Lobethal Bakery

The Lobethal Bakery (LB) is a real treat. So much so that I always get a real disappointed feeling remembering that they’re always closed on Sundays. I’ve been told it’s for religious reasons, but I swear it’s just to tease the locals so they keep coming back for more.
Everything I’ve tried from this LB (and the associated Woodside outlet) has been über tasty. I love a good, spicy chilli kranksy and the LB kransky is awesome. The pies are well made, not too hot on your first bite (crucial so as not to ruin the rest of the pie), and the lunch rolls, quiches, pasties, donuts and bread are all high quality.
Sometimes it can take a few minutes to get service, but I can’t blame other patrons for wanting to load up on LB goodies.
One thing I can’t get my head around is, why did they franchise the bakery with the name of another town? ‘We’re just going down to the Lobethal Bakery to grab a bite. The Lobethal Bakery. In Stirling.‘
Que??!
Besides that minor grammatical annoyance/​anomaly, and as mentioned above the fact they’re always closed on Sundays, I can’t really fault this place. It is next to the Stirling public car park which makes it usually easy to find a very close park, and it’s a 50metre walk from the Main Street. Going for a stroll this time of year in Stirling is worth braving the mild cold weather. Autumn is a beautiful season here. Just pack a jumper, gloves and some serviettes to wipe away those tasty LB crumbs!

Warning — the Lobethal shop (at least) is closed on Sundays. They may be devout Lutherans. In any case, the quality here of the pasties alone makes a Saturday drive in the Hills a better proposition than a Sunday one.

Ice cream, cakes made to order, delicious danishes, and of course the humble pies and pasties. The people at Lobethal Bakery really have got the business of baking sorted, this is everything a good bakery should be.
As far as appearance and location go, this is far from the nicest Lobethal Bakery store (being off the main street) but this is made up for by the relative ease of parking. If you’re stopping in Stirling for a quick lunch, this is definitely the place to go.

This is one of those places you know is good because they’ll shut their doors way before their advertised closing time. Not because they’re lazy, but because everything sells out! Too many times I’ve rocked up in the afternoon to find their doors shuttered, or pie oven empty.
The Stirling branch of the Lobethal Bakery is a super popular, very good hills bakery, specialising in it all. Pies, bread, cakes, catering and oh, the donuts. They will melt your face.
A little hard to find being that it’s set back from the road down an arcade and faces a small garden bed, but it’s worth hunting down. Just make sure you get in early!

Glazed donuts, anyone?
Or maybe you fancy a gourmet pie instead? Whatever you decide you wont be disappointed, outside of France, this is the best bakery food I’ve had in my whole entire life.
These guys have bread and cakes and pastries that are so good that you have get there at about 11 at the latest if you want a look in, failing that don’t even bother.
You can eat in or take your magical pastry away with you. I’ve never eaten in, but then I’m a culprit for buying a box of 9 glazed donuts (why stop at one?) and I don’t really want everyone staring at me while I chow down on such a large portion of sugary goodness.
Don’t be discouraged by the premises, it isn’t a fancy bakery, these guys spend more of their time perfecting their baking technique than painting the walls. It’s great that I don’t have to go all the way to Lobethal to get to the Lobethal Bakery, sometimes people are confused by the name, but there are 3 of these bakeries in total, Woodside/​Lobethal/​Stirling so take your pick.