Voglia Di Pane, Olive and Oregano Bakehouse among Parramatta’s best bakeries
Crusty baguettes, continental cakes, Lebanese pizza and legendary pies - traverse the globe one bite at a time across Parramatta’s sumptuous bakeries.
Traditional high street shops, Italian-inspired patisseries with deep-fried doughnuts, heavenly manoush and legendary Aussie pies – there’s a bakery to suit every taste and appetite across Parramatta and Cumberland. Here are some you just have to try.
Olive and Oregano Bakehouse
Dough is made fresh every day at this popular North Parramatta business which has become a neighbourhood favourite since Natalie and Kheiry Mourched opened their shop after the worst of the Covid pandemic.
Ka’aks and an average of 200 pizzas are belted out daily at the bakehouse Joanna Pang manages with aplomb, serving residents and workers in the industrial area, who have made it a success thanks to word of mouth.
“Weekends are all families and weekdays are locals and the businesses in the area,’’ she says.
Two head chefs and one kitchenhand produce delicious manoush and ka’ak using lean meat mince which Pang says is the key to a palate pleaser.
“Some are too sweet or savoury,’’ she says.
“I just feel our one’s got balance because we use 95 per cent lean beef so you don’t feel sick afterwards.’’
Our visit one Friday afternoon included a most-pleasing cheese, oregano and chicken manoush while others feasted on spinach and cheese pides, and its signature rocket salad pizza.
The Mourcheds’ “why not” attitude on opening the bakehouse has paid off.
“After Covid, we thought we’d give people a place to come because everyone was so suppressed,’’ Natalie said.
“Food brings everybody together.’’
12 Seville St, North Parramatta
Voglia Di Pane
For a mind-boggling choice of bread, sublime cakes, impressive pizza and genuine hospitality, Voglia Di Pane takes some beating.
Translating to a desire for bread in Italian, Voglia Di Pane deserves all its accolades, from the magic in the kitchen to the warm customer service that greets new and loyal customers.
The 18-seat bakery has superb pastries, a banh mi station, panini, ham and cheese toasties, coffee and brick-sized vanilla slices.
“We make sure it’s filled with calcium,” manager Sim Song jokes.
Picking a dessert is mind boggling. Turns out our pick of the Nutella doughnut is the best seller thanks to the deep-fried method and the filling is the perfect texture – not too thick, just right and gooey.
Bread loaves crammed onto the shelves include charcoal sourdough, grissini sesame sticks, wholemeal vienna and olive puglesse.
Pizzas are cooked in a stone oven that chars the base to a crispy perfection. The salami and black olive square is a delight and if you prefer other toppings, ham and mushroom, prosciutto and margheritas are also on offer.
Customers including students, teachers and tradies make up the customer base and many have followed the Song family since they ran bakeries in Leura and Glenbrook, in the Blue Mountains, more than 15 years ago.
“We make the cannoli shells ourselves, we make the tart shells ourselves so everything is crafted with heart and hand,” Sim Song said.
Besides the heavenly desserts, the other thing that strikes you is how affordable Voglia is – almond croissants are $6 while the plain varieties are $4.
The generous Song family also donates leftovers to homeless groups and the Merrylands-based Youth off the Streets.
“At least there’s no waste and we give back to the needy.’’
35 Dell St, Woodpark
Brasserie Bread
Bursting with more than a dozen varieties of artisan sourdough and sweet, glazed pastries, Brasserie Bread is clearly the most popular stall at Parramatta Farmers’ Market each Wednesday morning, where a steady stream of customers treat themselves to a hump day delight.
Steve Middleton and Angie Britos warmly greet customers and their knowledge of the baked goods are as rich as some of their offerings including the pistachio, raspberry and almond delice, or their signature $6.50 almond croissants.
“It outstrips other things by three times in some cases,’’ Middleton said.
“Sometimes we sell about 100 here each week compared to the danishes which (sell) about 25-30.’’ And it’s all down to the double baking and thick, frangipane paste in the fluffy filling.
“A lot of people who try it just fall in love with it,’’ Middleton said.
The Nutella-striped croissants turn red and green at Christmas time while Middleton’s favourite item is the round Basque cheesecake with a caramelised crust and firm filling.
“It’s out of control,’’ he said.
“The texture, a little hint of citrus and just the taste, and you just break things off – being able to eat cheesecake with your fingers, it’s just my dream.’’
Brasserie Bread supplies its award-winning bread and pastries to cafes, restaurants, hotels and airlines across Australia.
Its artisan bread is acclaimed thanks to its 27-year-old natural yeast starter that gives the sourdough its loved flavour, refined crumb structure and crust.
There’s a hefty variety of bread too – ciabatta, quinoa and soya, olive and rosemary, date and apricot sourdoughs, and garlic and traditional baguettes weigh down the shelves.
At Parramatta Farmers’ Market, Centenary Square, every Wednesday.
Calypso Bakery Cafe
Customers at Pendle Hill Meat Market are quick to make a beeline for the mouthwatering pies at Calypso Bakery, inside the giant butchery, before stocking up on their steaks and snags.
Potato, chicken, steak and kidney pies – to name a few – are accompanied with impressive coffee in the Portelli family-run business.
“We do cook from scratch with fresh ingredients,’’ manager and baker Joseph Portelli said.
“The even meat comes from the family farm.’’
The Southern Highlands-raised cattle not only makes its way to the shelves of the butcher but the pie casings at Calypso.
“It’s similar to a stew. so there’s vegetables involved and it’s all fresh – none of these frozen vegetables or anything like that,’’ Portelli said.
“We slow cook the mix. For each batch we only cook 20kg at a time.
“A lot of people just put gravy inside the mix. Ours is more like a classic beef sauce which is then thickened up to a consistency of a gravy.’’
Wine is added to enrichen the flavour and slow cooked for two hours before being stuffed into puff pastry. Portelli and his team make up to 200 pies daily, though that usually doubles come Christmas and winter.
The brisket pie debuted last year and has proved popular. Brisket is marinated for two days, the meat is seared, rested before veggies are reduced in red wine and cooked overnight.
The next day the meat parts with the sauce and thickens so “it’s not like having a soup in a pie”. Portelli says the steak and cheese pie is a favourite among Kiwis and Polynesian Aussies.
The cabinet next to the pie displays also beckons with its lasagne, cakes and tarts.
Once the Christmas rush subsides, Portelli is planning to ramp up production of Maltese biscuits including his impressive galletti.
142 Bungaree Rd, Pendle Hill, inside Pendle Hill Meat Market
Cedary Bakehouse
Good news for fans of Cedary. The business is opening at Pemulwuy below an apartment complex in January with a smaller takeaway service.
A neighbourhood gem since it opened at Greystanes in November 2019, it’s a thriving bakery churning out fresh manoush, ka’ak and coffee for its throng of devotees.
Manoush toppings such as oregano and cheese entice traditionalists, while dessert pizzas including fairy bread and Nutella add a fun twist.
General manager George Assaf credits Anthony Doumit for hatching “95 per cent” of the ideas for the non-traditional pizzas, which also include tuna and beetroot.
“We constantly bring new ones to attract customers to try something new – that’s our point of difference,’’ he said.
“You still have the old-school pizzas but we modified it to make it more modern and our restaurant is more like a restaurant not like a shop.
“Our offerings are a bit advanced and the cleanliness of our bakery is next to none.’’
Proving the classics rule, oregano and cheese remains the best seller, along with the signature meat and oregano.
Assaf, who started the business in Moorebank in 2016 and is expanding with franchises, says there’s about 80 items on the menu, including the platters with hummus and fresh Lebanese bread.
“Thousands” of pizzas are charred for three minutes in the conveyor gas oven every weekend and “hundreds and hundreds” feed the masses on weekdays.
“Our clientele is from everyone to anyone from kids to adults, to grandparents to police –
every demographic, every cultures, from Australians to Lebanese and Indians.’’
The sweet and savoury options also abound on the ka’ak menu. There’s gooey fillings including the cheeseburger while ricotta and honey appeals for dessert.
Shop 4/81 Hibiscus St, Greystanes
Pendle Way Bakery
This is an ode to all the humble high street bakeries lining Sydney’s main drags with their enticing mantovas rolls, rosetta and cob loafs, white sliced bread, lamingtons and vanilla slices. Not a crumb of sourdough in sight. No frills but flavoursome.
Like many Vietnamese migrants who arrived in Australia, Saigon-born Hang Phan also found herself working in a bakery after she met her late husband after arriving in 1985.
She settled in Cabramatta and eventually the family ran bakeries in Wollongong and Mittagong before relocating to Sydney where she has run the successful bakery on Pendle Hill’s main street for almost two decades.
There’s no banh mi but loads of crusty rolls to craft your own, or grab a meat pie and sausage roll which sell for a thrifty $4.20 and $3 respectively.
Maybe even treat yourself to a doughnut, caramel slice or custard tart. Simple pleasures await.
122 Pendle Way, Pendle Hill
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Originally published as Voglia Di Pane, Olive and Oregano Bakehouse among Parramatta’s best bakeries
