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Barry Road Hot Bread & Cake Shop is a Turkish bakery located on a strip mall full of great eating spots, just across the road from Upfield railway station. Open until 1:00am every day of the week, it’s a popular spot for locals to get their fix of regular and Turkish baked goods, made fresh on site each day. The simit (golden sesame encrusted Turkish bread) are considered some of the best in Melbourne. You can get them plain in the traditional twisted ring shape (like a bagel), or in roll form as a simit sandviç. My favourite is the simit filled with salty beyaz peynir (Turkish white brined cheese), fresh sliced tomato; and crunchy, mild, sweet sivri biber green chilli. There’s also things like pita, borek, and gozleme. You can buy them cold/room temperature, or get them heated up. Fillings include things like spinach and cheese; beef mince; and cheese. In an example of how much the food of Turkey spread and influenced all corners of the former Ottoman Empire, the beef mince borek at Barry Road Hot Bread is strikingly similar to the version (which I grew up calling ‘cora’) that my Macedonian grandmother used to make. It’s not just baked goods on the menu either. Look through the cabinets and you’ll find desserts like sütlaç (rice pudding), baklava, and kadayif. The circular, airy, walnut filled kadayif, versus the better known syrupy, cheese filled version, is particularly good. There’s drinks like ayran (savoury yogurt drink), and Uludağ in the fridges, and Turkish coffee made to order. Food here’s mostly to-go, but there are a few seats and tables if you want to eat in. To the side of the tables, there’s a few shelves with Turkish grocery items for the pantry.

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