Para Hills Hot Bread Bakery - Adelaide, South Australia

A diamond in the rough, a needle in the haystack, an awesome bakery in the Para Hills Bridge Road Shopping Centre. It's not the kind of place you're likely to stumble upon, but it's well worth seeking out. Thuy Vu is the owner of Para Hills Hot Bread Bakery and she is clearly passionate about baking. After migrating to Australia from Vietnam on a refugee boat at age 18, she worked in a Salisbury bakery before later starting her own business in 2002. She's won numerous awards, some of which are proudly listed on the sign above the shop.



Front and center as you walk into the shop is a glorious display of savoury pies, pasties and sausage rolls. The selection is quite impressive with all of the usual suspects and a few originals as well.



Look left or right and you'll see sweets galore. Cakes, tarts, lamingtons, slices and more. How's a girl to choose?



The plain meat pie is generally a good indicator of bakery standards. This one looked good on the outside. Nice flaky pastry and beautifully golden in colour.



Biting into the Meat Pie ($4) and it's clear this is no ordinary bakery. It's not just good, it's great! Nice, quality beef in a smooth and tasty brown sauce.



As an awesome twist on the great South Aussie pie floater, you'll find the Mushy Meat Pie ($4.50).



It's basically a Meat Pie but with mushy peas on top of the beef. Genius!



The meat pies are excellent, but my favourite pie from Para Hills Hot Bread Bakery would have to be the Tuna Mornay ($4.50). Bonus points for the fact that it comes with a little pastry fish on top.



This pie is so ridiculously creamy, cheesy and delicious. If you like tuna, you will LOVE this pie!



The Chicken Pie ($4.30) is my second favourite because it reminds me of chicken pot pies from my childhood. Hearty, warming and full of chicken and veggies.



The best of the sweets that I've tried so far is the French Vanilla Slice ($3.50). The custard has a beautiful creamy smooth texture and a good strong vanilla flavour. The pastry is crunchy and flaky. This is a must try.



If you're looking for a great bakery in Adelaide's northern suburbs, look no further than Para Hills Hot Bread Bakery. They're open 7 days from 6am. If you want a particular item, I recommend getting there as early as you can or pre-ordering because they do sell out.

P.S. The chocolate doughnuts aren't bad either.

Red Door Bakery - Adelaide, South Australia

We tend to try to stay away from Red Door Bakery at Elizabeth Street, Croydon. It's not because we don't enjoy their delicious gourmet baked goods, it's just that we enjoy them a little too much. We recently reaquainted ourselves with the Red Door...probably put on a few kilos in the process, but it was worth it.



The pies and sausage rolls aren't your typical corner bakery offerings. These are quite possibly the best specimens you will ever consume and thus are a bit dearer than you're probably used to - $5.90 for pies and $5 for sausage rolls. Trust me, it's money well spent!



I've heard a great deal about the brilliance of the Pork & Sage Sausage Roll, but not much about the pies. I decided to take home a Traditional Chicken Pie, as sausage rolls aren't really my cuppa tea.



This was most definitely the best traditional chicken pie I've ever had. The chicken was moist, the pastry buttery and flaky, and the veggies provided further flavour to the equation. This is a pie I would definitely go out of my way for again. Big thumbs up!



On to the danishes and croissants. More tough choices here...



I went for the Rhubarb Danish for $4.50. This was excellent - tarty with a little vanilla custard underneath. The rhubarb was so nice and sweet that I was wishing for a few more pieces that went all the way to the edge of the danish.



On to the tarts, sandwiches & pizzas - oh my! One Creme Brule Tart ($4.50) and one Salted Caramel Belgian Chocolate Brick ($4.50) came home with us as well.



The Creme Brule Tart had that glassy top that cracks when you cut or bite into it. If you're a fan of creme brule in general, this is a must try.


We cut the Salted Caramel Belgian Chocolate Brick in half with a butter knife. For a brick it was actually not very hard at all. The caramel oozed out of the center and was very inviting. When they say salted, they mean salted - it's just on the border of becoming savoury. Very enjoyable.


Red Door is definitely one of Adelaide's best bakeries. The quality is top notch and word has definitely spread. They now have a second location on King William Road, Goodwood. So....skinny Adelaideans, get on over there!

Nanna Hot Bake - Adelaide, South Australia

No visit to the Adelaide Central Market is complete without a stop at Nanna Hot Bake. This is a family run business that has been serving up delicious, warm buns since 1989 (23 years and counting!). They're located at the Chinatown end of the markets near the souvenir shops. The signage has a classic 90s look and I hope they never change it.



Steamy buns, fresh out of the oven. So inviting!



The most popular item seems to be the Nanna Hot Dog ($1.80). Over the years I've witnessed several large orders being picked up involving white cake boxes filled with Nanna Hot Dogs. This is a beautiful sight indeed. If you need more than about 10, it's probably best to pre-order.



The Coconut Swirl is sweet, buttery and moist with plenty of coconut inside. Protip: Unravel the layers as you eat.



The Butter Sugar Bun ($1.80) is a light fluffy bun with a sinful pocket of melted butter and sugar in the middle.



Darren's favourite is the Custard Polo ($1.80). This bun has a dense yellow custard inside and a slightly crunchy top.



There are plenty more sweet and savory items on the menu such as the Coconut Tart or Sweet Egg Tart ($1.60), BBQ Pork Bun ($1.80), Chicken Hotpot Bun ($1.80), and the list goes on. The buns are best served warm. If yours have cooled, just ask them to warm them up for you in the microwave.



Nanna's is an Adelaide small business that serves up buns with a homemade look, taste, and feel that warm your heart as well as your belly. Next time you're at the Adelaide Central Markets, grab a Nanna's or two for some perfect on-the-go shopping fuel.

Bread Garden - Adelaide, South Australia

Bread Garden is a great new Asian bakery in Glynde. It's just across Payneham Road from one of our favourite Korean restaurants, Sushi Gallery.



Bread Garden is similar to Breadtop, but it's a one of a kind gourmet bakery and not a franchise. Because of its smaller scale, there's more love and attention to detail in the baked goods at Bread Garden.



The decor is eclectic and draws you in as soon as you walk through the door. There are comfy tables and chairs, which make "eating in" all the more enjoyable. To get started, you'll need to pick up a plastic tray and tongs to gather your selections.



At Bread Garden, everything is made with New Zealand butter and filtered water - no margarine, shortening or preservatives. It all looked so delicious - fluffy, shiny buns and loaves of all shapes, colours and sizes. I seriously wanted to buy one of everything. To make matters worse, this man was going around brushing the pastries with melted butter. Evil!



One of my favourite savoury options is this amazing Sausage and Lots Leaf Bread aka "The Leaf" ($3.20). It has slices of sausage, corn, cheese, tomato sauce and mayo inside. Absolutely irresistible!



There are also plenty of great sweets such as the Blueberry & Creamcheese bun ($2.40). As the name suggests, it's got plump blueberries and smooth cream cheese in the middle. The bun itself is ultra soft and moist.



One of the cutest buns has to be the Smile Custard Bun ($2.00). This one is sure to put a smile on your dial.



There's quite an extensive drinks menu as well, including coffees, teas, iced drinks, shakes, fruit ice crushers, and ice shavers. Darren had a coffee and said it was very good, smooth, high quality coffee. He was very impressed. Here's the small Latte ($3.30).



We couldn't resist taking a Chocolate Croissant ($2.00) for the road. Boy is this a bargain! We zapped it in the microwave for about 10 seconds and it was incredibly good. Perfect croissant pastry and a good amount of dark chocolate inside. Yes, please!



They sell made to order cakes as well. This one on display looked amazing! They've also got cake slices for sale.



Bread Garden is open 8:30am to 7pm (to 9pm on Friday), closed Tuesdays. This place is so good, we're already planning our next visit.

Lyndoch Bakery - Lyndoch, South Australia

If you're driving in the Barossa Valley in South Australia, you're sure to pass plenty of wineries and cellar doors. But if you're like us and on a budget, sometimes you just want some quick grub without all the fuss or the big price tag. Let me introduce you to Lyndoch Bakery, serving up excellent bakery fare.
(Note: The bakery also has a restaurant attached but I can only comment on the bakery itself as I haven't eaten at the restaurant.)



Lyndoch is a little town (population of about 1500) located between Gawler and Tanunda in the Barossa Valley. There's a cute IGA grocery store just up the main street from the bakery which often has local produce for sale.



As you step inside the bakery, this is the scene that greets you along with the seductive smell of baked goods wafting up your nostrils.



At this point you might look down and say to yourself "pies, pasties and sausage rolls...oh my!" All hot, fresh and baked on the premises daily.



The original meat pie:



The potato pie:



Inside the potato pie:



Ned Kelly pie:



Everything we've tried has been delicious every time. The pastry is never dry or from frozen, always fresh and perfectly cooked. They have quite a selection of sweets as well, including whoopie pies, cheesecakes, cream puffs, tarts, danishes and more. If you're in search of a great bakery in the Barossa, the Lyndoch Bakery awaits you.