store was fully renovated during Steve Sarah’s time and the shop is beautiful. The whole layout works a treat and the cabinet display is stunning. The products you’ll find here are proper old school and will have your mouth drooling. After pulling my tongue back in my mouth, I’ve made my way over to the warmer to get things started.
Patrick and his team have got quite an extensive list of 🥧’s to choose from. From beef to chicken, even seafood 🥧’s this joint has everything and more. The most difficult process is choosing what to have. For me this was quite easy. I wanted to try the chunky pepper, this particular flavour is my all time favourite. So I was extremely keen to get started.
🥧 THE REVIEW 🥧
1. Value for Money – $6.80 represented very good value for 🥧 of this size and weight. It’s not often you get a 🥧under $7 bucks and in my opinion this 🥧 was well priced and very affordable. $9/10
2. Meat/Fill Ratio – Zero complaints !!! This 🥧 was totally full. 10/10
3. Flavour – The flavour was actually pretty good. The pepper flavour was clearly evident, not over the top and will suit most people. The dark gravy sauce was really nice and wasn’t runny at all. The meat chunks whislt big in size had the odd piece of gristle, that could have easily been a once off, that was the only real negative with this flavor. Overall a really nice flavoured 🥧. 7/10
4. Pastry – Apart from the slight wet lines on the bottom bake the overall pastry was terrific. Shape, colour, shrinkage and stability were all great and on point. The top bake had nice lamanation and tasted fantastic. Only the bottom bake to work on but nothing major or something than cannot be fixed. 9/10
5. Serving Temperature – Perfect serving temp. No issues at all. 10/10
Overall Rating
🥧🥧 45/50 🥧🥧
This was one very solid 🥧 and one I thoroughly enjoyed. A few things to work on, but nothing major just a few tweaks needed. The odd gristle here in there in the 🥧 affected the flavour score. This could’ve easily been a one off, so I wouldn’t take this as gospel or something that cannot be fixed with the next batch. I particularly enjoyed the pepper flavour, It was the perfect amount and had a little kick to it. The $6.80 price tag was on point and the 🥧 was full to the brim. Overall this is a 🥧 I would easily have again in a heartbeat. Patrick and his team have done a great job with this one.
When you’re in Harvey Bay you need to visit one of their three locations. As mentioned the quality of food on offer is outstanding and Patrick’s friendly team will take good care of you. If it’s worth anything, my old man reckons the bread here is the best in town.
A massive thanks to Patrick for having me in on very short notice. Since taking over in 2022 he’s done a sterling job and this bakery goes from strength to strength. From corporate CFO to running 3 bakery locations there’s nothing this legend cannot do. Great to meet you and I wish you and your team all the best. See you in the bay on my next visit.
As always thanks for the ongoing support and keep supporting 🇦🇺 bakeries and don’t forget to invite all your friends to the page.
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