Paul's Pies Now Sold in ASDA!

You can already buy Paul's Pies in a number of shops but to date these have mainly been independent stores such as farm shops. In the latest exciting development you can now find Paul's Pies in select Asda stores, they have hit the big time! Naturally I was hugely excited by this (they have scored very well previously) and so rushed down to my local Asda in Gloucester to see if they were stocking them. I was not convinced that they would be, but to my delight, this is the sight that greeted me....

To be honest, it was slightly jarring to see Paul's beautifully boxed premium pies in such close proximety to Asda smart price minced beef pasties. We have found Asda a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to pies (including some absolute shockers) so the choice of supermarket might be a bit surprising but credit to Asda for giving shelf space to some (relatively) local products. At £3.35 the pie was slightly cheaper than the £3.50 I have paid elsewhere.

As an early indication that the pies are proving popular the Chicken & Mushroom had completely sold out! Oh well.... I guess that means I will just have to settle for the NUMBER ONE RANKED PIE ON PIERATE in the form of the legendary Steak & Guinness.

Upon getting it home my excitement started to mix with a little trepidation. What is actually happening here it that Paul must be making a lot more pies in order to supply a big supermarket chain. They must be making them in new facilities and really scaling things up. Will they be able to maintain their high standards with the product? 

After taking it out the oven you will notice that it still has the same exquistly golden brown colour but there has been a change! Instead of being marked with a pastry 'S' shape, the pie is now etched with a 'G'. I don't know why the letter has changed but I can imagine that the pastry shapes were hard to get to stay in place on the pies, so the new approach is better suited to mass production. I don't mind the change, the pie still looks good. It is perhaps now more uniform and less 'hand-made' in appearance. But the real question is, what will it be like inside?

It is great to see that the pie is still well filled, in this one there is a bit of an airgap which wasn't present when we did our first review of the Steak & Guinness, but in that case we were reviewing the large version which will of course have more filling.

I was delighted and relieved when I took a bite of this pie. They have still managed to capture the same flavours. The sauce is still rich and meaty. The pastry has a wonderful crunch and the taste of the suet crust permeates throughout each mouthful. Paul's Pies have still got it....

Lastly, have a look at this interview with Paul where he is nice enough to say that the award that means the most to him is the number one spot on Pierate!

SJL

Pierate is a pie review website charting a course to find the ultimate pie. For all the pies we have reviewed have a look at our Pie Rankings or find pies of a particular flavour under Pies: Categorised. Make sure you Follow @pierateers and let us know your thoughts!