Mount Pleasant Bakery

If you're passing through Mount Pleasant, South Australia, this bakery is the stop to make, and pies are the reason. Locals will tell you the pies here are big, deep and properly crisp on the outside with flaky pastry, and the pasties get just as much love, full of filling with a traditional peppery bite. Travellers who've worked their way around the state have been known to call the pasties the best they've found.

The pie cabinet runs well beyond the basics. Steak and mushroom, steak bacon and cheese, chicken Kiev and a bushman's pie with egg all get a mention, along with a homemade apple pie that one visitor wished they lived closer to. Sausage rolls come out crisp and flaky, and the hot chips have their fans too.

Then there's the sweet side. One customer mentioned the vanilla slice, chocolate donuts, apple turnovers and hot cross buns, plus the bacon and cheese plait and an apricot fruit plait. An authentic Barossa slice is on offer, and the florentines are huge. There's also a good range of gluten-free options, some groceries and Christmas baking in season, and a freshly brewed flat white to go with it all.

You can take your order away or sit in, and there's breakfast and coffee for an early start. Free street parking and a free car park make it easy, with a wheelchair-accessible car park as well. Cards and tap-and-pay mobile payments are accepted. The place smells of fresh baking the moment you walk in, and the staff are friendly, with a small-town warmth that has people planning a return visit before they've left. Value comes up often, with a big pie at a fair price a regular talking point.

One person who dropped in found their donut and pie a little dry. The overall word is strongly positive. The hours run a little differently on weekends, so check before you head in.