Big Apple Bakery

Anyone driving through Donnybrook on a long weekend will tell you the bakery with the queue out the door is usually the one worth stopping at, and Big Apple Bakery is exactly that sort of place. It's a proper country bakery in Western Australia, busy with road-trippers and locals alike, and pies are what it's known for.

The pie cabinet runs wide, with plenty of flavours to choose from. Steak and mushroom, steak and pepper, chicken and veg, curry pie and a big vegetable pie all get a mention, and people like that the pastry is filled with visible meat and thick gravy rather than skimped on. One local brought a few cold pies home for her mum, who's 70 and reckons it was the best pie she's ever had. Sausage rolls and the apple pie turn up in conversation too, and there's a steak-and-pizza hybrid pie for the curious.

Beyond the pies, there's a big range of bread, slices and cakes. The apple slice and bee-sting slice have their fans, and there's a decent run of sandwiches, paper rolls, sushi and vegetarian options if you're not after something hot. Coffee and breakfast are on offer, and you can eat in at the small seating area or grab takeaway and head across the road to the lawn for a picnic. Prices have a reputation for being fair, and fresh-from-the-oven food is a big part of why people keep coming back.

Staff are generally described as friendly and quick, even when the shop is flat out. We'll be fair, though: it can get very busy on long weekends, and a couple of locals have found things less impressive late in the day, when stock runs low and the hot food has been sitting a while. If you want the best of it, go earlier.

Access is easy, with free parking out the front and a wheelchair-accessible entrance and car park. Cards and tap payments are accepted. Check the hours before you head in, as they differ between weekdays and weekends.