Bakeries are always a bit difficult to compare to regular pasty shops and Ackroyd’s Scottish Bakery is no different. A little off the beaten path in downtown Redford (or close to it), the bakery can be found on Five Mile Road just west of Telegraph.

It’s a small shop in a small town with large Scottish aspirations. They don’t have one main draw, but Meat Pies, Pasties and Tea Cakes are selling points with Beef Bangers and imported groceries from the United Kingdom also available.

If you’ve ever enjoyed a pasty from a bakery, then you know how overpowering the crust can be and it makes sense. Bakeries specialize in gluten-filled objects so it’s nothing surprising. Per usual, I went with the Beef Pasty and this one had peas in it, which was unexpected. After looking around online, I found that Scottish Pasties aren’t much different from Cornish ones and that the peas were something new. Either way, everything else was normal from the great veggie-to-meat ratio to the overall flavor.

Of course, the crust is what it all comes down to. While it was a great crust, there was too much of it and the pictures may not show it, but there could’ve been more filling. For maybe the first time ever, I wasn’t full after eating a pasty and most of that has to do with the puffed pastry crust. It’s probably the flakiest crust I’ve ever had, but also the puffiness, which left holes of nothing on the inside and that made it look bigger than it appeared.

I won’t discount the outside for looking like a paper football made out of bread simply because it’s Scottish. It tasted like a pasty and better than a lot of options in the area, but with it not being as filling as a normal pasty, I have to take it down a notch. Then again, for only $3-4 you could probably get two and call it a day.

Taste: 3 (out of 5)
Crust: 3.5 (out of 5)
Pasty Presentation: 3 (out of 5)
The Shop: 3 (out of 3)
Would I come back for Pasties?: 1 (out of 2)

Total Pasty Ranking: 13.5 (of 20 points)

(Reviewed Spring 2017)