Uncle Bobs Bakery, Belmont Rd, Belmont

Firstly, the promised update on Adelaide's answer to the Loch Ness monster - the pie floater - from the lovely Bridgette. Rimmer & I tried to locate this fabled beast on a trip to Adelaide a couple of years back, and despite our best efforts, we were about as successful as a Tim Mathieson after dinner speech. This from Bridge:

Hi Josh,

You sent me down to Adelaide with a mission to find and experience a Pie Floater, but I sadly have to admit, I have failed!  I have searched high and low for the infamous and mysterious Adelaide “so-called” icon and have come up with nothing.  

I have heard legends about a pie cart that travels around the city between 7pm and 3am giving Adelaide their fill of these pie floaters, and have even chased one down Hindley Street – quite drunk and in heels – but to no avail. 

I will be returning to QLD in 2 weeks with my tail between my legs, unsuccessful in my challenge to review the pie floater for your website.  I do, however, have a recipe that comes highly recommended from one of my pie sources (pun totally intended), if you are feeling keen!

http://www.food.com/recipe/pea-soup-floater-104655

So the next time someone from Adelaide tells you with bursting enthusiasm, 'oh, you're going to Adelaide? (they can never quite believe it)...you have to try the pie floater while you're there; they're fabulous!'

You: 'they don't exist any more, mate...and if you don't mind me saying, you obviously haven't been back there yourself for a while'. 

Then stand back and watch their mouth open and close wordlessly like a feeding goldfish while they try to comprehend the fact that, much like the Easter Bunny and Santy, there's no such thing as a pie floater (in Adelaide, anyway). Reality bitch-slap, right there.

Anyway, thanks for the effort Bridgette - I really wish I had been there to see the Hindley St pursuit! Now, on to Uncle Bobs....

I'm not quite sure how Uncle Bobs got onto my radar, but one look at the website had Rimmer and I reaching for the car keys for a lunchtime outing. Uncle Bob’s is just like every other bakery in Australia in claiming to have won numerous awards; but unlike most bakeries, UB’s has a vanity wall like the Great Wall of China - for all sorts of products.

A couple of things in particular caught my attention though: (1) B105 FM Best Pie in Brisbane (OK, B105's demographic is 18-30 year old women, but anyway...); (2) 11 Gold, 6 Silver & 4 Bronze Medals ,Great Australian Meat Pie Competition (now you're talking). Recently, their Lamb & Rosemary pie won another award, which for some reason I recall being a best apprentice pie award. Anyway, it was enough get me over there.

Remember to click on these pictures for big juicy close-ups

The shop itself is open, welcoming, and clean-looking. We were greeted by very friendly staff and made our selections. The pies are beautifully arranged in a warmer that encourages you to get up close and really scrutinize the products...not that it will do you much good - they all look pretty fantastic, with a home-made-looking attention to detail.

I chose the lamb & rosemary, and the steak bacon & cheese. Prices were either side of $5 with my lamb pie $5.75. It has to be said however, that it was a generously sized pie; and most pies were around $4.60. Rimmer also chose the lamb, and a curry beef.

Lamb and Rosemary

As you can see this is a very pretty pie, with dried rosemary stuck to the nicely cooked top and a fresh sprig poking out of the vent. Nice. Love that. The lid and base are stuck together to form a well-shaped pie with a lip like a pouting child. The pastry is a firmish short crust all over, so don't go expecting a flaky, crispy top. That's not to say its unpleasant - it most certainly isn't. The shortcrust is quite buttery and good on the tooth.

The filling is a mixture of minced meat and chunks bound in a very flavoursome gravy. Temperature was perfect and the chunks were juicy, well cooked, and in abundance. You can see why this one is a prize winner - it’s got the lot. 

My only reservation was the lid pastry...I'm a puff man. That's puff with a hard 'u'. Despite that, I've got to give it a solid 8/10 for taste, size, base (no problems driving with this one in hand), temperature, and value. Give it the flaky crunchy top from Rock n Roll bakery, and this pie nails 9/10 every day of the week.

Steak Bacon & Cheese

A similar size to the lamb pie with a nice spread of crispy, toasty cheese from edge to edge and a couple of crunchy bacon bits that beg you to pick them off before you start (I resisted the temptation for once).

Temperature, structure and quality of filling were all very good, with big chunks of bacon throughout the pie. The standout ingredient however was the cheese. If you like to taste it in your pie, you'll love this one. 

There was so much cheese mixed in there that the gravy had a creamy colour and texture to it, and I immediately looked around at the surrounding shops in the hope that one would be selling Zantac. Cheesy-licious, yessir….and worth every bit of 7.5/10.

Curry Beef

Rimmer is a man of few words and doesn't give praise easily. He agreed with me on the lamb pie, but communicated via a series of grunts, shrugs, and head movements that his curry beef pie was pretty good; although it was noticeably smaller, and was a type 1 minced beef that was OK, but nothing super-flash. He gave it a 6.5/10.

Beef & Burgundy (bought cold and heated at home)

This is an oversize pie, no question about it. It sits there, packed to bursting point,  with a bold criss-cross top like a night club bouncer, daring you to have a go.

How pretty is this?

The filling isn't overly dark as you might expect from liberal glugs of the good stuff, but the lashings of gravy contained within tastes really good. Not excessively winey like Lara Bingle; but a bit winey like Coldplay. Sorry, they’re both whiney. My mistake.

Looks a bit like the Brisbane River last weekend...

The gravy is well seasoned and thick enough to hold everything together without running out all over the place, but it isn't overly gelatinous either - just well balanced with a good amount of seasoning. The meat is a combination of mince granules and the odd chunk; all of which is well cooked, juicy and moist. There could have been a few more chunks, but I didn't have any complaints overall and it could have just been a case of the sample I had.

All things considered, this was a very satisfying pie, and consistent with the other offerings I've sampled from Uncle Bob and his band of happy helpers. I'm giving it a solid 7.5/10. A super-crunch lid like Rock N Roll or Horners would have elevated it to 8.5.

After wedging in a couple of pies each, my little buddy and I decided that it was well worth taking some pies home for later enjoyment. We returned to the counter and bought 4 each, and they were presented to us in a couple of very presentable and professional-looking boxes. Check this out...if you owned a pie shop, how proud would you be to hand your customers this lot? Nice, innit?

Then to top things off, the helpful lady behind the counter announced their 'frequent flyer' program, informed us that we had already qualified, offered us a free pie on the spot, and told us as she was stamping our cards that next time our first pie would also be free because of the total number purchased (12). Say whaaat? How long has this been going on?

So we loosened our belts another notch, and took the suggested favourite of counter-lady, which was a plain meat pie. Maybe she oversold it…maybe 2 large pies in one sitting is my limit (for shame), maybe it was asking for a woman’s opinion on pies (oooo-er, misogynist pig, Pieologist) …but either way neither of us felt it. Rimmer said that it was a bit of an anticlimax after 2 pretty good offerings, but that he would definitely be keen to return to Uncle Bob’s in the future.

With customer service like what we experienced, it's no wonder Bob’s son Brett (now running the show) has opened up a couple of new outlets in the bayside suburbs - if you happened to live in the area, you'd be hard-pressed to find an excuse to go elsewhere.

Highly recommended.

http://www.unclebobs.com.au/

Finally, to everyone affected by the floods last weekend: the thoughts and prayers of everyone at Pie Towers go out to you, and we hope that all goes well with the cleanup effort.

Until next time, take care.

Pieologist

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.

Trouble in Paradise?

Aaaaaah, the holidays - don't you just love them?

Not only do you get the opportunity to address the long list of jobs around the house that your wife has spent the year compiling while you've been at the rugby (or recovering from it), but you get to spend LOTS of quality one-on-one time with her (and the kids) and hear exactly what she's thinking. All the time. In intricate detail. No matter what the subject. Or what you happen to be doing at the time. It really is, as they say, the most wonderful time of the year.

Not that I have any of those worries with my wife, 'Sports' as she's known in the family. She is always an absolute delight to be with...aren't you, darling? (she stopped following the Piehole a while back, but you can never be too careful, right?).

So the old cheese and I had a reasonably quiet one this year, with a short excursion to the Coast to visit my parents, and a few days in Melbournistan for New Years. We dined at a few really great restaurants down there, too (Golden Fields, Moon Under Water and Rockpool B&G were all outstanding), but pies were few and far between. Partly because I didn't want to ruin myself for dinner, and partly because we were staying in the CBD where the only pies seem to be from my old nemesis, Pie Face - which is on every second corner.

Now far be it from me to wish ill upon anyone, particularly the poor, allegedly downtrodden franchisees that have bought into the Pie Face dream, but an article in the Australian Financial Review today piqued my interest...is this the first sign of trouble in paradise?

Frankly, I find it VERY difficult to believe the scurrilous accusations that the founder, chairman, and master franchise owner, Wayne Holmschek might have misrepresented the figures to potential franchisees - he's a former merchant banker, for Chrissakes! I mean, if anyone knows how to accurately document future earnings, expenses and return on investment with the utmost integrity and transparency, it's a merchant banker, right? These greedy franchisees sure have a hide.

On the bright side, at least this action has gotten old Wayne to formally acknowledge what business they're in, and it's not the pie business folks - it's the franchise business. The frikkin' business business, dude! There are some jems of wisdom here from Wane-o - enjoy:

http://www.smartcompany.com.au/food-and-beverages/053590-pie-face-founder-defends-company-against-franchisee-trio-s-threat-to-sue-for-damages.html