Perryman's Artisan Bakery

Making pies for generations Perryman's Artisan Bakery is a North Adelaide institution. More recently, the Pie Buyer's Guide rated Perryman's pies as one of the top pies in South Australia.

North Adelaide is long, although not impossible, hike for most CBD office workers. Lucky for city-slickers like you and me Perryman's have recently opened a new outlet on Grote street. I took one for the team and compared it to the Tynte St outlet so you don't have to. Thank me later.

A perfect South Australian lunch is a Perryman's pie washed down with a Farmers Union Iced Coffee. Perryman's make a pie that gets better with each and every bite. The more you eat the more perfect you realise it is - thick, buttery pastry; lightly but perfectly seasoned gravy; quality minced meat with not a hint of gristle in sight; and warmed to the perfect pie-smashing temperature. It sits at the very peak of pie-man-ship.



The pasty, though less rave-worthy than the pie, is still well executed - buttery pastry; a nice mix of diced veggies; a smattering of meat; and lightly seasoned.



On the verge of greatness but not quite there yet is the Thai chicken sausage roll. The light, delicate mince of obviously good quality chicken is in my opinion under-seasoned and under-flavoured. There were hints of chilli and citrus with some herbal notes (kaffir lime or coriander perhaps) but increasing the flavouring-to-chicken ratio and a good dash of salt would work wonders.



Perryman's also make a selection of sweet pastries based on old German recipes. The danish I ordered had stewed apple right to the edges (a rarity in this pastry-penny-pinching times); a sweet glaze; and light, chewy pastry. Tasty indeed.



Perryman's vanilla slice is a good 'un - pastry creme sandwiched between short but flakey pastry. It's the perfect sweet pastry for office workers - because the filling is so firm you don't have to worry about it exploding all over your tie (exploding-slice mishaps are more common than you might first think... I've seen men lose eyes and still occasionally have flashbacks...). I did, however, find the icing to be tooth achingly sweet.



Perryman's CBD outlet lives up to the reputation of it's iconic North Adelaide store and is a must add to the lunch list of any white collar pie aficionado.

Banh Mi - Vietnamese Rolls, China Town Food Court

Continuing on my righteous quest to find Adelaide's best banh mi yesterday I dined at Banh Mi - Vietnamese Rolls in the China Town Food Court. To paraphrase their claim, these guys can definitely roll (bit of a sandwich pun there - get it?) with the best.

I ordered a roast pork roll with a Vietnamese iced coffee which set me back about $11. A little on the expensive for lunch but not so much that it'll break the bank.



There are two things that differentiate the banh mi here from elsewhere. The first is their size - these banh mi are big boys. Much bigger than any of the other banh mi I've seen in the Adelaide CDB. The second is the mayonnaise and pâté combination slathered on the bottom half of the rolls. Occasionally this bottom layer has been so thick, rich and cloying that it makes it difficult to finish the sandwich. Not yesterday - the ratio if pâté to filling was perfect.



Can I just say that I love Vietnamese iced coffee? Iced cold, sweet and almost chocolate-y banh mi's version is refreshingly good. Is it blasphemous to say I prefer it to Farmer's Union Iced Coffee? 



I'm intrigued by the statement on the roll package telling you that the roll is to be eaten within an hour or refrigerated. If you are not eating a roll this good immediately you are doing it a serious disservice.