Tumby Bay Bakery
Port Lincoln and surrounds was stunning, but sadly it was time to hit the road and head north. The plan was to make the short drive up to the little town of Tumby Bay. There were two major reasons for our visit to this picturesque coastal town. One the town is well known for the “Colour Tumby Street Art Festival” that is an annual event, established in 2018. Since it’s inception slme of the world’s most recognised street artists have participated in this award winning event, leaving many world class murals that can be viewed all year round. The second reason was I had lined up a review at the Tumby Bay Bakery.
Tumby Bakery Bakery got a mention in my last review. It’s the place where all the goodies are baked for the Beach Bakery on King in Port Lincoln. So with that in mind, I had to come and see first hand this amazing bakery that everyone has been talking about.
The bakery is situated right in the centre of town on North Terrace and was established way back in 1988. Owner Deb and Dale took over the bakery way back in 2005 with ZERO baking experience behind them. Deb originally a hairdresser by trade, had a gutfull of cutting hair and then went and then helped her brother Joe run his various pubs. When the opportunity came up to buy the bakery her and Dale jumped head first into the challenge. Fast forward 18 year later and this place now employs a whopping 40 plus staff that includes 12 bakers and a chef. These numbers are astonishing for a little town with a population of a tick over 1500.
This is another old school bakery and it’s only open Monday to Friday 6am to 4pm. Regardless of the time you arrive this place is always insanely busy. The serving serving area itself is only small but the engine room out the back is HUGE. It was awesome to catch up with Luke again and watch the bakers go about their business. I first met Deb at the Port Lincoln Cup Day the previous week and unfortunately missed her on this visit as one of her delivery drivers was involved in a traffic accident early that morning. So for the second consecutive time, I went to Luke for 🥧 suggestions for this review.
Once again, Luke took control of the situation and immediately grabbed a seafood 🥧 out of the warmer. This thing was like a seafood platter in a pie and the smell of this 🥧 was tantalizing.
🥧 THE REVIEW 🥧
1. Value for Money – $8.70 was excellent value for this full blown seafood 🥧. During my time in Tassie i reviewed many scallop 🥧’s that ranged between $8 and $12, so this was priced very well. The 🥧 itself was a great size in depth and diameter. Overall i would have no hesitation in paying this price again. 10/10
2. Meat Ratio – This one was FULL. Zero room left for any more seafood. 10/10
3. Flavour – Fresh prawns, squid and scallops then bathed in a creamy chili sauce. The flavour was magnificent and i couldn’t get enough of this thing. There was a plentiful amount of the 3 seafoods. The added chilli’s was a class addition and they didn’t blow your head off either, which is always a bonus. Loved it !! 10/10
4. Pastry – Nearly identical pastry to the last review. The pastry itself was once again delicious. The stability, color and shrinkage were all near perfect but the shape was a smidge out of whack. However the bottom and side bakes were under done, too thick and needed more time in the oven. 6/10
5. Serving Temperature – Zero issues here !!! 10/10
Overall Rating
🥧🥧 46/50 🥧🥧
Once again apart from the pastry bake this was a tremendous flavoured 🥧. The 3 combined seafoods and the added chili sauce tasted unbelievable. What I loved, was that the bakers didn’t skimp on the seafood volume. This 🥧 was jammed packed and the seafood was super fresh too. Also the $8.70 price tag was worth every cent. If seafood is your thing, this 🥧 is a must try. Great job guys.
This was another awesome bakery find and a review that I thoughly enjoyed. Bakeries and pubs are the heartbeat of every small town and this is clearly evident in Tumby Bay. The bakery is one of the main places where locals catch up and passing tourists get to enjoy and devour all the glorious food items on offer.
Deb and her partner Dale have done an incredible job during the last 18 years. This is a serious operation and these guys are serious business operators. A massive thanks for having me in legends. Also thanks for your hospitality at the Port Lincoln Cup day, it was a awesome arvo had by all.
Tumby Bay is a beautiful little place. If you don’t have time to spend a night or two, make sure you pop in grab a 🥧 and check out the street art. The caravan park was relatively cheap, neat and an easy walk onto town.
🥧🥧🥧🥧🥧🥧🥧🥧🥧🥧🥧🥧
