It’s official, Paradise Bakehouse on the Bundaberg Region coastline is home to Australia’s greatest plain meat pie.
The locally owned bakery, which has outlets in Moore Park Beach and Innes Park, won the Aussie Pie Council’s plain meat pie award for its chunky steak pie at the Fine Food Australia expo in Sydney on 14 September.
Paradise Bakehouse beat out over 300 other bakeries in the hotly contested category, with more than 1,500 pies, sausage rolls, and pasties from around Australia appraised by a panel of experienced judges across the competition.
Owner Huyen Nguyen said she and co-owner Lam Khong were unable to attend the announcement in Sydney and were surprised when they saw their name come up on the livestream from home.
“It’s amazing, wonderful…we were yelling and crying,” Huyen said about the moment.
“It means a lot for us because it’s a big prize across Australia.
“We couldn’t believe it, it’s a big thing for the state, and for Bundaberg, we are really happy for that.”
Paradise Bakehouse opened their first store in Moore Park Beach in 2021, the same year they won the Great Aussie Pie Competition's title of best gourmet pie.
Their second location in Innes Park opened earlier this year and has been well supported by the community.
Huyen said some of their regular customers knew they were in the competition this year and called by to congratulate her with a hug.
“It’s like family, friendly family, it’s really wonderful and a warm atmosphere for us,” she said.
As for next year’s competition, Huyen said they would spend time researching, testing, and getting feedback from their loyal customers as they worked on future potential prize-winning pies.
“We love to join in and learn the feedback from the judges and feedback from everyone,” Huyen said.
Aussie Pie Council competition organiser Dani Lindsay said this year’s competition was the biggest they had had to date.
“We are blown away by the quality [of] this year’s entries,” Dani said.
Senior Judge in the plain meat pie category Dean Musgrave said the Paradise Bakehouse entry had an even, gold appearance with a light puff top and was well baked.
“The filling had an equal blend of gravy and good sized tender meat chunks; the pie flavour had an excellent balance of seasoning,” Dean said.
Along with Paradise Bakehouse, this year’s winners were:
- Rolling Pin Pies & Cake, Ocean Grove Victoria – Gourmet Pie
- Jack’s Bakery, Halls Head Western Australia – Plain Sausage Roll
- New York Cakes, Miranda New South Wales – Gourmet Sausage Roll
- J & M Catering, Wendouree Victoria –Traditional Pastie
Started in 1989, the Official Great Australian Pie Competition is the longest running and largest pie, sausage roll, and pastie competition in Australia.
