Wavell Hot Bread Shop, Rode Rd, Wavell Heights

Full disclosure up front: this is my favourite pie shop. Well, my sentimental favourite, anyway (I think we all know where I stand re Rock n Roll Bakery). 

If this pie shop was a woman, she’d be Sandra Bullock….not the flashiest or most glamorous thing getting around; she's getting on a bit and could do with a bit of a touch-up, but when it comes down to business she brings her ‘A’ game every time and never fails to satisfy.

The shop itself is small, with a basic range of pies in ‘standard’ size format (see size chart in sidebar).

This is the pie shop (and pie) I keep coming back to time after time. I would have (conservatively) had 20 curry beef pies from this shop, and if I had complete disregard for my own safety (at present it’s only mild contempt combined with a little denial) I’d have one every day for breakfast on the way to work.

This is another Asian bakery (refer to Mums Bakehouse posting) and the epitome of everything that is great about Asian bakeries. The heat from the Type 1 Wavell curry pie lasts longer than a Kardashian wedding. It has been known to give my trusty sidekick Rimmer the hiccups after a couple of bites, and will almost certainly make your nose run...or bleed.

Roobs would turn into a sprinkler on the first bite and scream like a little girl. It’s powerful. And I told the owner what I thought last time I bought one. She was well pleased. I think. Well she smiled and nodded a lot, anyway. This is a pie that lets you know you’re alive. Like skydiving, or fighting Chuck Norris.

Wavell Curry Beef

The curry beef is a standard size, comes in foil, costs about four and a half bucks, passes the driving test (just), is usually served at a reasonable temperature – although it’s hard to tell when your mouth is on fire anyway – and it has a buttery, flaky top that is well cooked and golden. 

This is a very difficult pie for me to score, because it is the benchmark by which I judge all other Type 1 curry pies….not because it’s perfect, but by jingoes it goes bloody close. If I objectively compare it to the Banana Cabana pie, I think it deserves an 8.5/10. It has a better top and hotter filling, but the BC pie had a better base, and slightly more meat.

Look at this – but not for too long. It’s like looking into the eye of Sauron. The pie is saying, ‘You cannot hide. I see you. There is no life in the void. Only death.’ OK, maybe it’s just saying ‘eat me’…either way, this is not a pie to be f**ked with.

The only thing better than one curry pie is two curry pies of course, but on this particular day in the name of research I picked up a beef bacon and cheese as my ‘dessert’ pie, and was not disappointed.

Steak Bacon Cheese

It was the same size, temperature, crust, and viscosity as the curry beef, but with carved-up pieces of speck instead of bacon. They don’t just load up a bunch of that minced bacon rubbish from the Coles Deli window – oh, no – this is actual speck which infuses the whole pie with this fantastic smokey flavour. Score is a very solid 8/10. More cheese and a slightly firmer base would secure a 9.

And the other pies are all on par with these - the chunky steak, and the steak, tomato and onion being standouts with plenty of well seasoned flavoursome gravy and quality ingredients that you can see floating about. 

You do need to have a tolerance for a base that has a fair bit of 'give' to enjoy these pies as much as I do, but I can assure you that they are cooked properly (as you can see from the brown layer above my thumb in the picture above). You're not going to be able to sit your stereo speakers on it like the pies at Gerbinos, but they hold together well enough if you're careful. You can see evidence of some issues with the base splitting in the curry pie photo above, and the steak tomato and onion photo below. I saved both of these from becoming yet another embarrassing trouser stain, but you wouldn't want to divert your attention for an extended period or things could get out of hand. Literally.

Below are a couple more photos from previous visits to whet your appetite. I can't find a photo of the chunky beef, but it was really good and I'd probably be looking at an 8/10 for it and the steak, tomato & onion below. 

I'd be keen to hear your opinions.

Steak Tomato & Onion

Steak Tomato & Onion

Coming up, we have news from our South Australian correspondent, the lovely Bridgette; and reviews of The Old Fernvale Bakery, Uncle Bobs Bakery at Belmont, Quinneys Pies on the Goldie, The Golden King at Ashgrove, Ray's Patisserie at Newmarket, Goldsteins, the Stones Corner Pie Shop, the Rosewood Bakery, and whatever else I manage to get through in the meantime. 

Just to mix things up we might even have a pie Haiku competition with a pie-related prize for the best entry*.

So strap yourselves in for another bumper year of pie-sampling mayhem, as me and the staff here at Pie Towers put the pedal to the metal in search of Australia's best pie.

Until then, take care.

Pieologist

Carpe Pieum

*...or we might not. But we probably will, so start writing.