The Famous Berry Donut Van and a food tour of Berry

Mention the quaint town of Berry and I think of donuts.

Not just any donut, but the Famous Berry Donut Van.


The Famous Berry Donut Van

The Famous Berry Donut Van has been trading in Berry for sixty years, the old van recently given a new lick of paint and fancy colour scheme in mocha and chocolate browns.



What hasn't changed is the donuts. Cooked to order and cooked by hand, they claim to have "never sold a cold donut nor have we ever attempted to reheat one", making these donuts "the best you have ever tasted".

Guess what? They are.


Berry donut

There's a lovely sense of ritual when you place your order at the counter, taking a seat on one of the nearby benches whilst it's cooked. A friendly wave from the counter lets you know your paper parcel is ready, a searing hot-from-the-fryer donut that smells sweetly of sugar and cinnamon.

The outside of the donut is fried so golden that it's more of a crust, breaking apart to reveal a soft and fluffy middle that emits plumes of steam.

This is slow food for the people.

This donut will change your life.


South Coast Providores

Across the road you'll find Locavore Fridays, a local farmers market selling locally grown seasonal fruits and vegetables from the Shoalhaven region.


Orange and purple carrots, and yellow and green zucchini

Run by Carole and Ian of South Coast Providores, all the fresh produce has been grown or sourced within a 100-mile radius. Today there were purple carrots, bunches of beetroot, purple asparagus, local oysters, cakes, jams and pickles. Many of the fruit and vegetables were picked that morning. We bought a couple of custard apples that were creamy and sweet.


Green and purple asparagus


Sew and Tell

The main street of Berry is worth wandering, a couple of easy blocks that includes bakeries, cafes pubs and no end of gift shops. The Emporium Food Co. is a well-stocked gourmet delicatessen, but big kids at heart are more likely to be found at the Berry Ice Creamery, or lost in the sugary sweet aisles of The Berry BonBon Sweet Shop, a treasure trove of lollies and candies imported from the UK, USA and Europe.

Berry Woodfired Sourdough Bakery


Berry Woodfired Sourdough Bakery


We stop for lunch at Berry Woodfired Sourdough Bakery, famous for its organic wood-fired sourdoughs and French-style cakes and pastries, including legendary flaky buttery crossiants.

First opened in 2003, the whitewashed cottage offers an idyllic escape for the travelling gourmand, a country haven of bread-filled wicker baskets and a glass cabinet lined with treats.


Lemon yoghurt tea cake and flourless orange cake $3.30


Apple tarts $4.00


Chocolate and pear tart $4.50


Brioche galette $3


Crossiants


Chicken liver and brandy parfait $14
with cornichons and sourdough

The chicken liver and brandy parfait is a smooth and creamy pate hidden beneath a quivering layer of sweet and salty jelly. Accompanying slices of whole wheat sourdough are thick and sturdy. The breads here are all hand-moulded, rested for at least three hours and baked in a wood-fired oven made by the world-renowned master oven builder, Australian Alan Scott.


Local kingfish on colcannon $22
with a parsley and hazelnut salad

Local kingfish on colcannon is one of today's blackboard specials. The skin has lost some of its crispness by the time it arrives at our table, but the flesh is moist and sweet. The parsley and hazelnut is more parsley and red capscium (we find four hazelnuts in total) but the colcannon mash is a reminder of how the Irish converted mashed potato into something swoonworthy, with the addition of butter, salt and tender cabbage.


Brioche galette $3.00

I'd been so intrigued by the brioche galette that I grab one to takeaway, although I end up eating most of it before we've even left the cafe. It's not the crisp pastry I'd anticipated, but more of a soft bendy disc, made better by the crunchy sprinkle of sugar crystals in the centre.

The Original Berry Bakery


The Original Berry Bakery


"It's for research purposes", I say to Nemo as we head straight from lunch and around the corner to The Original Berry Bakery. We're stopped in here on our earlier exploration of the town, and you might as well have called me besotted.


Celebrity endorsements of the Original Berry Bakery

My must-visit spot in regional country towns is always the local bakery, the best source of traditional vanilla slices and lamingtons, made just like the golden days of yore.

The Original Berry Bakery is a sweet tooth's delight, a bonanza of Aussie favourites including finger buns, vanilla slices, lamingtons, passionfruit slice, rock cakes, apricot slices, cream buns, hedgehog slice, Neenish tarts, custard tarts and big fat fluffy sponge cakes sandwiched with cream. I was particularly taken by the homemade iced vovos -- biscuits covered with pink marshmallow, a stripe of jam and dusted with dessicated coconut -- bagged up on the counter, and the gigantic chocolate-covered wagon wheel biscuits, as big as a CD.

There is no shortage of celebrity endorsements on the wall, including Bill Collins, Mike Munro, Ray Martin, Peter Everett (Ready Steady Cook), Georgie Parker, Angela Bishop, Jackie O, Cameron Williams, Andrew Ettinghausen and, most impressively, Murry Field from The Wiggles who appropriately writes "Happy wiggling!".


Sausage roll, meat pie and passionfruit slice

Behind the counter are vienna loaves and sandwich breads but we're more interested in the warmers of meat pies and sausage rolls.

We stick with the plain meat pie and the humble sausage roll, two Aussie icons best savoured with a generous squiggle of tomato sauce. The old-fashioned passionfruit slice is a tower of vanilla custard sandwiched between layers of pastry, topped with a layer of sweet icing studded with passionfruit seeds.

I reckon you couldn't get a better g'day than this.

> Read the next post: Batemans Bay and the Moruya Country Markets



Grab Your Fork and guest travelled to the South Coast hosted by Tourism Wollongong and Eurobodalla Coast Tourism.

Famil inclusions: Hertz car rental

Personally paid for: The Famous Berry Donut Van, South Coast Providores, Berry Woodfired Sourdough Bakery and The Original Berry Bakery


The Famous Berry Donut Van
Queen Street (Princes Highway), Berry
(just after the Shell Petrol Station on your right if you're coming from Sydney)
Tel: +61 (02) 4464 3030
~~

South Coast Providores
78 Queen Street, Berry
(in the rear courtyard)
Tel: 0418 22 3464

Open Thursday to Sunday 10am-5pm
Locavore Fridays is every Friday 10am-4pm
~~

Berry Woodfired Sourdough Bakery
23 Prince Alfred Street, Berry
Tel: +61 (02) 4464 1617

Opening hours: Wednesday to Sunday 8am-3pm
~~

The Original Berry Bakery
110 Queen Street, Berry
Tel: +61 (02) 4464 1122

Related Grab Your Fork posts:
Batemans Bay and the Moruya Country Markets
Bodalla Heritage Fair, Tuross Head and The Big Cheese
Nan Tien Temple and a food tour of Wollongong