Pollen bakery, Manchester - review
Estimated read time: 7 mins
Pie score rating: 5 out 7
I want to say that I'm one of those super organised blog writers who makes time in my calendar to sit down, write, discuss beautiful food and schedule it all in the nick of time. The reality is that I'm a nocturnal mess and will do my best writing in places you'd least expect. Like right now, on a train with me writing on my docs app!
Anyways, today I want to discuss gluten. And how gluten can get a slightly confusing wrap in the baking world. When I started making bread, I read several recipes discussing how to avoid any gluten development when making pastry. Likewise, with bread, the focus is to develop as much as possible prior to the proofing process. If you're a total beginner there can be a fear of what I describe as the middle ground. The reality is that several baked goods fall into this grey zone and it's important to note that, because you then may not acknowledge that they can live in harmony under the same umbrella. And even under the same roof. You can see where I'm going with this, right?
Enter Pollen Bakery.
A few months ago, I bumped into Tamal Ray, who was on GBBO a few years back. During our chat he suggested that if I ever am in the Manchester area, that I should check out Pollen. Firstly, loved the name due to the nod to the Manchester bee. Secondly, their USP is that they specialise in both viennoiserie (leaven laminated) pastries and sourdough bread. With me enjoying making both, it was a no brainer for me to give it a visit. Which finally happened a few weeks ago.
About the place. I went there on a Sunday afternoon which for most places is super busy. Yet during peak time, they were accommodating, found space and were overall a good vibe. This, from the get go, was a good thing. I ordered a coffee, collated my thoughts together (for context I was quite hungover post first Eurovision experience) and was ready to order. Whenever I do check out places, I always love to go with the recommended dish. In this case, I went for 3: the seasonal Danish; the egg custard slice; and the savory Viennoiserie escargot. I plan to do the review in the following manner. I'll give my thoughts on the dish as a whole, give is a pie rating (out of 7) and then talk about what Craigisms I would do. Not cause I like competition, but I love collaboration even with foodie thoughts.
Seasonal Danish
I love a good Danish. And what impressed me so much with this was the sheer amount of layers. Which probably indicated that they potentially utilised a reverse lamination technique. I also loved how crisp the pastry was even with the inclusion of the filling, which consisted of a vanilla bean creme patisserie, fresh strawberries and almonds. In terms of flavour profile, they kept it simple. Which I would argue when done right removes all the possible gimmicks I see a lot of nowadays.
Scoring wise, I could give it a 5 out of 7 pies. A Craigism I would add? A bit of pink peppercorns. Why? Cause it would add some floral notes whilst still celebrating the seasonal profile. Get one of you can.
Egg custard tart
I can never resist a good tart (pun intended) so it was great to get the classic done right. It was flavoured with a vanilla bean custard and has grated nutmeg over the top. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it a lot. However, of the three dishes I had it wasn't my personal favourite. And that's not me talking bad about Pollen, but mostly down to personal preference (and also coming from the fact that I make a lot of shortcrust pastry so can be very particular about it).
For this I'd give it 4 out of 7 pies. One Craigism I would add some flakey smoked sea salt to top it off. I would also do it just before serving cause it would ensure you don't have the salt dissolve into the tart and get an additional texture in your mouth.
Savoury Viennoiserie Escargot
The name alone made me want to try this dish, which was due to the shape looking a bit like a snail shell. They also vary the flavour based on seasonality, so I was treated to a topping of whipped feta, pickled beetroots, pecans and chives. My actual god, this was devine. Not only should this be the highlight dish, but it needs to be celebrated by the masses. And I don't say that lightly. I'm even having dreams thinking about it.
So with all of that, I'd have to give it a 7 out of 7 pies. Something that I'm gonna have to keep super rare cause it takes a lot to impress me food wise. A Craigism here? An option to add some chilli flake. However, I say optional because with everything so perfectly balanced, I really don't want to mess that up.
That gives the overall average score of 5 out of 7 pies, such a strong contender in my honest opinion. I'll be coming back again and grabbing some bread next time, something I regret not doing the first time.