Murchison Bakery and Tea Rooms, Murchison by Bureaucrat

To cap off the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival last month, I headed northwards to a little town called Murchison, which is located along the Goulburn River.  Why Murchison?  Well, it was hosting the Tomato Festa, and I'm always keen on checking out regional towns and their foodie scene.


Tomatoes galore!

It's a pretty little town with a great community vibe.  When we got there, I wanted to get a light lunch/snack. I didn't want a big meal, as I wanted to save room for tasting all the tomatoey goodness.


We made a beeline to the local bakery, Murchison Bakery and Tea Rooms, which has views of the riverbank. Inside, it was quite busy due to the Festa.  However, I got a feeling that MB&TR is a local favourite.  Inside, it's big and it's spread over two floors, with lots of seating for hungry families, locals and tourists.


There's quite a selection of sweet and savoury goodies. I went for the meat pie and some chips.  The pie was reasonably good - nice beefy flavour and gravy, however, I was a bit 'meh' about the texture of the beef, as it was a tad nubbly.  The pastry was light and flaky, though a tad bland.


To go with the pie, we got some chips.  Cooked in small batches meant that we got fresh chips that were crispy on the outside and piping hot on the inside.  Yum.

As postscript, I did sample (and buy!) a few foodie treats at the Festa that I want to share.  I'm normally not a big fan of hard cheese (I much prefer gooey bries and chewy mozzarellas), but I fell in love with the very morish cheddar from Vazzoler Cheese at Longleat.  Full of savoury, saltiness yumminess.  I bought a nice wedge of it home, which I polished off in a matter of days. My only regret was that I didn't buy more of it.

I also got a delicious and refreshing bottle of Mimi's basil cordial made in Murchison using a traditional Swiss recipe. And it goes without saying that I got a swag of sweet cherry tomatoes and a jar of 100% pure homemade passata.

Verdict
Food – 7
Service – 7.5
Ambience – 7
Price – 8

Overall
A nice country town bakehouse.  If I were ever back in Murchison (and there's a reasonable chance, as I would love to explore more of this beautiful town and get some more cheese!), I'd swing by to try out more baked goods.  I'm not sure whether it was because of the Tomato Festa, or whether they have this on the menu, but they were churning out these very nice thin crust pizzas.

Address
Murchison Bakery and Tea Rooms
39 Stevenson St
Murchison, Greater Shepparton 3630
Telephone: 03 5826 2336