It Burns, Burns, Burns, the Ring of Fire

Nice Pie - Ring of Fire Pie Review

Eyes watering, nose running, reaching for a drink to take the pain away. That is what I expected from a pie called ‘Ring of Fire’. I expected it to perhaps be a bit of a novelty, hot but not much flavour. What I didn’t expect was for it to be one of the most downright tasty and meatilicious pies that I have had in some time. I don’t need to wax lyrical about the high quality and often quirky offerings from Nice Pie near Melton Mowbray. My colleague RAS has reviewed a large number of nice pies. He has often written about how fabulous they are which is a view certainly supported on the Pierate Ship. I took on this particular review as a spicy pie goes down very well for me. It was quite unlike any other pie I have had before. It was not like a curry, not like a chili, just meaty chunks in a spicy sauce.

Despite the intro to this review, it wasn’t all that spicy, I would have expected a bit hotter but I think they got the balance of flavour just right. It had apparently been toned down because they know RAS isn’t such a fan of the hot stuff (which is one of the problems sometimes when people know we are reviewing their pies, we should review the retail version). There was no question in my mind that this should be a ‘Pierate Highly Recommended’ pie, top quality and one I would love to have again. See below for the score breakdown.
 

Condition – 5.8 out of 7 – A nice, solid appearance with an edge crimp.
Colour – 5.9 out of 7 – A gradated, glossy, golden glaze made it look handmade and attractive.
Cheapness – 5.5 out of 7 – At £3.50 for an individual pie this is quite standard for a ‘gourmet’ pie, but it was well filled with good quality meat so I considered it better value than most.
Capacity - 6.5 out of 7 - Top dollar, decent capacity which was absolutely jam packed.
Chewiness - 6.8 out of 7 - Soft and moist beef, the texture was super. There was a good texture to the pastry, soft and gooey in places whilst crumbly in other places.
Content - 6.3 out of 7 - The spicy tomato sauce complimented the beef very well. In general the pastry tasted nice but wasn't quite in the same league as the filling; it was a little flour-y in places (but not enough to affect the score much).
Consistency - 6.7 out of 7 - Not really much to criticise. Yet again Nice Pie have done something original and pulled it off.

Ring of Fire (Nice Pie)
6.21/7

SJL