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.

Jas Cafe Bakehouse, Sefton Plaza Shopping Centre

I'm lucky enough to have a couple of days off work - but that doesn't mean I get to rest. Oh no. No rest for wicked - and I'm REALLY bad. Really, really bad. Shamone. Etc.

Anyway, this morning I put the car in for service, had a session with the personal trainer and picked the young fella from childcare.

Now, I don't know about you but nothing says gym workout recovery to me like bakery food... anyone else? No? Just me? Moving on... Jas Cafe Bakehouse has just opened up in the Sefton Plaza Shopping Centre and is just around the corner from the young fella's childcare.

I reckon you can tell a lot about bakery by their sausage roll and pasty. Considered the poor cousins of pastry by some - if time and effort have gone into these you can bet that the big sellers are going to be good too.



Of common or garden variety, the sausage roll didn't blow my tiny little mind but there was nothing wrong with it either. The (pork and possibly veal?) sausage meat was incredibly dense, well seasoned and wrapped in flaky pastry. I may not rate it but the young fella yummed it up.

The pasty was quite good though - the salty, veggie filling was almost mashed which I thought unusual. The young fella avoided this one though - I suspect because it was filled with vegetables.



Today's taste test is inconclusive. I think Jas Cafe Bakehouse could be pretty good but needs a bit more time to find it's feet - and I need to taste some more of their baked goods.