'The best Aussie meat pie': Taste of home while away

Tinnies Gourmet Pie Cafe is Thai-run, but the genius behind its wickedly delicious fare is a transplanted Tasmanian baker.

Michael and Aong of Tinnies Pies.

By John Borthwick

Updated April 1, 2025, first published September 5, 2023

Tinnies Gourmet Pie Cafe is Thai-run, but the genius behind its wickedly delicious fare is a transplanted Tasmanian baker.

It was a Simple Simon moment. I met a pieman and his wares as I was going to the beach, not to a fair. To be precise, to Jomtien Beach, two hours' drive south of Bangkok, where I saw a sign saying Tinnies Pies. Stepping in I found a lip-smacking display case of beef and lamb pies, pasties, pastries and much more. But what, I thought, do Thais know about making pies?

Michael and Aong of Tinnies Pies.

How about everything? Minutes later I was immersed in delight in the form of a rich, chunky beef and mushroom pie wrapped in the crispiest pastry. I slipped into hyperbole, if not near-treason: "This is the best Aussie meat pie anywhere," I declared to my plate, "Including Australia."

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Turns out that Tinnies Gourmet Pie Café is very much Thai-run, but the "evil genius" (I mean that in the most admiring of terms) behind its wickedly-delicious fare is a transplanted Tasmanian baker. Tinnies' maestro Michael Handley, 63, emerges from the kitchen for a chat. The tall, ex-RAAF, ex-Launcestonian, now "Jomtonian" is proud of this impeccable corner café that he and his Thai wife, Aong, established in 2016.

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Since then the shop has sustained Jomtien locals and visitors alike. And now pie-deprived expats scattered across Thailand and its islands can even have Tinnies pies delivered to their door.

Using premium West Australian Harvey beef, Michael's offerings go well beyond pies. Among the shop's 30 different creations are classic, if not nostalgic Australian treats like lamingtons, vanilla slices, Anzac biscuits and fruit mince Christmas tarts.

Able to resist everything but temptation, I sample a fresh-baked apple pie. I'm soon interrogating the plate again, wondering, "How long is it since a pie tasted this good in Oz?" Michael had earlier mentioned that, as well using no preservatives or MSG, the Tinnies team works under good, "Australian-style working conditions". Perhaps that's a secret ingredient?

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