Ran out of new ideas scrolling for something to do on the weekend, so we drove out to Glenorie instead, properly out past the edge of Sydney, green paddocks and orchards the whole way, the kind of drive that makes the city feel a long way off well before you’ve actually left it. You know you’re close when a giant fibreglass pie shows up on the side of the road.
Getting there and parking
Parking’s behind the shopping strip, and there’s more across the road at the Woolworths if that’s full. It’s a solid drive out, over an hour from the city depending on where you’re coming from, and people do it on purpose most weekends, which felt like an exaggeration until we actually tried the pies.
Didn’t expect a line at a bakery this far out, but it snakes right through the shop, past the tables and out toward the counters. Locals, cyclists in full kit, a lot of prams and small kids. While you’re shuffling along there’s plenty to look at, house-made bread, honey, jam, lollies, and then the three main counters: desserts, pies, and bread. The dessert cabinet alone is worth the wait, fruit tarts, meringue, eclairs, slices, more than you can decide on in the time it takes to reach the register. Nothing in the sweets cabinet is priced, which had us second-guessing what we picked up.
The pie
This is what people actually drive out here for. Beef and mushroom, potato, and brisket were the three we tried, and every one of them had that thing pies rarely manage, a crust that stays crisp through to the middle instead of going soggy under the filling. Hot, properly stuffed, not skimping on the meat. There’s a sign over the vegie pie calling it a must-try, and after finishing ours we weren’t about to argue.
Inside
Corrugated iron, exposed beams, rope and old farm tools hanging from the ceiling, a fireplace going in the corner, a whole shelf of antiques above the counter. There’s a toy train doing laps on a track up near the roofline that the kids parked themselves under for a while, watching it go round.
The playground out back
Out through the back it opens onto a paved courtyard with big umbrellas, and past that a proper little playground, a wooden cubby house with a red slide, grass underfoot instead of concrete. Kids can run around out there while you stay put with a coffee and actually finish it hot, which doesn’t happen often enough at places like this.
Dogs everywhere
Wasn’t expecting how many dogs were there. Genuinely dog-friendly outdoor space is harder to find in Sydney than it should be, most places either don’t allow it or the outdoor area’s too cramped to be worth bringing one. Glenorie’s got the room for it.
Worth it
There’s a sign inside claiming Australia’s number one bakery three years running, and however official that title is, the queue out the door most weekends backs it up. Glenorie Bakery is at Shop 4, 930 Old Northern Road, Glenorie. Check their site for current hours before you drive all that way, since it’s not the kind of trip you want to make twice in one weekend.
More spots with a play area attached in our guide to kid-friendly restaurants with playgrounds in Sydney.