Harrods Luxury Almond and Brandy Mince Pie Review

When it comes to the big names in shopping, few can beat Harrods. One of London’s premier stores – if not the world’s – means that any food which comes from the store’s huge food hall will get savoured across the globe and put on a pedestal of divine deliciousness. Or at least that’s the theory. And hundreds of you have read our review of the Harrods mince pies we rated last year to find out how good they were. But how would these full-sized Harrods mince pies withstand the Pierateer’s 7 Cs as I ate one on Christmas Day? Let’s find out...

The beautiful Harrods Mince Pie box

You may remember that last Christmas we rated the Harrods Luxurious Mini Mince Pie Selection, which contained nine mini pies of three different flavours and featured in the “12 Pies of Christmas” music video we made. This year we were back in Harrods and picked up their Luxury Almond and Brandy Mince Pies. These were full-sized mince pies this year – in fact, probably slightly larger than the average supermarket mince pie, but at a whopping £9.50 for a box of six – that’s 150ppp and easily the most expensive mince pie we’ve rated! – can the Harrods pie really live up to expectation?

Harrods Mince Pie Review

Well the mix of the fruity filling and almond made this pie taste significantly different in filling to many mince pies out there. You also definitely get a bit of a taste sensation with the brandy, providing a bit of a late kick. One of the issues with this flavoured pie last year was that the ratio of pastry to mince meat was too much on the pastry side, and while the larger pie this time did improve the balance, it was still too pastry heavy. The pastry was rather thick and too dry, not quite balanced well enough by the fruity filling. The filling needed to be a bit moister to balance the pastry better. The capacity was not perfect but pretty good, and with a nice fruity filling it was really just lacking a bit of moisture in the content to be even better.

Altogether the pie tastes nice, the crunch from the almond was good, and the flavour lingered nicely after eating. That said, it was again rather expensive for the privilege at £1.50 for a standard sized mince pie. A posh alternative, but I wouldn’t rush back to get these on my Christmas dinner table again next year.

Harrods Luxury Almond and Brandy Mince Pie
Score: 4.07/7
[Colour 4.5, Capacity 5, Consistency 4, Condition 5, Chewiness 4, Cheapness 1.5, Content 4.5, Total: 4.07/7]
RAS

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Essex Larders Chicken and Herb Pie Review, bought at Harrods

In what's become a yearly tradition (okay, so I've now done it twice...) I headed in to what is probably one of the most - if not the most - famous stores in the world, let alone in London. Getting off the tube at Knightsbridge and quickly darting in from the downpour outside, I plotted my route to the Harrods Food Hall. I was in for a bit of a sur-pies!

The Harrods Pie in wrapper

For where I had picked up a pie during my visit a year ago, I saw in front of me probably the world's most expensive shepherd's potato bake (that's a shepherd's "pie", if you're not familiar with the term...) at a jaw dropping £47.60!!!

But don't worry pie fans! You're not going to see the first ever potato bake reviewed on Pierate! Oh no! A bit further round the hall I found my golden treasure, fully encased in pastry. Interestingly they had expanded their range a bit and started selling a 'hot pie and mash' option, in addition to now selling Pieminister pies (which you've no doubt seen sold in local supermarkets and some pubs). You won't be surprised to know we've got quite a number of Pieminister pie reviews on Pierate.



But the pie I picked up was from a company I hadn't heard of before - Essex Larders. The pie was a chicken and herb pie, sold cold in pork pie style with jelly and a large filling. It was quite a substantial price at £2.50 per 100g or £9.80 for the piece photographed, but then again expectations (and prices) are high at Harrods. I bought enough to have 4 reasonable slithers - with my housemate Jeremy and friends Laura and Amy.

Harrods Essex Larder Chicken Pie Review

Biting into it, the pastry was crisp but not too thick. The filling made up the vast majority of this pie, with a reasonable slither of jelly and quite a thick central herb layer. The chicken was tender and the herbs blended well with it. Altogether a very nice pie, though the jelly was a bit overpowering in my view and there could have been a few less herbs v chicken.

The condition was good and I'd happily eat it again, though the price tag may well put me off purchasing it. But then this is Harrods!

Essex Larders Chicken and Herb Pie Review, bought at Harrods
Score: 5.21/7
[Colour 5.5, Capacity 6, Consistency 4.5, Condition 5.5, Chewiness 6, Cheapness 3, Content 6, Total: 5.21/7]
RAS

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Harrods Luxurious Mini Mince Pie Selection Review



Harrods Luxurious Mini Mince Pie Selection

When it comes to the big names in shopping, few can beat Harrods. One of London’s premier stores – if not the world’s – means that any food which comes from the store’s huge food hall will get savoured across the globe and put on a pedestal of divine deliciousness. Or at least that’s the theory.

But what if that food was pie. And what if that pie got pie rated?! Would Harrods Luxurious Mince Pie selection withstand the Pierateer’s 7 Cs? Let’s find out...

The Harrods Luxurious Mini Mince Pie Selection contains nine mini pies of three different flavours, which were all eaten by Pierateers RAS, SJL and TJP for feedback but then the final scores were awarded by Pierateer RAS as follows:

Top - Fruity Almond; Left - Cranberry, Right - Pecan

Pecan Topped Mince Pie

The first item eaten from the box was topped with pecans, but unfortunately only had pastry around the sides and base. This means it doesn’t meet the Pierateer’s definition of a true pie. However while the mince meat is quite tasty and the pecans add a nice crunch, we're not able to give this pie a top score because it's not got a lid. While the mince meat and crunchy pecans do complement each other well, I probably wouldn't go for it again unless they added a pastry lid to properly complement the pie.

The pecan flavour and texture of the pecan nut was very nice and something different for a mince pie – in fact I’d go as far as to say I was quite nuts about it – but considering how small it is and at almost 100ppp, it is rather expensive and for a non-pie, it’s not really worth it in our minds.

Score: 3.64/7
[Colour 4.5, Capacity 3,5, Consistency 4, Condition 4, Chewiness 3.5, Cheapness 2, Content 4, Total: 3.64/7]


Star-topped Cranberry Mince Meat Mince Pie

You could certainly taste a difference between the mince meat in most mince pies and this Cranberry Mince Meat Mince Pie, although in terms of flavour I wouldn't have immediately put it down to the addition of cranberries. Still, it was surprisingly nice and I certainly would eat one of these pies again. The slight sourness of the cranberry added an interesting kick but was a nice addition to the flavour. The flavour was not the best of the three but a (near) fully encased pie it was and it certainly was a unique and enjoyable flavour at that.

It was however certainly too small to get a decent filling:pastry ratio. There was far too much pastry and it did drown out the filling a fair bit. That said, the pastry was very nice. At just under a pound each for a very small pie, they were certainly not going to be able to be shared round easily but they were a nice treat.

Score: 3.79/7
[Colour 4.5, Capacity 4, Consistency 4, Condition 4, Chewiness 4, Cheapness 2, Content 4, Total: 3.79/7]


Rich Fruity Almond Mince Meat With A Hint Of Brandy Mince Pie

The mix of the fruity filling and almond made this our favourite filling. You also definitely get a bit of a taste sensation with the brandy, providing a bit of a late kick. While this pie was the only fully encased pie of the three types, the ratio of pastry to mince meat was again too much on the pastry side. The capacity was not perfect but pretty good; there were some air gaps in there, which for such a small pie is disappointing, but the content was very good. It tastes nice, the crunch from the almond was good, and the flavour lingered nicely after eating. That said, it was again still rather expensive for the privilege at just under one pound each for very mini pies.

Score: 4.14/7
[Colour 4.5, Capacity 4, Consistency 4, Condition 5, Chewiness 4.5, Cheapness 2, Content 5, Total: 4.14/7]


Harrods Luxurious Mini Mince Pie Selection
RAS

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