Uncle Tom's Famous Pies - A Northern NSW Icon

"What do you mean you don't remember going there?!!!" was the outraged comment from my father a few Christmases ago about the fact that I didn't remember visiting a roadside pie shop somewhere between Ballina and the Gold Coast when I was 5 years old. This place was a staple for him when our family lived on the north coast of NSW in Australia and apparently I was a drop kick for not remembering a place that was so central to his daily life! 

This year our family journeyed back to the north coast to visit relatives and I was fortunate enough to have myself a memorable (although not my first) visit to Uncle Tom's Pies. Located on what once was the main road from NSW to the Gold Coast, this tiny roadside diner doesn't look like anything fancy. A couple of petrol bowsers and an open frontage, to any passer by it would look just like any other country road petrol station, until you try the pies that is! 

Uncle Tom's was established in 1933 by a local banana grower and a pastry chef by the name of Tom McLean. In the wake of the war, the store was a little shack on the roadside opposite the turnoff to Mullumbimby which became a local icon. People from all over the district would come to visit the institution that is Uncle Tom's and this tradition has been going strong now - in the same location - for over 80 years! The shop was taken over in 2009 by a husband and wife team and although the locals were concerned for the quality of the pies, 5 years later the place is still going strong. 

Now serving gourmet coffees and still catering to a horde of regular customers, Uncle Tom's Pies remains one of the local institutions for the residents of Mullumbimby and the surrounding district. The menu at Uncle Tom's Pies is a simple one, a range of savory meat pies with a desert selection that will blow even the strictest of diets. The new owners have kept to tradition only adding essentials such as an espresso machine and some local groceries and produce to the range. 

 So why is it that Uncle Tom's Pies are the best you have ever tasted? It might be the locally sourced ingredients, it might be that they are baked fresh, or it might be an 80 year old pie-making secret that only very few have ever known... I'm not sure, but what I can tell you is that if you are ever in the area it is well worth the stop. Uncle Tom's famous pies are certainly famous for a reason and if amazing your taste buds is what is required to pay homage to this tiny part of the northern NSW history, then all the better for you!