Dubs Pie Review - Steak and Ale in Brooklyn, New York

Pierateer Rob in the Dubs Pies shop in Brooklyn

For a city that never sleeps, there is one main draw back to life in the Big Apple. Sure, they have plenty of fruit pies on the market, but where are the meat pies??? As a Briton looking for an ex-pie-rience in what American pie can offer, I took a subway into Brooklyn to try out the pie shop at Windsor Terrace, next to Prospect Park, called Dub Pies.

You may well have a vague memory of the name Dub Pies if you read our live blog of the British Pie Awards 2018, as we actually met the owner Gareth at the Awards! He had come over to the UK and timed his trip to include a visit to the awards and to sample some pies. His background is the meat pies of New Zealand, but you can never sample too many pies now, can you!!

Dubs Pies Shop in Brooklyn, New York

The store itself is a bit out of Downtown Brooklyn but still very accessible, just a minutes walk from the subway line on the west side of Prospect Park. While it was a shame they didn't do sides to go with the pie in store, I was there for the pie and this allowed me to focus on it! (To note: They do sometimes do sides when selling from their pie truck or at catered events, just no longer in the shop.)

You could choose to have your pie hot or take it away cold, but I was in the market for a hot pie for lunch! As you can see from the menu board in the photo they have quite an extensive range of pies, from the traditional beef mince and cheese pies common in New Zealand and Australia, to Chicken and Veggie options.

Dubs Pies - Steak and Ale Pie

However my eyes were set when I saw they had a steak and ale pie on the menu, which I felt would be a good benchmark to compare to the regular UK pies I regularly have. The content was pieces of steak in Fifth Hammer/Rockaways Blockaway Barleywine. At $6 this seemed very reasonable for a hot pie in such a location as central New York. The pie was reasonably flat, reminding me a bit of the Piebury Corner pies that aren't the deepest but are full to the brim of filling. These were the same.

The pie wasn't the most golden I have ever seen, but the colour and condition was pretty good. The lid of the pie undulated slightly, teasing the large chunks of steak below. However when bitten into it held together very well. As you can see from the cross-section you could hold the half-eaten pie without it crumbling everywhere. It seems it would be the ideal pie for a sports event!

Dubs Pies - Steak and Ale Pie

The capacity was very strong, filled to the brim with meaty chunks. The meat itself was nicely cooked and tender, with the main criticism of this pie being that it was rather dry inside. I do come from a land of gravy filled pies - legend has it I would bleed gravy, not blood - but even so, the dry pastry and dry filling did take the edge off this pie.

However the filling was very nice and I would certainly suggest that with a little more moisture inside this would really be challenging for a top pie rating! All in all I would certainly recommend giving Dub pies a look in and trying their traditional flavours - the Steak Mince and Cheese pie and the Thai Chicken Curry pie.

Score: 5.57/7
[Colour 5.5, Capacity 6.5, Consistency 5, Condition 6, Chewiness 6, Cheapness 4.5, Content 5.5]
RAS

---

It's as if they could read my thoughts or something! Just days after I had visited their Brooklyn shop, the owner Gareth messaged me on twitter to say that the low gravy content in their steak and ale pie had been noted before, and that they had now in fact created a new version which addressed the lack of moisture! You can check out the photo of their new steak and ale pie below and I for one would love to give this new version a pie rating! I wouldn't be surprised if it got Pierate Highly Recommended! Next time!!!

The new Dubs Pies Steak and Ale Pie! Photo provided by Dubs Pies

Add Your Opinion 0 Opinions

Brockleby’s Wild Deer and Longhorn Steak with Stilton and Ale Pie Reviews

Brockleby's Pie Reviews

Three years is a long time in politics – and is equally a long time in pie reviewing! The range of pies sold can vary hugely in that time and some pie businesses even come and go in that time frame. But when a pie company you have tried and rated highly turn up selling their pies pretty much in your back yard - at your local community festival - it’s a bit of a no-brainer to give some more of their pies a go (as well as enjoy an old favourite!)

So with a large Wild Beaver pie already in the bag to share with friends – and before I go any further, no beavers were harmed in the making of that pie! See our previous review for why it gets its provocative title! – it seemed foolish to pass up the op-pie-tunity to rate a few more of their pies. At £4.50 each or 3 for £12, I was sold! The two pies I’m therefore reviewing today are the Wild Deer and Longhorn Steak with Stilton and Ale pies in their decent repertoire.

Graham on the Brockleby's Pie Stall at the Selly Oak Festival

Brockleby's Wild Deer Pie

Of note for both pies were that the pastry was a very nice consistency, particularly the lids of both pies – firm enough to hold in the content but not too thick to detract from the taste. They were also both packed to capacity with large meaty chunks and had a decent amount of gravy without it flowing out all over the place! I’d personally suggest slightly smaller chunks of meat which can be more covered in gravy and be a little tenderer in places, as there were a few large chewier pieces of meat that weren’t quite as succulent. However in all the meat was very nice and well filled, so I couldn’t find much to fault them.

In regards to the wild deer pie, it was certainly my preference out of the two. The meat on the whole was very nice, the gravy very rich and flavoursome and it really complimented the shortcrust pastry. It was therefore a deer pie very well done, and at £4.50 the price wasn’t too dear either! (Even better at £4 when buying 3 pies for £12!)

The steak, stilton and ale was a little more disappointing, simply due to the lack of a significant stilton flavour to the pie. I and a few friends who tried a mouthful too did not sense much of a stilton hit at all, so while by all means the steak was quite nice, as a steak and stilton pie it didn’t reach the same high levels as the wild deer pie and steak and beaver ale pie I’d had before. The steak was however nice in the main and the gravy was nice despite the lack of cheese.

Brockleby's Steak with Stilton and Ale Pie

With strong recommendations towards their Salmon pie and Moroccan Lamb pies, we’ve certainly got other chances to rate a few more of their pies – and hopefully I might pick up a sample or two at UK Piefest at the end of July! I’d certainly recommend you check out their stall if you go, as these pies are Pierate Recommended!

Brockleby’s Wild Deer Pie
Score: 5.86/7
[Colour 5.75, Capacity 6.25, Consistency 6, Condition 5.5, Chewiness 5.5, Cheapness 5.5, Content 6.5]

Brockleby’s Longhorn Steak with Stilton and Ale Pie
Score: 5.32/7
[Colour 5.75, Capacity 6, Consistency 5, Condition 5.5, Chewiness 5.5, Cheapness 5, Content 4.5]

RAS

Add Your Opinion 0 Opinions

This year, as part of our Pie Pledges for British Pie Week, we decided to head up to Leeds Leeds Leeds to do a #LeedsPieTour!



As part of the Leeds Pie Tour we went to a pub in the rejuvenated Granary Wharf in the centre of Leeds. The Hop is one of those trendy types of places built into the archway of the old railway. When doing our research into Leeds pies we were fairly staggered by what we read. Apparently they offered a Pie, Mash, Peas/Beans, Gravy AND a Pint for ONLY A FIVER! Yes, things are cheaper than we are used to down South but surely this kind of offer was impossible. We went in, expecting some kind of catch, we even had to clarify with the guy on the bar, but yes, it was true. He claimed they could offer it cheaper because it is their house beer. But still, surely the pies must be ASDA Smart Price in order for them to make any money at all? We started to understand the business model once we had placed our orders. The pies are already cooked and they operate more of a take-away type of systems. There is a hatch (the eponymous Pi Hole) where you pick up your order once it is ready. The meal comes in a biodegradable box with wooden cutlery. It is a bit of an odd situation to then eat your take away pie in the pub but it seemed to work. The pub primarily focuses on providing real ale, with the food more of a convenient accompaniment rather than their primary focus.

We learnt that the pies are supplied by Andrew Jones Pies of Huddersfield, a company we had not come across before. There were a wealth of options,  we tried to trick Pierateer RAS into getting a Lamb pasty but sadly he decided he wasn't hungry after what had already been a pie filled weekend. Pierateer SJL opted for the Chicken Balti while Pierateer TJP went for the classic Steak & Ale.

At first glance they did actually look pretty appealing. Stout and solid shortcrust pastry had been used. The glaze was something I could have gazed at for days. It was brown and lustrous, indicating tasty pastry. Surely these would be empty promises as I expected this to be a typical half filled mass produced pies? But no, yet, again, these pies surprised us because they were well filled. The Chicken Balti in particular had been packed with meat rather than sauce or air. The Steak & Ale was a bit more heavy on the meat flavoured sauce but still found space for a satisfying amount of meat. My pie meal for a fiver kept me satisfied all the way back to Gloucester.

For both pies, the shortcrust pastry was tasty and crunchy on top although some parts on the bottom were slightly soggy. The meat chunks in the Chicken Balti were quite big and satisfying, they didn't have the watery texture that some mass produced chicken chunks have but yet they avoided being dry. The texture of the steak was tender, perhaps a bit too soft if anything, a bit like steak from a tin.

Onto the flavour and whilst we kept looking for ways in which these pies were going to let us down, yet again they surprised us being enjoyable and full of flavour. The Chicken Balti was quite spicy, perhaps a bit too hot for some but was anything but bland. The spicy marinade was not quite like any other Balti I pie I had tried before. I really enjoyed the flavour, so much so that I bought another to take home. The Steak & Ale was a bit more traditional, it captured the classic Steak & Ale pie flavour well although didn't do anything spectacular. The main downside was that the flavour was dominated by salt a bit too much. Whilst Pierateer TJP tried this pie in the restaurant, I also purchased one to take away so I could verify it was a very good pie. However, in this case, it was the Chicken Balti that really stood out.

Chicken Balti (The Hop/A Jones Pies [Leeds])
Score: 6.25/7


SJL

Steak & Ale (The Hop/A Jones Pies [Leeds])
Score: 6.05/7


SJL & TJP

Add Your Opinion 0 Opinions

Piglets Pantry Steak, Chicken and Vegetarian Pie Reviews



Piglets Pantry Football Pie Reviews

We were delighted to be offered the chance by Stephen Miller (Food and Beverage Operations Manager) to head to Stadium mk to sample some of their pies, which included the Steak and Concrete Cow Ale pie which has been exclusively produced for MK Dons. This – as I found out talking to Jo Hunter from Piglets Pantry, who kindly came up from the south coast to meet us and talk us through the pies – was one of many things that help Piglets Pantry stand out from the crowd. They regularly talk to the clubs/businesses they supply and the supporters who are buying the pies to get their feedback and aid them in developing new products.

For me, this is one of the distinct advantages of having a small, personable pie business supplying the pies in a football ground, as opposed to the more homogenised mass producers sold within many UK stadiums. You get pies that the local fan base can connect with, support and recommend. Indeed, the Steak and Concrete Cow Ale Pie had been developed with a group of MK Dons supporters and using a local ale, a personal touch that seemed to be going down well with the fans there!

Sales of Piglets Pantry pies at their local football club, Brighton and Hove Albion, seem to back this up. Since taking over the pie supplying their ground sales have rocketed from 1,500 to 10,000 pies a match, which is quite phenomenal! It certainly shows that if the quality pies are there, people will pay a bit more for a premium product. It’s therefore no surprise to see the pies being sold in more grounds, including hospitality at Chelsea and West Brom, plus recently in Twickenham and the Millennium Stadium for their Rugby World Cup fixtures.

Back to MK Dons and the pies to rate were the Steak and Concrete Cow Ale Pie, the Chicken, Gammon and Leek Pie and the Spinach, Mushroom and Ricotta Pie. They also had a special on that game – the Chicken Balti Pie – which Pierateer Sam has his eye on when he visits, as our resident Chicken Balti football pie expert! I was impressed with this range of pies available to home and away fans, with MK Dons putting on a special pie for away fans dependant on where they were from. It’s one of the few clubs I’ve found where they are actively looking out for the needs of their fans, rather than just giving a very generic catering experience to all.

Onto the pies and my overall thoughts are that these are premium pies being sold at a very reasonable price, especially for a football ground, at just £3.50. The pastry is shortcrust around the sides and base, with a puff pastry lid. It is noted that these pies do not contain lard or suet, giving them a paler colour but also a lighter, crisper pastry. This means the pastry is less moist and can hold the filling in thinner, crisper pastry. While this different pastry did take a little getting used to, having primarily eaten and enjoyed butter-rich pastry which is more golden and softer, I enjoyed the firmer crunch this pastry had and it did feel a lot lighter and less stodgy as a result. The main downside was the outer rim of overhang pastry which was a bit too dry, but the rest of the pastry when eaten with the filling was well balanced.

All the pies held together brilliantly when eaten by hand, with generally a great consistency to the fillings, which is ideal for a football pie. The capacity was very strong in all of them, with the meat pies particularly standing out against most other football pies in terms of the strong meaty content and packed filling.



Piglets Pantry Chicken, Gammon and Leak Pie Review

Chicken, Gammon and Leak
First up to rate was the Chicken, Gammon and Leak which is a regular on the menu at MK Dons. The pie was packed with a nice blend of chicken and gammon in a light béchamel sauce, spread well throughout the pie filling. The chicken was lovely and tender, the gammon not too chewy and the leak complemented the flavour well with the white sauce. The consistency of the filling was good for a hand held pie and balanced the crisp pastry well. Overall a top quality filling and while the rim, side and base pastry was a little too dry and crisp for my liking, I’m sure many would love this pastry and it well deserving of Pierate Highly Recommended status.

Piglets Pantry Chicken, Gammon and Leek Pie
Score: 6.11/7
[Colour 5.75, Capacity 6.25, Consistency 6, Condition 6.5, Chewiness 6, Cheapness 5.75, Content 6.5]


Steak and Concrete Cow Ale
There’s no denying we love a good steak pie on the Pierate Ship, so it has to be a top, top flavour to challenge for the top spots in our pie rankings. We very much appreciated the lengths Piglets Pantry had gone to in order to create this pie with a local ale to the MK Dons, creating this pie exclusively for the team after meeting with local fans on a taster day. The meat was good quality and the gravy had a good viscosity to it for a football pie. Another good pie but we felt it didn’t quite match the Chicken pie in terms of the mix of flavours. No doubt it would however still be very popular amongst the steak pie fans at the game!

Piglets Pantry Steak and Concrete Cow Ale Pie
Score: 5.96/7
[Colour 5.75, Capacity 6, Consistency 6, Condition 6.5, Chewiness 5.75, Cheapness 5.75, Content 6]


Spinach, Mushroom and Ricotta Pie
It’s worth saying from the start that this was one of the best vegetarian pies I’ve had! I’m never normally one to go for the vegetarian option if there is a meat alternative (especially if they are sold at the same price), but this Spinach, Mushroom and Ricotta pie had such a rich flavour, with a delicious light runny cheese sauce and complementary spinach and mushroom content that I didn’t really miss the meat! In fact my friend Martyn was tempted to convert to veggie pies after eating this one! The filling was nicely balanced and while the consistency of the sauce was a little too runny to easily eat with your hands, it complemented the pastry well. This pie was second in the Vegetarian pie category of the British Pie Awards 2015 and you could easily see why!

Piglets Pantry Spinach, Mushroom and Ricotta Pie
Score: 6.04/7
[Colour 5.75, Capacity 6.25, Consistency 5.75, Condition 6.5, Chewiness 6.25, Cheapness 5.5, Content 6.25]


Overall then a great selection of football pies at MK Dons, with one of the best vegetarian pies we’ve rated to boot! It means Piglets Pantry have achieved what only two other clubs have – a Pierate Highly Recommended football pie – and puts them comfortably into third place in the PIEremiership. My thanks once again to Stephen and Jo for their hos-pie-tality at the game and, of course, the very good pies. We look forward to trying some more of the Piglets Pantry range soon!

RAS

Add Your Opinion 1 Opinion

Square Pie's Rugby Pie World Cup in Grand Central Shopping Centre, Birmingham

Square Pie Rugby Pie World Cup Review



Here at Pierate HQ we’re always big fans of a pie-motion, like the tie in of the Rugby World Cup happening in England with the “Rugby Pie World Cup” happening down at Square Pie right now!

The idea is pretty simple – there’s a new pie to represent each of the 20 competing nations in the Rugby World Cup 2015, which are trying to be crowned the Pie World Cup Champion! Just like the competing rugby nations, the pies are being put through their paces and pitted against each other in a group phase and eventual knock out com-pie-tition, based on pie sales. Intriguing flavours include Chicken Teriyaki for Japan, Springbok Sausage for South Africa and Moose for Canada! It’s also great to see money being raised for the Dallaglio Foundation as part of the contest. More info can be found on the Square Pie website.



Eyes on the pies!

As you may have read from my live blogging recently, a new Square Pie outlet has opened up in Birmingham’s newest shopping centre – Grand Central. Based above the main New Street train station in the heart of Birmingham, it’s great to have an established and Pierate Recommended pie brand such as Square Pie in the centre of the city. I got invited along to try three of the Pie World Cup hopefuls recently to see how they pie rated and these are my thoughts:

Overall – The pastry on all three of these pies held together well, all passing the hand-held test (even if the Steak and Ale was a bit less firm than the others due to the more liquid filling making the base pastry a bit softer). I was impressed that none of these had soggy bottoms though, particularly with the gravy in the steak and ale. The pastry lid was particularly flaky and crisp on all three. There was a bit of a pastry overhang on the lids of these pies and by the time you got to the corners of the pies there was a bit too much pastry to filling – but there’s not really a way of avoiding this in a square product and this doesn’t detract much from the overall enjoyment.

All these special Rugby World Cup pies are the same price as their standard pie range, which I think is quite commendable seeing as, being quite unique flavours, they would be made in smaller, less frequent batches. However at £4.50 for just a pie or £6.50 for a classic meal (pie and 2 regular sides or pie and one large side) prices them as a bit expensive for just a hot pie or meal takeaway, but a reasonably priced option for a restaurant pie. It has to also be remembered that you are in the heart of Birmingham, minutes away from the central train station. There is very much a takeaway vibe to the Grand Central Square Pie shop, with food served in a box to go or eat in their array of seating – both useful options for those using the pie shop to ‘grab and go’ before getting a train. I know I will be!

Wales - Rugby Pie World Cup Review

Wales: Cheese, Leek and Potato (Vegetarian)

There were big potato chunks in the pie, which were quite well cooked, soft and tasty without being mushy. The cheese was noticeable and added flavour alongside the leek, but could have been a bit stronger. There wasn’t really anything to get your teeth into with this pie though, as a result of the potato being quite soft alongside the cheese and leek. This and the runny sauce contrasted quite strongly with the crisp pastry. Slightly smaller chunks of potato and a bit more cheese would have improved this pie a bit. A decent vegetarian pie but quite a standard flavour.

Square Pie Cheese, Leek and Potato Pie
Score: 4.68/7
[Colour 5.5, Capacity 5, Consistency 4.5, Condition 5, Chewiness 4.25, Cheapness 4, Content 4.5, Total: 4.68/7]

Square Pie Fiji Goat Curry Rugby Pie Review

Fiji: Fijian Goat Curry

One of the more unique flavours in the Rugby Pie World Cup, the Goat Curry pie was an interesting one to get my hands on! I’d only had a goat pie once before but that was in a gravy based pie, so the goat curry pie was a lot more dry in comparison to that. The ingredients in the pie apart from the meat were quite moist but there was no real sauce, which meant that the dryness of the meat was quite evident. This isn’t that surprising given my prior experience with goat, which is quite fatty but chewy and quite a dry meat, but this perhaps could have been factored into the pie filling. The meat was also in quite large chunks, which would have been better served spread out in more, smaller chunks in my opinion.

The curry flavour was quite mild but added some flavour. I recognise goat is not the easiest meat to prepare well and overall didn’t mind this pie flavour, but a bit more flavour and leaner, tender meat would improve the pie rating.

Square Pie Fijian Goat Curry Pie
Score: 4.29/7
[Colour 5.5, Capacity 4.5, Consistency 3.5, Condition 5, Chewiness 3.5, Cheapness 4, Content 4, Total: 4.29/7]

Square Pie England Steak and Ale Rugby Pie Review

England: Dallaglio Foundation Steak and Ale

The steak and ale pie is a classic English flavour, so it’s no sur-pies to see the English pie filled with it. There’s no denying it is a flavour we love here on the Pierate Ship, but that does mean with so many good steak pies eaten the bar is very high. However it was a good hearty effort, with a significant ale flavoured gravy. The gravy was very runny though, which did seem to make the pastry less crisp and sag slightly under the moisture. It was still able to be picked up by hand though, with a fair bit of steak and other filler such as onion to bulk it out. A bit more steak, which was slightly less chewy, and a lower viscosity gravy would raise this even higher up the rankings but still Pierate Recommended.

Square Pie Steak and Ale Pie
Score: 5.07/7
[Colour 5.25, Capacity 5.5, Consistency 5.25, Condition 5, Chewiness 5, Cheapness 4, Content 5.5, Total: 5.07/7]


Overall, we’re delighted there is a great new pie shop in the centre of Birmingham and the Rugby Pie World Cup is an ingenious idea to boost the range of pies on sale at Square Pie. With the board on the wall in the Birmingham shop celebrating the 127 flavours of pies made since 2001 – though now needing a massive overhaul following the 20 new types of pie during this Rugby Pie World Cup alone! – it seems clear pies are in good hands at Square Pie!

Grand Central in Birmingham City Centre, home to Square Pie shop

Thank you to Square Pie for hosting us for this Rugby World Cup Pie-Off in Birmingham. We'd already bought and rated Square Pie as Pierate Recommended as we celebrated eating our 100th rated pie there down in London back in 2012, and in 2013 we rated their Chicken, Leak and Wiltshire Ham pie at 5.58/7, which was another Pierate Recommended effort.

RAS

Add Your Opinion 0 Opinions

MyPie London Steak and Ale Pie Review

Street Food Markets are a great place to sample the delights of the local food scene and of course London has more than its fair share of food providers! So this weekend, basking in the sunshine of a late September heat wave, two Pierateers headed down to London’s South Bank Street Food Market, at the back of the South Bank Centre, for another taste of MyPie.

You may have heard of the name. After all, MyPie have already had their Chicken pie rated as the highest ranking Chicken pie in London at 6.39/7. And we just recently announced that Chris’ pies will be headlining our 6th Birthday Pie-rty on 14th November, which we’re really looking forward to!

So what pie were we rating this time?

MyPie London Steak and ale pie review

Well, it’s no secret from a quick glance at our 500+ pie rankings that we’re rather a fan of steak and ale pies, so knowing that Chris had this flavour in his repertoire, we knew we needed to get our hands on this pie! However it became clear after Pierateer Rob first sampled these pies that there was something particularly special about them, which was why Pierateer Sam (on Saturday) and Pierateer Rob (on Sunday) popped down to London to officially pie rate these steak and ale beauties!

MyPie London Pie Truck

With such a large number of food suppliers at the South Bank Street Food Market, you had to infiltrate the hustle and bustle of the market to get across to the MyPie truck, hidden away slightly at the back of the market. However with its distinctive red and white décor and the word “pie” on it numerous times, it wasn’t hard to know we were in the right place! This was our first experience of being served from the converted ice cream van’s hatch, as Pierateer Rob had previously met Chris in Wimbledon to get his hands on the chicken and steak pies.

Service was quick and easy, with the main dilemma being “mash or mustard mash” and how much gravy to have with the pie and mash. Of course being a piefessional, Pierateer Rob opted to have the pie in one tray and the mash doused in gravy in the other. When you’re rating a pie, you want to just rate the pie. No excuses for additional mash/gravy influencing the rating where at all possible!

So how was the steak and ale pie? Well… “wow!” Does that help? Perhaps “one of the best pies I’ve ever eaten” is a bit more descriptive? After over 500 pies being rated on the web’s leading pie review blog it can be hard to get amazed at filling fully encased in pastry anymore. But there you would be wrong!

MyPie London Steak and ale pie review

The pastry on the MyPie steak and ale pie is near spot on. It’s crisp on the outside and a bit softer and gooey in the middle, not too thick but with great structural integrity. You can pick it up with your hand. You can cut easily through it with cutlery (even plastic cutlery!) and most importantly it just tastes delicious. End of! A key indicator we look at with pastry is “would I eat this pastry on its own, without filling?” – and the answer with MyPie pastry is a definite “of course I would!!!” While you could perhaps give it a slight critique that the design is quite simple, it stands tall and proud, just like the ultimate pie should!

But a pie is not pastry alone – as we recently pointed out when being interviewed for a national newspaper. It is the balance between filling and pastry, which we refer to as the filling:pastry ratio, that really makes or breaks a pie. And this pie’s ratio is near piefection. Never was I thinking there’s too much filling or (as is more common on lower quality pies) there’s too much pastry. The ratio was spot on, with a near full capacity of filling in the pie.

The flavour of the filling was so nice and meaty and the steak so tender. It had a small amount of veg, a nice taste of herbs and a flavoursome aley gravy, which gave it a slightly fruity feel. Fantastic – a bit like a casserole that my grannie would have made (except much nicer). The gravy was just the right thickness to be moist but not leak all over you.

The pie had been slightly stronger seasoned in the first pies that we both tried than in the second samples, with the stronger seasoned pie (rosemary and pepper) more to Sam’s taste and the slightly less seasoned one more to Rob’s. We put this slight variation down to these pies being handmade in small batches, with a bit of season variation such as the rosemary available in Chris’ garden when we tried the first pies, which was less apparent in the second pies. But the bottom line is that we both thought these were all some of the best pies we’d ever had, and the best we’d had this year.

Chris has done a fabulous job with these pies and we wish him and his MyPie em-pie-re all the best for his exciting future expansion plans! With pies like these, he is definitely onto a winner! They are once again Pierate Highly Recommended and at the time of reviewing are the new top pie in London!

MyPie Steak and Ale Pie
Score: 6.61/7
[Colour 6.75, Capacity 6.75, Consistency 6.5, Condition 6.5, Chewiness 6.75, Cheapness 6.5, Content 6.5, Total: 6.61/7]
RAS and SJL

Add Your Opinion 2 Opinions

Tesco Slow Cooked Steak and Ale Puff Pastry (with Proper Job ale) Pie Review

Tesco Steak and Proper Job Ale Pie Review

It has to be said that supermarket pies rarely trouble the upper echelons of the Pierate Pie Rankings and there’s a few reasons for that. Firstly, they are mass produced, which often loses the pie marks for care and passion put into making them. They also often contain 20% meat or less, meaning their content and capacity scores take a right nosedive. Added to that is the generic, mass appeal flavours they tend to focus on to keep costs down.

Which is why I’m delighted to have found a pie in Tesco that is both affordable, meaty and rates well on the 7 Cs of pie rating. Well done Tesco! You’ve done a proper job of your Slow Cooked Steak and Ale pie, featuring Proper Job ale. And at just £1.73 this is pretty much a steal!

The flaky puff pastry was pretty much spot on, being a little pale on the sides but tasting very nice indeed. It easily passed the hand held test and didn’t crumble on eating. The slow cooked chunks of British steak were not at all fatty, instead tender and filling. The beef was a whopping 37%, which is almost as high as some of the artisan pies we’ve rated highly, and far higher than the typical 20% meat you find in a lot of supermarket pies. There was still a bit of an air gap, so capacity wasn’t perfect, but it left me nicely filled in a way a lot of supermarket pies don’t. The filling to pastry ratio was again pretty much spot on.

Tesco Steak and Proper Job Ale Pie Review

Of course there will be some out there who say a steak and ale pie isn’t exactly an exciting filling option, but in my eyes this pie isn’t trying to be exuberant and doesn’t need to be. It’s a delicious classic pie flavour, with a great balance between the Proper Job ale and the rich gravy and the meaty filling. One I would certainly highly recommend at a fabulous £1.73 (or if you’re fortunate, just £2.50 for 2 when on special offer!)

Tesco Slow Cooked Steak and Ale Puff Pastry Pie (with Proper Job ale)
Score: 6.14/7
[Colour 5.5, Capacity 6, Consistency 6.25, Condition 6, Chewiness 6.5, Cheapness 6.75, Content 6, Total: 6.14/7]
RAS

Add Your Opinion 0 Opinions

Nicholson’s Pub Signature Steak and Nicholson’s Pale Ale Pie Review

Nicholson's Steak and Ale Pie Review

With the grand occasion of James’ birthday to celebrate at The Old Contemptibles in central Birmingham, part of the Nicholson’s Pub range, it was a pie-leasure to see a hearty pie selection to choose from at the pub.

The pie, sold as steak and ale in a shortcrust pastry case with creamy mashed potato and sautéed greens for £10.95, was slightly more expensive than the other pies on the menu, but it made sense with it being a steak pie in comparison to chicken and a vegetarian pie offering. What caught my eye – and no doubt would catch some of yours – is that it was listed under the banner of “perfect pies”. Now, you know us. We’ve rated over 500 pies now on the Pierate Ship and so for anyone to call their pies perfect is a big boast which we were certainly wanting to test.


So how did the Nicholson’s pie rate? Could it be our first 7/7 pie? And what difference would the Nicholson’s Pale Ale make?

Nicholson's Steak and Ale Pie Review

Well the first encouragement was that it was a nice, big fully encased pie being presented to me. The gravy was in its own gravy boat – thus ensuring that the gravy didn’t make the pie have a soggy bottom – and the pie looked nice and golden. Sure, it could have had a bit more of an even glaze (and for piefection I would expect this) but condition and colour would score well.

The pie held together well when cutting and revealed a solid, if not spectacular, capacity of filling. There was a decent amount of steak and the gravy was very flavoursome and added to the appeal of the pie, however there was a fair bit of filler too in the nice ale gravy. All in all the pie tasted good and was enjoyed, but the pastry:filling ratio certainly wasn’t perfect. Reflecting on this I think it is due to the square shape, which looked aesthetically pleasing but does give a lot of pastry and more than a similar sized circular pie (even if the square pie in theory could hold a little more filling too).

At £10.95 for the pie meal it was a fair few pounds more expensive than some other pubs in Birmingham that offer similar – if not slightly better – pies, so it doesn’t score so strongly on cheapness. But it was a decent pie still and I would eat it again, especially in such great company with James, George, David and Poonam. I just wouldn’t call it perfect…

Nicholson’s Pub Signature Steak and Nicholson’s Pale Ale Pie
Score: 4.89/7
[Colour 5.75, Capacity 4.5, Consistency 4.5, Condition 5.5, Chewiness 5, Cheapness 4.5, Content 4.5, Total: 4.89/7]
RAS

Add Your Opinion 0 Opinions

The Brampton Pie Company - Steak, Chicken and Apple and Raspberry Pie Reviews

Having been given a recommendation to try The Brampton Pie Company in Huntingdon, a trip to see the football and review the pies at Cambridge United proved too good an opportunity to miss for Pierateers RAS and SJL. They would be driving right past Huntingdon on the way from Birmingham. It took us a little while longer to find the shop than we expected but when we did it was worth it. Brampton Pie Company was a fairly unique place. There was no fancy branding or cool interior like many modern speciality pie shops (Piebury Corner, Urban Pie or Square Pie spring to mind). Brampton Pie Company was much more simple - clearly investing their money not in the fancy interior but what really matters: the pies! It reminded us of a butchers shop. In fact they do also sell meat and other other savouries in addition to the pies. What we loved about The Brampton Pie Company was that you could see the pies being made before your very eyes. They had a number of staff on the other side of the counter preparing the pies and making the magic happen while we ordered!


The counter had a wonderfully large display of pies. Whilst a range of flavours were present but they were all pretty traditional flavours. They were not trying to reinvent the wheel in this shop, but if it isn't broke, why fix it? The top of our pie rankings are filled with traditional flavours. Unique flavours might capture our attention for a while, the classic flavours like steak and ale are the ones we buy regularly.

We got up close to a pie being created.

This is where the magic happens!

We must warn you though, despite being a great place to visit, there is one thing about The Brampton Pie Company that we found really strange. They will sell you a hot pasty or bacon sarnie, but THEY DO NOT SELL HOT PIES! By this we mean they are not ready to eat there and then - you have to take them home to cook them! This is a very important point, especially if it is lunch time, you have travelled all the way from Gloucester/Birmingham and you have been anticipating a delicious hot pie. We were unable to pin down why this was the case and can only assume it is to do with having to pay VAT on hot food, but at that moment we would both have certainly paid extra to have our pie hot!

SJL picked up the Pierate favourite flavour of Steak and Ale with an Apple and Raspberry for dessert. RAS went for the Chicken, Ham and Leek. Let's see how they rated:


Brampton Pie Company Steak and Ale
6.43/7 (Pierate Highly Recommended)
SJL

This was an excellent pie, one of the best value pies I have eaten in a long time. Brampton Pie Company's slogan is 'top quality traditional food at fair prices' and I think this pie exemplified the slogan.

Condition – 5.60 out of 7 - The pie arrived in good condition. It was fairly simple to look at but I still thought that it looked really tasty even before I delved in. It has the slightly uneven appearance of a handmade pie.
Colour – 6.60 out of 7 – For me, the mottled glossy golden brown on top of this pie is just what I look for in a good pie. The sides had also browned up a bit.
Cheapness – 6.80 out of 7 – This pie was much larger than most individual pies. At £2.25 it was great value. Top quality steak & ale pies normally retail around £3-£4 and are rarely this big. It was also well filled with steak chunks which is rare at this price. I think I may move to Huntingdon to save money on my pie consumption.
Capacity – 6.50 out of 7 – As I said, this was a large pie for one person to eat. It was fairly tall so it had a good amount of space for filling. It only had a small air gap.
Chewiness – 5.90 out of 7 – The texture of the pastry was perfect, it was crunchy on the outside and soft and gooey in the middle. There were plenty of meaty chunks to get your teeth into. For the most part the filling was tender, it only lost some score as I did find a couple of pieces more chewy than I would have liked, but not significantly so.
Content – 6.80 out of 7 – Wow, a really rich meaty sauce filled with meaty chunks. There was also mushroom in the pie which I am not always a fan of but here it worked well and added a bit of variety to the filling. There was a nice flavour to the thick sauce and I was pleased that it wasn't overly salty. I hasn't got a perfect score because whilst it was tasty, it didn't do anything really special in the flavour department, it almost had a slightly 'generic' steak & ale flavour, a flavour similar to so many pies I have eaten before but never normally done this well.
Consistency – 6.80 out of 7 – Filling and pastry came together in beautiful harmony to make this a Pierate Highly Recommended pie. It had many qualities that I would look for in the Ultimate Pie but at a price cheaper than many other pies with similar scores.



Brampton Pie Company Apple and Raspberry
5.39/7 (Pierate Recommended)
SJL

Condition – 5.60 out of 7 - Again, a good but simple appearance.
Colour – 4.80 out of 7 – Glossy, melted sugar at the edge but the middle was a little pale for some reason.
Cheapness – 4.90 out of 7 – This pie cost a bit more at £3.50. I ate it all myself but I am guessing it was meant for sharing. It was a bit smaller than your average supermarket family size fruit pie. However, it had a larger capacity than most so was not bad value.
Capacity – 4.80 out of 7 – This pie was tall and had a good amount of filling but the air gap was not insignificant.
Chewiness – 6.00 out of 7 – There were satisfyingly large chunks of apple to get your teeth into, pretty good texture for a fruit pie.
Content – 6.10 out of 7 – A bit on the sour side but it was just the way I like my fruit pies. There weren't a lot of visible bits of raspberry but there was plenty of raspberry taste in the fruity sauce.
Consistency – 5.50 out of 7 - Overall, this pie was quite delicious, the sweet pastry was complemented by the thick fruit sauce. It worked both hot and cold.




Brampton Pie Company Chicken, Ham and Leek
6.07/7 (Pierate Highly Recommended)
RAS

What can I say?! It's very hard to fault such good, affordable pies! Another top quality meat pie from the Brampton Pie Company that once again proves that a quality pie at affordable prices is not just a pie-pe dream but is being delivered! I too couldn't really believe that these pies were just £2.25 for an individual pie when they are packed with up to an incredible 80% meat (40% of the pie's total ingredient). That's right - not the 15-20% meat like many supermarket pies we've had in the past! The Brampton Pie Company clearly put the customer above profits and make a meat pie filled with... well, meat!

Pies being made in the background of the shop

The pastry was very good, even if the colour of the pie was slightly patchy in places (see photos) and the condition of the pie suffered slightly due to the collapsing of the pastry partly under the weight of all the meat inside! (It should be noted that this pie - because it had to be bought cold, rather than hot, did have to travel to Cambridge and then back to Birmingham before being cooked and eaten, thus the condition bears in mind the slight wear and tear of car travel. I expect the condition would have scored higher had it been provided to me hot in the shop for immediate consumption.) The ham and leek added a bit of a mix to the flavour and the chicken was not chewy.

One slight comment to make is that the chicken meat is chicken thigh meat, rather than the chicken breast that most pie companies would use in their pies. While I don't think this actually had any particular negative to the pie flavour - in some cases thigh meat can be more distinct and flavoursome than breast meat anyway! - this would have to be taken into account when understanding the probable impact it would have on lowering price or allowing a higher meat content. Perhaps, however, more companies should follow this lead and use the thigh meat if it brings down the unit price of a chicken pie?!



The pastry to filling ratio on these sized pies is quoted as being exactly 50-50 (see the white label in the photo) and to be honest this was absolutely fine and in balance. I wouldn't say the filling was the most exciting chicken filling I have ever eaten (it was a simple chicken, ham and leek pie) but let's face it - you can add all the razzmatazz of freshly picked herbs, spices and fresh vegetables flown in from the other side of the world you want, but what I want is a quality pie at an affordable price, and this pie does just that! Great work!

Score: 6.07/7
[Colour 5.5/7; Consistency 6.25/7; Cheapness 6.25/7; Chewiness 6.25/7; Condition 5.75/7; Content 6/7; Capacity 6.5/7; Total: 6.07/7]


Overall you can see these are fabulous pies at very affordable prices, so while it may require a bit of a detour to visit The Brampton Pie Company in Huntingdon we would certainly recommend it! I just want to finish with this quote from their own website, which upon speaking to the staff on our visit clearly sums up their business and why it is so great:

Our dozens of gold awards for excellence, our champions trophies and certificates are all tucked discreetly away . Why? Because we know, and all our staff know, it matters not a jot how many awards we have: we are only as good as our last pie!

SJL and RAS

Add Your Opinion 0 Opinions