Friday 30 May 2014

Tom's Pies With a Gorge-ous View

Tom's Pies at Avon Gorge Hotel - Steak & Ale Pie Review


Tom's Pies are quite well know for their upmarket pies. We have reviewed two vegetarian pies by Tom before, the Spicy Cauliflower, Spinach & Lentil  and the Butternut Squash, Bean & Cheese. We found these to be great pies, both claiming the much coveted 'Pierate Recommended' award. We bought these in Selfridges which gives an indication of the quality of pie we are talking about here, not just any pies, they certainly fall into the 'gourmet pie' category.


As part of my pies for every meal challenge I took a trip to the White Lion Bar at Avon Gorge in Bristol. This was perhaps the most gorge-ous place I have ever eaten a pie, the view of the Clifton suspension bridge on a nice sunny day meant it was worth paying a bit more to gorge on pie at a pub. Not that this was a particularly expensive pie in my opinion.

As I ate this pie on the outside terrace, the sun was shining and everything seemed good with the world. I came away happy with the pie experience although it wasn't quite as good as I expected because I had very high hopes after eating the veggie Tom's pie. I assumed this would be better but actually, I think I preferred the veggie option which is unusual! But just how good was it? To find out watch the video below from Day Six of British Pie Week where this pie was eaten for lunch (from 3:03 minutes).



Condition - 5.2 out of 7 - The pie arrived in good style and held it's structure well but I would prefer to pour the gravy myself.
Colour - 5.0 out of 7 - Decent colour, although hard to tell with the gravy covering.
Cheapness - 6.0 out of 7 - It was £7.95 for pie and mash, plus £1 supplement for peas. I thought this was great value for a pub pie in a nice location. The pie was quite big.
Capacity - 5.5 out of 7 - The pie was quite tall so a good capacity. It was also well filled.
Chewiness - 4.5 out of 7 - Most of the meat was tender, unfortunately some were a little chewy and some of the meat was a little dry in the middle. There were some parts of the pastry which seemed a bit too thick.
Content - 5.5 out of 7 - The meat tasted great and the ale provided a nice sour-ness. It was good that you could taste the ale.
Consistency - 5.0 out of 7 - Overall this pie worked well as a product, despite some flaws. It would have been better had it not been soaked in gravy so the pastry was left with a bit of crunch.

Another well deserved 'Pierate Recommended' pie award for Tom's pies!

Steak & Ale (Tom's Pies at Avon Gorge Hotel)
Score: 5.24/7

SJL

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3 comments:

  1. Attended a wedding at the Avon Gorge Hotel a couple of years ago. The main course was Tom's Pies with mashed potato and mushy peas. The only part of the meal that was enjoyable was the peas. The pastry on the pie was as hard as rock, although filling quite nice. "Mashed" potato tasted like Smash and was cold. Everyone said the same thing. If we had been paying customers we would have complained.

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    Replies
    1. Also, what a fantastic choice of wedding meal! (If it is done right!)

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  2. Sorry to hear this, perhaps they weren't set up for doing so many pies as we have always had fairly decent pies from Tom's Pies. A great setting though!

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