The Hambleton Bakery Café opened in 2008 near Oakham in the tiny county of Rutland. It was quite hard to find when you’re not a local, but well worth it. On the map, it appeared to be in the middle of nowhere, but can be found by following some narrow country roads outside Oakham and Rutland Water. I’d read that they have won awards in the past for Best Bakery and Baker of the Year.
When I arrived, I could and maybe should have ordered more but stuck to a favourite of mine and ordered a Smoked Cheese, Leek and Potato Pie, along with a Rutland Pippin. I’ll come back to the Rutland Pippin, (which has a filling of Pork Sausages, Ham Hock, Stilton cheese and apple in a later review) and for now I’ll just concentrate on the Cheese, Leek and Potato Pie.
The presentation was what struck me first, a crust topped with smoked cheese, it was a crispy topping and the flavours were exquisite! Along with the Cheese and the Potato the ingredients included Chives, Paprika, Grain Mustard, Nutmeg and Leeks. The Leeks were subtle in taste. They neither dominated the flavour nor were they used to bulk out the pie. Excellent! The mixture of flavours from the spices, chives and mustard added an extra level of deliciousness and quality. The pie was excellent, a really classy take on the humble cheese and potato pie.
In fact it was so good I went back to Hambleton Bakery a couple of days later for a repeat tasting and to take away some of their home made bread.
A very delicious 9.2
MH.
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