Well, what do you do when you are away for a few days with some mates playing golf, and you are struck by the 'hungries' after 18 holes of rather poor ball hitting. The answer is simple for those of us who aren't struck down by the "healthy me syndrome" ... get yourself a good old-fashioned pie.
Luckily, me and two old fart mates (yes, even older than me) decided to have our golf trip (three day - three rounds of the ancient game) in the spectacular NSW south coast township of Mollymook. And, Mollymook happens to be just a few minutes from Milton, and Milton has one of Australia's most iconic bakeries - the aptly named Heritage Bakery.
So, after an exhausting 18 holes at the Mollymook Beachside course, we decided to head to the famous Heritage Bakery for an old-fashioned Aussie lunch.
And, the Heritage didn't let us down.
The first thing that you notice at the Heritage is the building itself - a classic colonial building (constructed in 1870) that has just the right feel. The second thing is that it has its own substantial car park , not something many bakeries have.
Once inside, you are presented with a cornucopia of products, from sour dough breads to fabulous pastries - to the great Aussie meat pie.
So, my choice from the quite extensive range of pies all made on the day, was the artery-clogging steak, cheese and bacon concoction. And, it was bloody excellent. The locally-acquired meat was chunky and the bacon and cheese gave it great flavour throughout. Most importantly, though, the pastry (butter puff made that day) was great tasting and not soggy like so many of its rivals.
On to the second course. If you buy a pie you have to buy a cake. That's one of my life mantras, much to the dismay of my wife. And, I am a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to pastries. So, I went with the apple turnover, a classic Aussie delight that I first experienced at the canteen of South Sydney Boys High so many years ago.
Now, I am quite an expert in apple turnovers. In fact, if I was to enter the Mastermind quiz program I reckon my specialised subject could be "Apple turnovers of the Sydney district, 1970-2020". This can be quite perplexing for my wife. There have been times when we have had to drink really crap coffee or tea because the establishment concerned had apple turnovers. And, I mean REALLY crap coffee.
But, I digress, the apple turnover at the Heritage Bakery was one of the best I have had ... ever! The biggest sins in the apple turnover universe are faux cream, over-processed apples and chewy pastry. The Heritage product, though underwhelming to look at, was on the opposite scale. It had beautiful fresh cream, tasty apples and a pastry worth dying for.
And, their coffee wasn't bad either.
I didn't take details on what my mates had but they seemed entirely satisfied as well.
EPILOGUE: Two days later, as I left the south coast bound for home I did a sneaky little diversion back to the Heritage Bakery and picked up a loaf of beautiful sour dough bread, two apple turnovers (one for me and another for my son) and a gluten free orange polenta tart for my wife. That got me some points in the 2021 good husband and good dad awards.