Johnny Baker Downtown — Restaurant in Castlemaine

Johnny Baker Review 17/12/2020

The bakery was a drive-in bottle shop, and the external architectural style tells it all. Due to restriction was still in place, customers had to queue and social distant.

While my wife was in the queue, I got close to the shop window to take some photos, including the pies and other products displayed in a glass cabinet.

After having read and told about the good reviews of this shop and its products, I had great expectation of what I was about to consume.

As I aimed my phone camera at the pies, I knew then the pies would not satisfy my sight and taste. There were some pies in the cabinet with burnt tops, as shown in couple of the photos.

I walked in to the shop with my wife. The shop did stick with the Covid-Safe plan, allowing only two patrons in the shop at one time.

There were no chairs and tables for customers to sit around to enjoy their purchase and had a chat. However, there were some red milk crates on the ground as a substitute for chairs. Our group of 12 just sat on the crates, and ate our pies and pastries with a bit of style. Yep, we brought along our plastic plates and knives.

My wife ordered a Chucky Beef Burgundy pie, a Leek and Cheese pie, and an Almond Croissant.

When my wife took out the pie from the brown "sandwich" bag, my bad luck was realised. She hit the jackpot and got one of the Chunky Beef Burgundy pie with burnt top.

The beef pieces were chunky enough, but the gravy was a bit runny and light in colour. Without the plate to hold the cut-into-halves pie, it would be really messy to eat. In addition, the pie case was slightly burnt / crunchy as well. I wonder the pie was reheated a second time.

Due to the burgundy, the gravy did taste sourish.

As for the Leek and Cheese pie, half the topping was charred and tasted slightly bitter. The filling tasted ok.

The Almond Croissant was a disappointment. I expected the croissant to be made with puff pastry, and topped with almond paste or marzipan. The inside was filled with custard, instead of almond paste as well.

As a pie and croissant lover, I am critical of the appearance, texture, taste, consistency, and...

Pastries and sweets that live up to the hype. We go to a lot of bakeries, carbs are an essential in our diet, so whenever we're in a new place we try and find the best bakery. We were in Castlemaine for the day and did a bit of a walk over at the gold diggings. Johnny B was apparently the place to go for pastries and pies, so that's what we did.

We got a ham cheese croissant, an escargot, the orange poppyseed cake, the apple shortbread, and the eggplant and lentil pie.

The pie was so good it was demolished before we sat down at the park next door. The croissant had so many layers of lamination and you could see each flaky golden edge. The dough had proved nicely and the inside was soft and airy (ignore that other reviewer that said croissants are puff pastry 🤦‍♂️). The escargot was not as flaky and airy as the croissant, still a good pastry but could do with more sultanas.

We saved the apple shortbread and the cake for the next day, and they were still fantastic specimens of good baking. The apple shortbread had a nice short pastry that melted in your mouth but still held its shape when you bit into it and the apple mix was cubes of soft apples with sultanas. I prefer a bit more spice in my Apple mix, but this one relied more on the flavour of the apples.

The orange poppyseed cake was moist and had a good orange floral flavour, it wasn't overly orangey essence-like and we debated whether they had used essence or poached whole oranges...

Would recommend. Would definitely go back. If you go, please bring me an almond croissant because we just missed out!

Total cost $50ish with two...

On the recommendation of a local retailer, we found our way to Johnny Baker. Looking for something quick, simple and satisfying for lunch, we decided to pop in. We were warmly welcomed by friendly, smiling staff, which set a good tone from the outset. Johnny Baker offers all the familiar favourites, but with a gourmet twist especially noticeable in their display of pastries, cakes, pies, and quiches, which looked beautifully made and thoughtfully presented. A pleasant surprise was the selection of Gelato, which added an unexpected touch of variety. The open kitchen was a nice feature, giving a glimpse behind the scenes and inspiring a sense of trust in the quality and care that goes into the food. It's clear there's genuine passion here behind what they do. I kept things simple with a plain pie and a cappuccino. The pie was tasty and well-prepared, though the crust could have been a touch crispier, possibly due to a quick reheat (?). Still, the flavour made up for it, and the cappuccino was excellent. Though we had planned to take away, the rainy weather gave us the chance to sit and enjoy the atmosphere. It was great to see a steady flow of customers, clearly showing that Johnny Baker is well-loved by locals and others. Well done to the team!!! We'll definitely be back when we have a bit more time to explore the menu...