37: This is big — Sausage Roll Scorecard triple header!

3 June 2024

Doesn’t life throw up interesting surprises. After experiencing somewhat of a sausage roll drought, over the last week it’s been a “sausage roll tsunami” (some nice alliteration there). Three sausage rolls in a week!

Humpty Doo

First, there was Humpty Doo. We had stopped initially for a coffee, but then Nicole’s eagle-eyes spotted sausage rolls in the cabinet. “Could I have a sausage roll as well please?”, Nicole asked. “Sorry love, they’ll be at least another fifteen minutes away” came the reply. We needed to press on, so we went with Option B — an Italian herb and [something] sausage roll.

Technically, I’m not sure this qualifies for SRS (Sausage Roll Scorecard) however, in the interests of inclusivity, it’s in. In terms of my assessment:

Very hot (points deducted)
Was a bit too crunchy (points deducted)
Unexpected flavour (unsurprisingly, given it’s not a sausage roll)
Tasted not too bad all things considered
Rating — 7.3 out of 10.

Very interestingly, Nicole found this post from Pyney’s Pie Reviews, where he rates the same bakery. Awesome! This guy has given me a lot to think about as he really has a very comprehensive rating methodology covering value for money, meat ratio, flavour, pastry and serving temperature — with scores out of 50. I’m going to have to lift my game. However, despite my much simpler assessment methodology, we did both agree on the product being delivered way too hot.

Pine Creek

Next was Pine Creek. When Nicole and I stayed there for a few nights prior to entering Kakadu National Park, we noticed Mayse’s Cafe selling homemade sausage rolls. Clearly this drew our attention, and so one morning we headed off early to partake. Unfortunately, it was a public holiday and said cafe was not open. Opportunity lost, we thought. Then, on our run out of the NT via Timber Creek, we got the chance to try again. And they were open!

The first thing that hit me was the price … $8.50 each! Mayse’s Cafe may have the Pine Creek sausage roll market cornered (it is a very small town), but that shouldn’t mean price gouging. Points deducted.

The second thing to hit me was that this was the first sausage roll served to me this trip (and I think ever for me) with a knife and fork. Usually, they’re served in the ubiquitous white paper bag that very quickly gives you an idea of the grease content by how easily you can see through the bag — but not this time. Points added.

The third thing I noticed was that this offering was literally a sausage in a roll of pastry, which is not the approach typically taken in Australia in my experience. Interesting approach.

Seeing as they went to the trouble of serving it with a knife and fork, I dutifully and appreciatively used them. To be honest, I didn’t enjoy the “sausage roll with cutlery” experience, but each to their own.

My additional assessment was:

I’m pretty sure it wasn’t cooked that day (points deducted)
Tasted OK, but seemed very heavy and dense given the sausage approach noted above (not my scene)
Coffee that came with it was pretty good
Rating — 7.3 out of 10 (points for presentation and price effectively netted each other out).

Wyndham

On our day trip to Wyndham from Kununurra, we spotted a bakery in town that specifically advertised their sausage rolls. How convenient.

The problem was, driving past at 9:45am they were shut. How inconvenient.

Anyway, we completed our Wyndham exploration and decided to have a healthy snack of snow peas, carrots and hummus before the 1hr 15min drive back to Kununurra. Which we did. And then we drove past the bakery and … yep, it was open. How convenient and inconvenient.

With Nicole’s continuing strong encouragement related to all things sausage roll-related, we stopped and went in. When I explained that we had thought they were closed, she said she has a sleep in on Sundays. I’ve never seen a bakery that opens at 10am, but there you go.

Anyway, in terms of my assessment:

I only went for the “mini” sausage roll, given I’d just eaten
Tasted like it had been cooked at least the day before (aligns with the sleeping in reference above) and had been in the hot box for a while (points deducted)
Low on taste (points deducted)
Rating — 6.4 out of 10.