Nice Pie (Melton Mowbray) Pie Reviews and new shop!

The incredible "Pierate Logo" pie made by Nice Pie!

Whether you want to take a walk on the wild side or stick to something more typical in your pie, it seems with Nice Pie you're in for a nice pie treat!

We've been delighted to sample and rate so many of their pies in the last few years - the reviews of which can all be seen here - that we thought they deserved a Nice Pie page on Pierate Pie Reviews! Amazingly nearly every pie is Pierate Recommended (rated above 5/7) with a growing number of Pierate Highly Recommended pies (rated above 6/7) - an amazing feat considering the weird and wonderful content of some of the pie fillings such as kangaroo, wild squirrel and crocodile (the latter being the highest rated pie from Nice Pie so far!)

Below is the Nice Pie top 5, but they sell so many great pies that the top 5 doesn't even include all the Pierate Highly Recommended pies they sell, let alone mention the Pierate Recommended ones!!!

Rank	Pie Producer	Pie Flavour	Score	By
1	Nice Pie	Crocodile, Leek and Potato (Pierate Highly Recommended)	6.39	SJL
2	Nice Pie	Ring of Fire [Spicy Beef] (Pierate Highly Recommended)	6.21	SJL
3	Nice Pie	Wild Boar Pork (Pierate Highly Recommended)	6.20	TJP
4	Nice Pie	Slow Cooked Lamb and Mint (Pierate Highly Recommended)	6.18	RAS
5	Nice Pie	Red Stag (Pierate Highly Recommended)	6.16	RAS

Nice Pie Shop in Melton Mowbray

We're also delighted to hear that the pies have been selling so well that they have just opened up a new shop in the centre of Melton Mowbray itself (in addition to their current shop, which is part of the farm outside Old Dalby, north of Melton Mowbray). It's found at 55 Kings Street, Melton Mowbray. We look forward to visiting it when we're next in town!

RAS

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Nice Pie Lamb, Beef and Chicken Pie Reviews

As we said last year when we last sampled some of the "Nice Pie" range, one of the challenges for a Pierateer in British Pie Week is how to fit in all the pies you want to eat and rate - and then having time to write up all the reviews after! That's my poor excuse for why it has taken a while to write up our reviews of the three brilliant Nice Pie flavours we enjoyed in Leeds on Day Six of British Pie Week 2017, but here they are!


Nice Pie Beef Pie

Long term fans of Pierate will know Nice Pie have produced countless Pierate Highly Recommended and Pierate Recommended pies - including, but not limited to, their kangaroo, zebra, wild squirrel and crocodile exotic pies - in fact, see the table of past Nice Pies here! The pies we had this time were some more from the traditional menu - the Slow Cooked Lamb and Mint pie, Chicken, Gammon and Mushroom pie and Beef in Red Wine and Roasted Marrow Bone pie.

All three were new to us, but had all had a strong showing at the recent British Pie Awards. The Beef in Red Wine and Roasted Marrow Bone pie won the "Beef and any flavour" Class and the Chicken, Gammon and Mushroom pie won the "Chicken and other meat" class, while the lamb pie had got a gold award (90%+). These are award winning pies!!!

As we've mentioned in a number of Nice Pie reviews before, it was the filling that really stood out in these pies, absolutely bursting with meaty chunks that were so tender and flavoursome. It really amazes me how they can pack so much meat into these pies, as the capacity is always so full to the brim! The only slight downside is that with so much meat in there it can mean the pastry struggles to hold all the filling in, especially if you try to eat it by hand as I did. This is however a very small criticism as the main thing is to have a packed, flavoursome pie filling and this pie certainly provides that, especially complimenting the crisp butter shortcrust pastry that Nice Pie are renowned for!

Nice Pie Lamb Pie

Out of the three pies, I personally preferred the Lamb and Mint Pie and thought that stood out amongst other lamb pies I've had. Unlike many lamb and mint pies which are absolutely smothered in mint and lacking in meat, this was a perfectly balanced flavour and full of tender meat. The lamb easily shredded when the knife cut through it due to it being slow cooked, so while the pieces of meat were quite large it did not feel too big. I could have happily kept eating this pie all night!

Nice Pie Beef Pie Review

The Beef pie was also very nice, with thick rich gravy complementing the tender chunks of meat and bit of veg. I personally think the gravy wasn't quite my cup of tea compared to some of the red wine or ale gravy's I have had in other Nice Pie's or other pies lately - perhaps a result of the bone marrow - but at the same time I still enjoyed the pie and it does add a slightly different taste to the content. It balanced well with the crisp, golden pastry and I'd still happily eat another (there are just so many good Steak/Beef Nice Pies to choose from!!!)

Nice Pie Chicken Pie Review

The chicken pie was again packed with meat and although the pastry was a little flaky it still managed to hold in all the content well! The sauce was very nice and complimented the meat flavour well, and once again we struggled to fault much as it was a very good filling! A traditional flavour done well!


Once again Nice Pie have done us proud, producing two more Pierate Recommended pies AND a Pierate Highly Recommended pie! It's an absolute credit to Katharine and all who work at this small pie company that they are able to churn out top rated pie after top rated pie, and it's been great to hear about the success of their on-site Pie Shop and Cafe too! We hope to visit it one day soon!


Nice Pie Slow Cooked Lamb and Mint Pie
Score: 6.18/7
[Colour 5.75/7; Consistency 6.25/7; Cheapness 5.75/7; Chewiness 6/7; Condition 6/7; Content 6.75/7; Capacity 6.75/7]

Nice Pie Beef in Red Wine and Roasted Marrow Bone Pie
Score: 5.75/7
[Colour 5.75/7; Consistency 5.75/7; Cheapness 5.5/7; Chewiness 5/7; Condition 6/7; Content 6/7; Capacity 6.25/7]

Nice Pie Chicken, Gammon and Mushroom Pie
Score: 5.75/7
[Colour 5.75/7; Consistency 5.75/7; Cheapness 5.5/7; Chewiness 5/7; Condition 6/7; Content 6/7; Capacity 6.25/7]

RAS

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Nice Pie Steak and Cheese Pie Reviews

One of the challenges for a Pierateer in British Pie Week is how to fit in all the pies you want to eat and rate! That explains why for brunch on day one of British Pie Week I had two meat pies from Nice Pie - who fans of Pierate will know have produced countless Pierate Highly Recommended and Pierate Recommended pies (see the table of past Nice Pies here!) The pies were the Steak, Ale and Stilton and the Braised Beef, Roasted Onion and Cheddar Pie.



Nice Pie Steak and Stilton (left) and Beef and Cheddar (right)

With all the exotic pies we’ve rated from Nice Pie over the years, you’d be forgiven for thinking that they only do pies full of meat you’d never expect to be sold in a pie! But as delicious as the kangaroo, zebra and wild squirrel pies were, sometimes people may just want a “typical” British pie to eat! Fear not, for Nice Pie haven’t neglected their homely, British pie flavours for the sole purpose of exotic pie production! Included in the traditional range of pies are these two steak and cheese pies, both of which went down very nicely indeed when eaten and rated!



Nice Pie Steak, Ale and Stilton Pie Review

It was the filling that really stood out in these pies, absolutely bursting with meaty steak and beef chunks that were so tender and flavoursome. It really amazes me how they can pack so much meat into these pies, as the capacity is always so full to the brim! The only slight downside is that with so much meat in there it can mean the pastry struggles to hold all the filling in, especially if you try to eat it by hand as I did. This is however a very small criticism as the main thing is to have a packed, flavoursome pie filling and this pie certainly provides that!

Out of the two, the steak and stilton stood out a bit more, with a bit more cheese flavour coming through and the lack of distraction from the onion. But that is really my personal preference, and I would certainly say both were very good pies. I still don’t know quite how they manage to make the meat sooooo tender and flavoursome, unlike a lot of the meat in other pies I eat which can be a bit dry and chewy in places even if the pie filling is very moist. The gravy was pretty much spot on and the cheese flavoured both pies well, yet wasn’t overpowering.

Nice Pie Beef and Cheddar Pie Review

The pastry is nicely golden (although could be a little stronger in colour on the sides/base for piefection) holding in the filling admirably well considering how good the capacity is and moist the filling can be! The shortcrust pastry compliments the pie well and as a whole really is a top product. When nit-picking on the details, the pastry was a little crumbly in places, particularly around the lid to sides join, which became loose upon picking the pie up and eating it, but considering these pies had travelled by post to us it’s hard to be overly critical of this. A slightly crisper side and base pastry would have been ideal but it’s hard to overly fault the quality of these pies.

Once again Nice Pie have done us proud, producing two more Pierate Highly Recommended pies – and while it’s hard to resist the amazing range of exotic pies Nice Pie do, you would certainly be missing out if you didn’t tuck into a more traditional steak and cheese pie from their range when given the chance!

The eager eyed among you will have noticed in our Pie Rankings we've rated a Steak and Stilton pie from Nice Pie a few years ago, which scored a bit lower than this Steak, Ale and Stilton pie. I think this is an encouraging sign they are still striving to improve their pie recipes and also reflects that the individual pies (verses the family pie rated before) are that bit better in terms of pie:filling ratio. I’ve given these two pies today the same score due to the similarity of the fillings and would suggest you choose based on your preference of ale and stilton or onion and cheddar. Or better still, do what I did and have one of each!

Nice Pie Steak, Ale and Stilton Pie and Braised Beef, Roasted Onion and Cheddar Pie
Score: 6.14/7
[Colour 5.75/7; Consistency 6.25/7; Cheapness 5.5/7; Chewiness 6/7; Condition 6/7; Content 6.75/7; Capacity 6.75/7]

RAS

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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

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Nice Pie Roadkill Pie and Peppercorn and Brandy Steak Pie Reviews

Considering the amazing range of unusual and exotic pies Nice Pie have made over the short time they've been in existence - summarised in the list of Nice Pies we've rated - it should come as no surprise they've always got another quirky offering up their sleeve! So after their TV appearance on Jamie and Jimmy's Friday Night Feast on Channel 4 recently, where they focused on their Wild Squirrel pie (which we went nuts for when we rated it back in January 2014), we couldn’t resist trying their interestingly named "Roadkill Pie" this British Pie Week, alongside a steak pie on Day Three!

Right on track... the Nice Pie "Roadkill" Pie

And while the name might put some people off, it makes total sense to me and I was certainly game to try it! After all, it certainly solves the problem of deciding which game meat to have in a pie when this option contains pheasant, rabbit, venison AND partridge!

As part of our “How long can we just eat pie for?” Pieathon challenge we thought we’d benefit from a range of their smaller pies, which coming in at £3.50 is pretty reasonable for a hefty, meat filled pie packed with delicious filling and cooked in their lovely butter shortcrust pastry. As I’ve mentioned before many a time with these Nice Pies (for which you can see a full list of all the previous Nice Pies we've rated here), it is amazing how they hold together so well despite being so filled with content. The nature of the pastry means it can be a little crumbly in places but in general it is very nice and lovely and golden once cooked, which you can see in the lovely photos!

Nice Pie "Roadkill" Pie Review

The Roadkill Pie was possibly the most mixed-meat-filled pie we've had since the infamous "Polabe" pie of 2011, which was a combination of Po(rk)La(mb)Be(ef) and didn't really work so well as a mix of flavours.

Fortunately, going for a much simpler name and a more logical game meat mix, the Roadkill pie flavour worked a lot better. As is a feature in all the Nice Pie range, the pie was once again full of succulent and tender meat. I still can't get over the fact that the meat content in these pies is 70%, when so many supermarket pies are down in the 20-30% range, making it one of the most meat-filled game pies we’ve had. And it was the return of partridge in a pie following the unique "Partridge in a Pear Pie" I had at Christmas!

With a great capacity, one thing I did feel the pie lacked a bit was a more substantial gravy or sauce. For sure the meat was lovely and moist - and you can see in the photo there were remnants of liquid stock - but I would have preferred something slightly more. (I was perhaps pining the near perfect consistency of the gravy in the Red Stag pie I had the day before!) That said, you wouldn't want to overpower the different flavours of the meat in doing so, in which case it may be best left as it is!

As with any mix of meats, you do have to try and balance the flavours in the pie, which can be harder than when you are just producing a single-meat pie, but I thought they worked well together and once again the pastry was crisp and golden, holding together well in spite of all the meat weighing this pie down! The pastry was in general very good, with a clever crisp "tyre-track" complexion and a softer but tasty side and base pastry.

Eaten just the day after the Red Stag pie, it didn't quite live up to those lofty expectations but really wasn't far off! There's no doubt I'd be game for another!

Nice Pie Roadkill Pie [Pheasant, Rabbit, Venison and Partridge]
Score: 5.93/7
[Colour 5.75/7; Consistency 5.5/7; Cheapness 5.75/7; Chewiness 6/7; Condition 6/7; Content 6/7; Capacity 6.5/7; Total: 5.93/7]

We celebrated British Pie Week 2015 with some Nice Pies!

Peppercorn and Brandy Steak Pie Review

The Peppercorn and Brandy Steak Pie was again noted for its very good filling:pastry ratio. The meat was so lovely and tender – a real delight. Once again packed in at 70%, there was no missing the meatilicous content of this pie! Having eaten the Cow Pie in their range the day before, which was noted as being quite peppery in itself, I was more prepared for the peppercorns this time round and it certainly delivered! The pepper and brandy flavouring is a novel addition and if you enjoy your steak pie well seasoned this is probably the pie for you!

Being very similar in content to the Cow Pie I'd had the day before it was very difficult to make a massive separation between them, other than to suggest if you prefer a more seasoned pie then it would be worth investing in the Peppercorn and Brandy Steak Pie option! If you don't, the Cow Pie is just as great! Once again it's another Pierate Recommended pie from Nice Pie!

Nice Pie Peppercorn and Brandy Steak Pie
Score: 5.68/7
[Colour 5.75/7; Consistency 5/7; Cheapness 5.5/7; Chewiness 6/7; Condition 5.75/7; Content 5.5/7; Capacity 6.25/7; Total: 5.68/7]



Once again Nice Pie have done us proud, producing more Pierate Recommended pies and while it’s hard to resist the amazing range of exotic pies Nice Pie do, you would certainly be missing out if you didn’t tuck into a more traditional pie flavour from their range when given the chance!

RAS

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Nice Pie Red Stag and Cow Pie Reviews

After their TV appearance on Jamie and Jimmy's Friday Night Feast on Channel 4 recently, where they focused on their Wild Squirrel pie (which we went nuts for when we rated it back in January 2014) we couldn’t resist trying a few more Nice Pies this British Pie Week, with these two eaten on Day Two!

As part of our “How long can we just eat pie for?” Pieathon challenge we thought we’d benefit from a range of their smaller pies, which coming in at £3.50 is pretty reasonable for a hefty, meat filled pie packed with delicious filling and cooked in their lovely butter shortcrust pastry. As I’ve mentioned before many a time with these Nice Pies (for which you can see a full list of all the previous Nice Pies we've rated here), it is amazing how they hold together so well despite being so filled with content. The nature of the pastry means it can be a little crumbly in places but in general it is very nice and lovely and golden once cooked.

Nice Pie Red Stag Pie Review

The Red Stag Pie was, as is a feature in all the Nice Pie range, once again full of succulent and tender meat. It’s quite incredible the meat capacity in these pies, with 70% venison making it one of the most meat-filled game pies we’ve had. The gravy was near perfect consistency, with a lovely moisture yet not too runny – perfect so you could pick the pie up in your hand and enjoy it! The flavours worked really well together and the pastry was crisp and golden, holding together well in spite of all the meat weighing this pie down! The pastry was in general very good, with a crisp outer crimping and a softer but tasty side and base pastry.

My only minor criticism was I felt there was a tad too much onion for me, but the great volume of meat and well-cooked carrot made it one of my most enjoyable Nice Pies in terms of content and a top-rated venison pie I’d happily eat time and time again!

Nice Pie Red Stag Pie
Score: 6.16/7
[Colour 5.75/7; Consistency 6.5/7; Cheapness 5.75/7; Chewiness 6/7; Condition 6/7; Content 6.6/7; Capacity 6.5/7; Total: 6.16/7]

We celebrated British Pie Week 2015 with some Nice Pies!

Nice Pie Cow Pie Review

The Cow Pie was again noted for its very good filling:pastry ratio. The meat was so lovely and tender – a real delight. Once again packed in at 70%, there was no missing the meatilicous content of this pie! The beef was quite flavoured with peppercorns though, which for me was slightly over powering for a pie not sold specifically as a peppered steak pie (which is also available in their range).

The consistency of the gravy was also runnier in the cow pie than the venison pie and the flavour didn’t excite me quite as much. However these are minor comments and while not quite reaching the stag pie’s status, is still Pierate Recommended.

Nice Pie Cow Pie
Score: 5.68/7
[Colour 5.75/7; Consistency 5/7; Cheapness 5.5/7; Chewiness 6/7; Condition 5.75/7; Content 5.5/7; Capacity 6.25/7; Total: 5.68/7]



Once again Nice Pie have done us proud, producing more Pierate Recommended pies (including the Highly Recommended Stag Pie!) – and while it’s hard to resist the amazing range of exotic pies Nice Pie do, you would certainly be missing out if you didn’t tuck into a more traditional pie flavour from their range when given the chance!

RAS

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Nice Pie Steak and Stilton and Cockrel Pie Reviews

The incredible "Pierate Logo" pie made by Nice Pie!

With all the exotic pies we’ve rated from Nice Pie - and you'll spot below that we've pie rated a fair few! - you’d be forgiven for thinking that they only do pies full of meat you’d never expect to be sold in a pie! And as delicious and highly rated as the kangaroo, wild squirrel and crocodile pies were (the latter being the highest rated pie from Nice Pie so far!), they also cater for the more “typical” British pie eater too! So whether you want to take a walk on the wild side or stick to something more typical in your pie, you're in for a nice pie treat!

We've been delighted to sample and rate so many of their pies in the last year or so - the reviews of which can all be seen here - but now you can see them all in our Nice Pie Leaderboard! Amazingly nearly every pie is Pierate Recommended (rated above 5/7) with some Pierate Highly Recommended - an amazing feat considering the weird and wonderful content of some of the pie fillings!

Rank	Pie Producer	Pie Flavour	Score	By
1	Nice Pie	Crocodile, Leek and Potato (Pierate Highly Recommended)	6.39	SJL
2	Nice Pie	Wild Boar Pork (Pierate Highly Recommended)	6.20	TJP
3	Nice Pie	Smoked Salmon and Broccoli (Pierate Highly Recommended)	6.07	TJP
4	Nice Pie	Bison and Beer	5.93	RAS
5	Nice Pie	Wild Squirrel in Red Wine Gravy	5.89	RAS
6	Nice Pie	Kangaroo	5.80	TJP
7	Nice Pie	Steak in a Rich Red Wine Gravy	5.75	RAS
8	Nice Pie	Chicken, Smoked Bacon and Mushrooms in a Delightful Creamy Sauce	5.75	RAS
9	Nice Pie	Camel	5.68	TJP
10	Nice Pie	Steak and Stilton	5.61	RAS
11	Nice Pie	Cockrel	5.46	RAS
12	Nice Pie	Zebra	5.29	RAS
13	Nice Pie	Partridge and Pear	4.64	RAS

The Nice Pies we've highly rated include our highest rated fish pie - Smoked Salmon and Broccoli - and unsurprisingly our highest rated exotic pie - the Crocodile, Leek and Potato pie!

But they've not just been very highly rated with us! Their success has been rewarded with numerous awards from the Great Taste Awards to the British Pie Awards, where at the British Pie Awards 2014 we were delighted to hear that they had won the Champion Small Producer Award! You can see their amazing pie made for the WWI commemorations class in our British Pie Awards 2014 article. The full list of their awards can be found on their new website.

One of the things that has made Nice Pie stand out to us is that they are always willing to try something new - as seen by their expanding traditional and exotic pie range, their constant striving for pie-fection and recently their accreditation as an Authentic Melton Mowbray Pie producer.

And it's a sign of how far they've come in the last year that they had a recent visit from none other than celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver and Jimmy Doherty - some photos of which can be seen on the Nice Pie website! This was for the TV series Jamie and Jimmy's Friday Night Feast - which was on Channel 4 on Friday 13th February - and you can see a clip of it on the Channel 4 website here.

Nice Pie Cockrel Pie Review

While they focused on the Wild Squirrel pie on Friday Night Feast, which we went nuts for when we rated it back in January 2014, we recently tried a few more Nice Pies. The first was a British classic – the steak and stilton pie, followed by a more unusual cockrel pie (the first we’ve eaten on the Pierate Ship!)

Both pies were filled very well with strong marks for capacity and therefore even more impressive that you could pick up and hold a slice of the pie without it crumbling under the weight of the meaty content! The pastry was nice and golden in colour, with a tasty shortcrust pastry which was only a little crumbly in places. Each pie was £6.50, which is very reasonable for a large pie that could be shared between 2 or more people.

Nice Pie Steak and Stilton Pie Review

The Steak and Stilton Pie was one of the many Nice Pies to get a Gold award at the British Pie Awards 2014. A common theme in the Nice Pie range, it was again packed to capacity with lots of moist, tender pieces of steak. You could tell the meat was well cooked and while there could have been a bit more gravy in the pie, the meat itself was moist and not at all chewy. While a bit of additional gravy would have made the pie as a whole that little bit better in my opinion, against the slightly drier pastry, you could not fault the quality and taste of the meat. The stilton wasn’t overpowering, as can be the case in some cheese-filled pies, but complemented the steak nicely. While I slightly preferred the Steak in a Rich Red Wine Gravy to this I would certainly have another Steak and Stilton too.

Nice Pie Cockrel Pie Review

The Cockrel Pie was again noted for its very good pastry:filling ratio. I’d never had cockrel meat before, and while I was a bit reserved before eating it, I was certainly surprised at how much I enjoyed the flavour. To me it tasted like the darker meat you would eat as part of a roast chicken meal, which has a bit more flavour to it even if it is not perhaps perceived as the best part of the chicken, with most pies favouring the breast meat. The creamy sauce was nice and the overall balance of the pie flavour was good. I’d certainly not turn my nose up at another cockrel pie, even if I’d say I'd prefer a chicken pie.

Once again Nice Pie have produced the goods, with two more Pierate Recommended pies – and while it’s hard to resist the amazing range of exotic pies Nice Pie do, you would certainly be missing out if you didn’t tuck into a more traditional pie flavour from their range when given the chance!

Nice Pie Steak and Stilton Pie
Score: 5.61/7
[Colour 5.75/7; Consistency 5.5/7; Cheapness 5.5/7; Chewiness 5/7; Condition 5.5/7; Content 5.75/7; Capacity 6.25/7; Total: 5.61/7]

Nice Pie Cockrel Pie
Score: 5.46/7
[Colour 5.75/7; Consistency 5.5/7; Cheapness 5/7; Chewiness 5/7; Condition 5.25/7; Content 5.5/7; Capacity 6.25/7; Total: 5.46/7]

RAS

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Nice Pie Partridge in a Pear Pie Review

You can probably imagine my surprise when, having joked to Nice Pie on twitter “I don’t suppose you do a ‘partridge in a pear tree’ pie for Christmas, do you?” that the answer was yes – yes they do! But perhaps I shouldn’t have been so surprised! After all, Nice Pie have provided us with a whole menagerie of exotic pies that have rated very well on the 7 Cs of pie rating!

Nice Pie Partridge Pie Review

Of course the Partridge in a Pear Tree is famed as the first and most repeated line in the Christmas tune “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. The partridge in a pear tree was in fact the kick start to what the true love gave over those 12 days of Christmas. But surely what your true love would really want for Christmas is a pie – rather than a tree with a bird in?! The question is… could the partridge in a pear pie be that ideal pie? Could the novelty flavour work in a pie? Is this what we’ve been missing from the Christmas table the last few years?




The partridge in a pear pie contained – as you might have guessed – large pieces of partridge within a pear and pear cider filling. The pieces of meat were spread through the pie, surrounded by what was like a pear puree with some small crisp pieces of pear. The pastry was crisp and lightly golden, holding well considering how packed to the capacity the pie was with content. There were a few crumbly bits but on the whole held together well and could be picked up too.

Nice Pie Partridge Pie Review

There were some very big pieces of partridge in the pie, which could have been cut a little smaller and distributed across the pie to spread the flavour a little more, but you certainly couldn’t miss the meaty content of this pie! The partridge itself was a dark meat, a bit chewier than your typical chicken or turkey meat, though it reminded me more of the latter. It was just a little dry in places, probably due to the filling of the pie being more of a moist, pear filling than a gravy-style consistency.

The content was certainly weighted more towards the meat, which I for one wasn’t complaining about! The pear had quite a sweet tang to it, which is a bit more of an acquired taste and not something I had really sampled in much cooking, let alone a savoury dish! It infiltrated the meat and pastry, flavouring the whole pie. While making it quite a sweet dish as a result, this pie certainly lived up to its billing as partridge in a pear pie!

I’d certainly sum this pie up as a novelty pie, rather than one I would regularly want to eat (but then this is very much a Christmas pie!) The sweetness of the pie was a little too much for me to have a large portion, but it would be a real talking point on the Christmas dinner table! To be honest, I still can't believe this pie actually exists! And for such a large meat-filled pie, containing partridge, this was very impressive and unique for just £6.50. For fans of the ‘meat and sweet’ combo I’d certainly recommend giving it a try, however I would also be intrigued by a partridge and gravy pie. Still, that wouldn’t make such a good line in a song…

Nice Pie Partridge in a Pear Pie
Score: 4.64/7
[Colour 5.5, Capacity 6, Consistency 3.5, Condition 5, Chewiness 4, Cheapness 5, Content 3.5, Total: 4.64/7]
RAS

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Nice Pie - Crocodile Leek & Potato Pie Review

I had heard great things about Nice Pie from my Pierateer colleagues. We have reviewed many of their exotic pie flavours with most of them achieving ‘Pierate Recommended’ or ‘Pierate Highly Recommended’ status. This is pretty impressive when they are taking such a unusual meat as squirrel, bison, camel, zebra etc and making them into a pie. On the pierate ship we have tried making some exotic meat pies ourselves but the question always is, what flavours do you add to the meat?! We had some success with our Zebra pie, however, our Python pie for British Pie Week was revolting!



So on the first day of British Pie Week I was very pleased to be able to include a Nice Pie, Crocodile, Leek & Potato, as part of my #pie4everymeal challenge. I was a bit apprehensive. Would leek and potato really go with crocodile meat? You associate leeks, potatoes and pie as very British things and Crocodile is about as British as the Great Wall of China.

I had the pie for dinner but there was another aspect that made me a little apprehensive, as part of the challenge I had to eat the whole pie. This was certainly not an individual sized pie coming in at around 1200 calories. Have a look at the video from 8:00 minutes to see what I thought.




Well hopefully you got the idea that I liked it! But I will now reveal how I scored it! This pie was great, not just for an exotic meat pie but even compared to more regular pie flavours. I would most closely compare it to a chicken pie, indeed chicken would have worked in place of the crocodile in the filling. However, the texture of the crocodile made it much more interesting than a normal chicken version and it was not dry at all like chicken can be. It was flaky, almost like fish, it didn't have much flavour that I could detect but took on the flavour of the sauce. The sauce was creamy and delicious. The balance of flavours was perfect and the contrast in texture throughout the pie kept me wanting more. I know that it was truly a pie which should gain ‘Highly Recommended’ status because even after eating so much of it I still thought it tasted amazing. The presentation was also wonderful with firm pastry which meant this pie stayed in one piece despite having been transported quite far in my back pack (and in Pierateer RAS’s suitcase before that). The pastry tasted nice but perhaps it was a little too thick in places, this perhaps was a trade off to get such sturdiness to the pastry. However it wasn’t hard or dry in any way. The Capacity was large, as with many of these Nice Pies. This would have happily served two or three people. There isn't much they could do to make the pie score even higher. Overall, the highest score we have yet given to a Nice Pie and the highest scoring 'exotic meat' pie in our overall pie rankings!

This pie was very similar in size and shape to the Bison and Camel pies we have reviewed recently and at £5.50 they are excellent value for pies of this size, plus they contain 'exotic meat' which is normally more expensive. Nice work guys!

Crocodile, Leek & Potato (Nice Pie)
6.39/7

SJL

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Nice Pie Bison and Beer Pie Review

I cannot tell you how nice it was to wake up on Wednesday morning and not have to eat an apple pie! Don’t get me wrong – there’s nothing wrong with apple pie for breakfast (I’ve done it many a time!) but for Day Two of British Pie Week, I had made a #PiePledge to only eat sweet pies for a day. Therefore after 2,580 kcal (just over my daily recommended calorie intake of 2,500 kcal) of nothing but sweet apple pie, my taste buds needed a change!

Nice Pie's Bison and Beer Pie

Up stepped the meaty Bison Pie we’d been given from Nice Pie. And quite a whopper it was! Certainly a sharing pie, at £5.50 this is good value for a pie for two and I ate half for my lunch and then the other half for my supper. Good flavour, lovely tender Bison meat and a very good pastry somehow holding all this meaty content in!

It was great to see that the pie makers at Nice Pie had improved their pastry recipe to make it less crumbly and more delicious. The pastry tasted a bit more buttery and held together a lot better than the pastry on the previous zebra and squirrel pie I had eaten. It was strong enough to encase the lovely meat but with so much meat inside it was bound to struggle slightly to hold the weight of all the content! All in all, I’d much rather have delicious pastry like this than something that holds the pie together but is so thick and dry as to make the pastry:filling ratio all wrong! Piefection, of course, it perfectly blending the two!

Nice Pie's Bison and Beer Pie

The Bison meat tasted lovely and tender, clearly having been slow cooked for a long time to improve the taste. I have to admit to my untrained pallet the meat didn’t have a noticeably different flavour to a good, tender beef steak filling - but that’s not a bad thing as a good beef steak filling is always very enjoyable! After all, it’s a nice meaty flavour. My only slight query is whether I’d consider paying more for Bison meat over a nice beef steak, but I guess that is up to the consumer! The accompaniment to the Bison meat was Old Dalby Pale Ale from Belvoir Brewery, which made a nice gravy which complemented the meat well. This didn’t provide a lot of variety in flavour from the meat and ale, though this isn’t really a problem for a meat loving Pierateer!

Having eaten hundreds of pies I feel I have had nicer ale gravy before, and preferred the steak in red wine gravy pie I reviewed from Nice Pie, however it was still a very nice flavour. With so much delicious meat I would certainly recommend this pie, though my main concern for the poor old bison is that it may not be “quirky” enough for the pie purchaser that was looking for a very unusual pie flavour to wow the dinner guests with. In that case, I would recommend checking out the rest of the Nice Pie exotic pie range, such as the zebra pie, squirrel pie, wild boar pork pie, kangaroo pie or crocodile pie.

Nice Pie Bison and Beer Pie
Score: 5.93/7
[Colour 6/7; Consistency 6/7; Cheapness 5/7; Chewiness 6.25/7; Condition 6.5/7; Content 5.5/7; Capacity 6.25/7; Total: 5.93/7]
RAS

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Nice Pie Camel Pie Review

Coming out of the oven, you can see the pie has taken on a lovely golden brown colour. I am also a big fan of the camel stencil on the pastry, and love how there's no scrimping with the crimping round the edge - this pie is in great condition.

Opening up the pie, the pastry is nearly packed to capacity - although you can see a definite air gap there.

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Wild Boar Pork Pie

Wild boar? In a pork pie? I know what you’re thinking. That’s got to be the most exceptional pork pie ever, right?! It’s certainly the most intriguing pork pie I’ve ever eaten, that’s for sure.

This pie is the masterful creation of those wonderful people over at Nice Pie, who just don't seem content with making regular pies. Just take a look at their exotic pie range. Their kitchens must be like one crazy safari ride - "There's some buffalo. And that? That's crocodile. And here's some elk."

Wild Boar Pork Pie cross-sectional view

Overall score: 6.2/7

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