Bremen Patisserie

Bremen Patisserie is a family-owned bakery and café in Umina Beach, New South Wales, and it has been feeding the Central Coast for 30 years. The pies are what most people talk about first. There's a range of gourmet and traditional fillings, and one local called the steak and kidney pie packed with tender meat, rich gravy and flaky golden pastry. The tagline, "Home of the Flaming Ron - Try if you Dare!", gives you a hint of the sense of humour, and we've heard of one fellow riding a good hour and a half just to get his hands on one.

If you're after something sweet, the cabinet is just as busy. Vanilla slice gets a lot of love, and there's a good run of continental cakes, cream pastries, mud cake, carrot cake and black forest cake. People also mention the peanut butter balls and the donuts. Custom cakes are a real strength here, too. One local ordered a mud cake for a backyard barbecue and said it was a hit with everyone at a fair price, and the advice was to have a chat with Sean about a special occasion cake.

The coffee is roasted by the bakery itself, and people who've tried it say it's well made. Staff come up often as friendly, and service has a warm, personal feel, with Sean and the team remembered by name by regulars. It's a good spot for takeaway pies and pastries, or to sit in with a coffee and breakfast on a cold morning. The car park is wheelchair accessible, and they take cards and tap-and-go payments.

One visitor found the pies a bit soggy and the coffee on the weak side, and another didn't take to a couple of the sweet pies. Most of what we hear points the other way, with people keen to come back and plenty taking pies home for the freezer.

Everything is baked daily on the premises by qualified bakers and pastry cooks, and the shop is open seven days. It's worth checking the hours before you head in, and getting there early if you have your heart set on a favourite.