Hannah’s Hot Pies Bakery, Ultimo (NSW)

Today we went to Hannah’s Bakery on Harris Street, which is only a short walk from our place in Sydney.  Hannah’s has a famous connection to pies in Sydney.  This bakery makes all the pies for the iconic Harry’s Café de Wheels based in Woolloomooloo.  Harry’s most well known pie is the “Tiger” but I will get to it later.

Hannah’s is a unique set-up as it’s on a street corner and is a kiosk, just like the old school tuck shops.  I grabbed one of their beef pies while Hazel had a pasty.   The pie was outstanding.  I pulled it out of the brown paper bag and it was round, warm and appetizing.  I took my first bite and all I could think of is they have nailed the temperature.  The pie was then demolished, but before I got to the end I savored the juicy beef and gravy in the middle.  It had a slight pepper taste to it with nice big chunks of beef and minimal spillage.  Heidi tried a piece but I think she enjoyed rubbing the gravy between her fingers, rather than eating it.

I have to say getting the temperature right drastically improves the quality of the pie and experience.  The pastry was also light and crispy to sink your teeth into.  This was better than Bourke Street and it got a 7.5/10.  After that I was still a bit peckish so had to have a tiger before leaving Sydney.  Now this is what Harry’s Café de Wheels is known for.  A tiger starts off with a meat pie, but the topping is mashed potato (baked like a shepards’ pie).  They then put mushy pies on top and make a little well to pour in the gravy.   You have to eat it with a fork so it doesn’t go everywhere.  The Tiger should not be confused with a pie floater as only a small amount of gravy is used and it is not drowned in it.  I will have to try a pie floater when we get to South Australia to see how it stacks up.

Well it’s less than a week now before we hit the road.  Final day of work later in the week and everything is organized for the movers to pick up on Friday.  We drive out of Sydney on Saturday.  Our first day will involve driving out to Canberra and then a night in Yass (50km past Canberra).  Can’t wait and will be interesting to see where my next pie tasting will occur.

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