Judge our best pies

It seems a bit of an Australian sport to judge “the best” in anything, especially food on the go: best sausage rolls, best vanilla slice, best lamington, best hamburger, best fish and chips, the best schnitzel battles are endless and don’t even go near anybody on their ‘best coffee’ rant.

But where the competition really heats up is the claim to be Australia’s best pie. Did you know there’s an industry body (Baking Association of Australia) that runs an annual competition for Australia’s Best Pie and Pastie? Judges conduct tastings over three days to savour every entrant. A difficult job but someone has to do it, LOL!

Meanwhile, in the other pastry-encrusted corner sits the other competition: The Official Great Aussie Pie Competition which recently announced its own 2024 winners.

So now you have an excuse to do some of your own judging of taste, texture, pastry flakiness and crust, sauciness, holding ability… or any other factor that may arouse your passion for pies.

In case you’re wondering, the 2024 national winners:

• Australia's Best Pies & Pasties Competition: Prawn laksa pie from Rolling Pin Bakery (Vic).
• The Official Great Aussie Pie Competition: Plain meat pie from Buddy's Bakery (Vic) for their chunky pie; Gourmet pie from Jack's Bakery (WA) for their lamb & red wine pie.

Prawn laksa in a pie, why not?

And let us know if you’ve found a winner (or two) around the Barrington Coast that should be featured here.

Forster Bakehouse, Forster

Here’s a great place to start tasting… Forster Bakehouse recently five Golds and three Silvers in The Official Great Aussie Pic Competition 2024 and were category winners in two:

• Slow cooked barbecue pie (for their Carolina barbecue brisket pie)
• Vegetarian/vegan pie (for their cauliflower cashew mornay pie)
  

So be sure to try one (or all) of these winning entrants: Carolina barbecue brisket, Moroccan sweet curry, chicken parmigiana, Vietnamese pepper steak, lamb & rosemary, Indonesian fish curry, cauliflower cashew mornay, and mushroom.

Tunners Bakehouse, Tuncurry

Here’s another great place to start tasting… Tunners Bakery recently won eight Silver awards across five categories in Australia’s Best Pie Competition 2024. And then they won another two Silver awards and seven Bronze awards in The Official Great Aussie Pic Competition.

So be sure to try one (or all) of these winning entrants: curry beef, curry chicken, seafood mornay, mushroom, sweet barbecue brisket, brisket & jalapeno, spicy pork, lamb & rosemary, breakfast, and mince.

The Artisan Farmer, Nabiac

The talented chefs at this food destination are making headlines for all the right reasons. They’re also hot contenders (in our books) for the accolade "Best pies in NSW" with their classic meat pie (Wagyu brisket smoked for 12 hours), and their recent addition (slow-cooked lamb with rosemary), all embraced by housemade flaky pastry to make any nanna proud!

2 Fat Bakers Bakery, Tea Gardens

This bakery-style café does deliciousness well. From pies to pastries, cookies to cupcakes, bagels to bread, you're sure to leave 2 Fat Bakers Bakery happy!

Their contenders for best pie for you to judge: surf & turf or maybe the spaghetti bolognese. You may also wish to try their meat & veggie pasties or huge sausage rolls… just to complete your judging.

Batter & Dough Patisserie, Gloucester

A good Aussie pie in a patisserie? Why certainly Monsieur, how about the lamb, rosemary and red wine. Just a little bit Frenchy-posh but completely delicious!

Selections change weekly so be sure to come back for tasty baked flavours from across the world: try the chicken & chorizo pie, the Mexican pie, the spinach & feta triangle, or maybe the pork and caramelised onion sausage roll.

Old Bar Bakery, Old Bar

This bakery’s butter chicken pie is another great example of fusion cuisine reaching into Australia’s national dish, all you need is a side of naan.

But if you still need inspiration then their pie selection is truly awesome with weekly specials to keep you coming back for more. Travel the world with any of these pie flavours: steak dianne, chunky beef with red wine & mashed potato, sweet & sour pork, smoked brisket, roast lamb with mint sauce, green chicken curry, curried mince with mashed potato topper… and a whole lot more!

Hebby's Bakery, Gloucester

This is another of those much-loved country bakeries who just keep happily providing what the buyers want: reliably tasty and always satisfying. There's always a big daily selection and they figured out years ago that having the pie warmer front and centre increases impulse buys... pop in for fresh bread and also walk out with something warm, flaky and delicious.

Try the brekky pie, chunky bonza, honey soy chicken, pepper steak, sweet chilli beef, steak and kidney, curried chicken, plus a whole range of beef pies with bacon or potato or cheese or mushroom! Or you may just prefer the enormous sausage rolls and spinach & fetta pasties, depending on your mood.

Lakesway Bakery, Forster Keys

Owner Brad loves his footy and his footy pies so you know his pies will be done well. The curry beef pies are the recommended winner here but the beef & bacon pies topped with swirls of creamy mashed potato look like delicious (big) cupcakes too good to pass by. One of each I reckon will do nicely.

The Point Bakery, Black Head

Freshly baked goodies with a huge choice of house-made pies, quiche, sausage rolls, spinach rolls, fresh bread, croissants plus lots of sweet treats.

The popular pie selection includes all your favourites: plain beef, chunky beef, chunky with cheese & tomato, beef with bacon & mashed potato topper, beef curry, beef pepper, chicken mornay, mushroom. If you're still hungry afterwards, why not try a breakfast trifle for dessert?

Detours Café, Bulahdelah

Famous for their homemade gourmet pies: chunky beef, lamb shank, pepper steak, beef and Guinness, Thai curry chicken and more. If you're dining in, you may be surprised at the gourmet presentation of your preferred pie, which shows how much love goes into their work.

But always leave room for some of Gran’s apple cake.

Nabiac Bakery, Nabiac

An old school bakery with a solid claim to fame for their tasty and well-priced pies. Top tip: steak & kidney pie that the Google reviewers are just loving.