As soon as I walked in the door of this humble-looking establishment, I was confident that I'd get…read moresomething good. It was tidy, and there were no trestle tables piled high with plastic-bagged buns and dodgy doughnuts. Furthermore, the range of goods was not too extensive; they're sticking with what they know they can do, which increases the odds of all of us getting a tasty treat.
I bought a sliced wholemeal loaf, a veg pasty - their last one, a mini custard-filled chocolate-glazed Berliner, and a mini standard jam-filled Berliner with pink icing (they did have the full-sized versions, but I like to start slow and get to know my pastries). My gastronomic medicine bundle came to a very reasonable $11.50.
Whoever's in the kitchen of this bakery has a dab hand and fine palate, because neither of the Berliners were sickly sweet. It's harder than it looks to make mini versions of these things too; it's fiddly, and when you add a custard or jam fill, and then glaze, you always run the risk of overdoing sugar and balance of flavours. Not so these folks, I could taste all of it. What is more, and I still don't believe my good fortune, the glazes/icing had flavour! I haven't enjoyed a proper chocolate doughnut with a decent glaze in eons. At the last bakery I visited, the attendant responded 'pink or brown?' when I asked for a doughnut. I so wanted to walk out. Thankfully 'pink or brown' isn't in the Your Choice vocabulary. Their glaze tasted like chocolate, and aesthetically it was nothing like that brown roof-tile cement that seems to be everywhere nowadays. I love being compensated for my losses, and these puffy little fried dough balls did just that. The chocolate glaze had a nice texture too: the icing was soft but set, and the colour of it resembled a high-end ganache. Don't get me wrong, when I walk into a nice little bakery like this, I don't expect Valrona 80% gently melted down in a double-boiler and then emulsified by organic Jersey cream--yummy--but that's not what I want. I want what I paid for: that bakery of yesteryear chocolate essence, maybe with a little generic cocoa added, you know, the doughnuts you had when you were a kid, with icing that stuck to the brown paper bag, and to your lips when you ate them in three or four gulps. You'll get the brown paper bags at Your Choice, and a memorable icing that tastes like it should. You will also get a custard filling that's generous, smooth, again not sickly sweet, and it has just enough vanilla flavour. The dough was fried to perfection, nicely browned and nutty on the outside, light and cooked through on the inside.
The standard Berliner was likewise perfect. The pink icing actually had a subtle strawberry flavour, the jam had a distinct raspberry taste, and there was a good squeeze of it in the bun, but not so much that you end up with it all over your face and collar if you go in hard!
The wholemeal bread's good, and so was the pasty. I liked the visual appeal of the pasty and the pastry; it wasn't too greasy and didn't leave a film on the roof of my mouth. I think that the filling needs a little work though. I'm pretty sure it had cheese in it, and I'm not a big fan of cheese in pasties (unless they're spinach). Adding cheese typically results in a saltier filling, and it undoes the textural joy of eating a great pasty. The best pasties also have a little swede or turnip, trombone, and sweet pumpkin to complement the potatoes. The other problem with adding cheese relates more to commercial and marketing considerations. You lose all of your vegan clientele, and they appreciate having a break from having to cook all of the time to get good clean food. Vegetarians also get tired of people just adding cheese to everything. Contrary to popular belief, most vegetarians don't rely on cheese for their protein and vegans of course don't. The best bet is to make a damn fine fresh veg pasty. Your Choice is halfway there because they have great pastry, they're clean, and they know how to cook. They could roll the dice like Yankalilla Bakery did the last time I was there and offer both a cheese pasty and a plain veg pasty. However, if your margins are low (you're in food in 2018 so that's a given) and you don't have the seaside tourist trade, keep it simple and seasonal. Your Choice should just reinvent the pasty they've already got. Overall, 4 out of 5 stars. If it were down only to the Berliners: an easy 5 for 5. Next time, I'm going to get my hands on their Bienenstich. I wanted one this time around but they were sold out, by MIDDAY! That fact alone speaks volumes about how good these illusive Beestings will probably be.
