81: Sausage Roll Scorecard — Three Middlings and an Exceptional

4 November 2024

As we’ve moved from the Eyre Peninsula into the Flinders Ranges, I’ve been sampling more of South Australia’s sausage roll offerings — for better or for worse. Nicole has also been sampling the vegetable pasties (her bakery go-to item), although a lot less frequently than my sausage roll samplings. And yes, we’re both still under our Big Lap Starting Weight (BLSW).

The Beach Bakery on King (Port Lincoln)

Nicole and I had finished a morning drive through Lincoln National Park (with some of our teeth loose after all the corrugations in the dirt roads there) and were exploring the Port Lincoln CBD area. We’d just finished a beer paddle at Jump Ship Brewery and were feeling a bit peckish, so headed to The Beach Bakery on King.

As we walked in, we remembered that this was the day that the cruise ship was in town, plus this particular bakery was within very easy walking distance of the ship boarding pier. So, the bakery was packed!

In terms of their sausage roll offering …

• A bit of a different look — perhaps on the verge of being burnt.
• In line with this observation, the pastry was dry.
• Unsurprisingly it was also too hot.
• Also lacking in taste.
• All in all, a fairly weak offering.
• Rating — 7.1 out of 10.

Sassy’s Cafe (Cowell)

As we neared the top of the eastern coast of the Eyre Peninsula we stopped in at Cowell, a nice little country town on a beautiful day. So, where’s the bakery???

Sassy’s Cafe was in a very old building (not sure how old) that had been the town bakery for a long time. It was a very pleasant little shop with friendly service; a good start.

In terms of their sausage roll offering …

• Looked really good.
• Very crunchy pastry.
• Nice, firm filling — like a sausage!
• Taste was OK.
• Rating — 7.5 out of 10.

The Miners Crib (Blinman)

Setting out early from Rawnsley Park Station in the Flinders Ranges, we’d been driving for quite a while over some (more) very rough and corrugated roads. We stopped in Blinman — an old copper mining town — and felt like a break.

After a look around town (which took about 4 minutes) we headed for The Miners Crib. Our neighbours in the caravan park had told us they did a mean custard tart, so we thought we’d give their hot bakery items a go — a sausage roll for me and a vegetable pastie for Nicole.

There was a crowd on the front veranda as we walked in, and I asked the bakery owner if they were on a bus tour or something. She told me they were the local cricket team waiting to travel to Quorn to play and that, if I wanted to, I could get a game because they were short. It’s been a very long time since I played cricket, so I respectfully declined.

While the cafe was lovely, their hot bakery items (at least from our sample) were not good. In terms of their sausage roll …

• It looked very anaemic.
• Very hot.
• A nice texture but almost totally absent of taste.
• I also took into consideration in my scoring that Nicole found the vegetable pastie almost inedible, and didn’t finish.
• Rating — 6.6 out of 10.

Flinders Food Co (Hawker)

So, that’s the “Three Middlings” from this SRS entry covered — now for the “Exceptional”.

Before leaving Whyalla, we had prepared a meal plan for our roughly one-week stay in the Flinders Ranges, as it is a pretty remote area. This included what we would have for lunch on the first day driving into the Flinders Ranges, which did not include hot bakery items. So, by Day 1 / Meal 1 the meal plan was out the window (although we did stick to it pretty well after that).

On stopping in Hawker — a gateway town to the Flinders Ranges — we wandered into the General Store to see what food they had on offer. It had a very basic grocery selection, and the sausage roll offering in their internal cafe was the old “Mrs Macs” version in a plastic bag in the hot box. No thank you.

As we were leaving the store the guy on the register looked very uninterested and a bit grumpy. I think we were soon to learn why, as there was a much newer (and better) food option in town.

The Flinders Food Co was on our walk back to the motorhome, so in we went. It was a lovely space inside, with a very modern feel and good music. I ordered from a nice young lady (sausage roll, vegetable pastie and two cappuccinos) and we took our seats.

Nicole loved her vegetable pastie, and their sausage roll was fantastic. Specifically …

• Nice fresh light pastry.
• Served with a knife and fork (classy).
• Great taste!
• Nice, moist texture.
• Bonus points for “the vibe” of the establishment and to have this quality of food in a remote area.
• I decided to do right thing and so went to let the young lady who served us how good the sausage roll (and vegetable pastie) was, and that it would be very favourably portrayed in my scorecard. Her reply was, “I’m so glad to hear that, because I made them this morning.” How good!! So extra bonus points for this aspect.
• And she also kindly shared some of the main ingredients with me: chilli sauce, onions, potato and apples. Interesting …
• Rating — 9.1 out of 10 and equal first place!!

So, a massive surprise to find in such a tiny town. As the old saying goes, you can’t judge a book by its cover.

Current scorecard

*Note that where scores are tied, the sausage roll tasted first is placed highest in the list.

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