Piebury Corner Steak and Stilton Pie Review from their new King’s Cross Shop!

If anyone ever asks which pie shop they should visit in London, there is only one answer I give them – Piebury Corner. For many a year, since we first reviewed them in February 2013, they have been at the top of our pie rankings which span well over 600 pies from across the world. But there has always been one slight issue – their pie shop is slightly out of the way for the typical London visitor, being up in Islington (N7).

You can therefore imagine our delight when we heard a number of months back from owners Paul and Nikki that they were in negotiations for a property just a few minutes from Kings Cross Station – which really is prime retail location for thousands of London commuters and tourists each and every day! Now that the new store has been open a few months, it was about time that we set the Pierate Ship down to London for a visit, and a Friday Pieday visit was the ideal op-pie-tunity!


Arriving mid-afternoon, I avoided the rush hour craziness on my 4-minute walk from Kings Cross Tube station and settled into my own seating booth, which comes with free wifi and USB charging points for your phone. It’s significantly more spacious than the Holloway Road store in Islington, providing adequate seating for around 40 customers. I perused the menu and – while not eating straight away, as it was a bit early – picked from the increasingly small list of Piebury Corner pies we have yet to rate! With 14 already rated, I went for one of the only meat pies left on my list – the Steak and Stilton.

Inside Piebury's new store - Image supplied by Piebury Corner

One of the most obvious differences between the two pie shops is that the new Kings Cross store has dropped the Arsenal footballer pie names – but this is hardly a surprise given its location much further away from the Emirates Stadium and its target audience no longer primarily being Arsenal fans! The main pies all still feature though, even if they are a bit pricier than when we first started tucking into Piebury Corner pies those five years ago! A standard range pie at the Kings Cross shop sets you back £6 hot and eating in, with the luxury range 50p more and gluten free 50p more again. While you can get deals at certain times to make this a meal with pie, potato and gravy, it is quite an expensive cost for just a pie but then this is no ordinary quality pie, as the shop's kitchen manager Anthony testified to me during a chat with him after my pie. He has many years’ experience as a chef in London but was surprised at the high quality of these pies, which he hasn’t been able to match in quality from a supplier anywhere else in London!

Piebury Corner Steak and Stilton Pie Review

Onto the pie itself and the great thing is the Steak and Stilton pie had all the great hallmarks of the Piebury Corner pies I had rated in the past. The pie was packed to capacity, again bulging slightly with the large pieces of meat inside the pie. The pastry:filling ratio was pretty much spot on, with a good flavoursome filling complementing the crisp but thin outer pastry. As you would expect from a proper football pie you could easily have eaten the pie by hand, picking it up from the plate, as the pie held together really well.

The filling itself was a fine balance of tender steak and a Stilton gravy. The meat was lovely and had a good noticeable flavour to it without being overpowered by the Stilton cheese, which has been the downside of a fair few Stilton Cheese pies I’ve had lately (either too much Stilton or lacking any noticeable cheese flavour to it!) The only real downsides to these pies, mentioned a number of times in Piebury Corner reviews, are that the pie is rather shallow for a pie of its price range and therefore while they taste great, they do often leave you wanting more! But I guess that’s a good sign what you are eating is a top pie! The Steak and Stilton is yet another “Pierate Highly Recommended” pie from Piebury Corner.

Piebury Corner Steak and Stilton Pie
Score: 6.18/7
[Colour 6.75/7; Consistency 5.75/7; Cheapness 5.5/7; Chewiness 6.5/7; Condition 6.75/7; Content 6/7; Capacity 6/7]

RAS

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With a swathe of their pies in our top 20 pies (out of over 600 we have rated) you won’t be surprised to hear we eagerly await any new offering from the number one modern pie shop in London - Piebury Corner. With such a high bar set by their meat and veggie pies, the more recent addition of fruit pies to their selection (albeit not that recently!) was something we were intrigued by. Could Piebury – famed for their football-related pies and puns – still push for the title with their fruit pies? Or was it a case of second season blues – like Leicester City struggling to maintain the form they showed in their previous outing?

Piebury Corner Fruit Pie Review

Well the good news is that these fruit pies are far off mid-table mediocrity! In fact, as fruit pies go, these are some of the better individual fruit pies we’ve pie rated. Gone are the Arsenal-related footballer names (such as the “Thierry Henry” or “Viera-getarian”) and instead you get pies that do exactly what they say on the tin (or in this case, cardboard box) – Apple, Apple and Blackcurrant, Blueberry and Cherry.

Here’s our overall impression of the fruit pie range, followed by some individual comments. Please note that all these pies were heated for 20 minutes in the oven but then eaten as they were – without custard or cream or other additions – to ensure we were rating the pie accurately.



Overall Im-pie-ression:

Piebury Corner Fruit Pie Review

These pies are noticeably quite shallow and wide, but this is the Piebury way! Similar in shape to their meaty teammates, the fruit pies also have a lovely golden pastry shell which particularly crisps up well on top. The main difference: that fine sprinkling of sugar on top of the pastry, which does add that extra sweet taste to an already sweet fruit pie! A couple of the pies we cooked caught slightly and were a bit more golden in some places than others, but overall I’d say this is a nice golden colour.

At £3.50 per pie to take away cold, these certainly aren’t the cheapest fruit pies on the market. But then these aren’t your typical pies on the market either – with a much bigger capacity than most fruit pie boxes you’d buy in the shops and a strong pie capacity as opposed to some of the “fruit” air pies you can get your hands on! I also mention fruit because you can actually see and taste the fruit in these pies, rather than the fruity mush that a lot of fruit pies contain.

Overall, I would say these are a tad expensive for the size, but they are some of the best fruit pies we’ve had on Pierate. The pastry (specifically the lid) is delicious as part of the pie or even eaten on its own. While the content of all the pies is nice and fruity – sweet but generally not too much! They fill the hole and – while I’d suggest you probably wouldn’t want two in one sitting – leave you wanting to try another!

Piebury Corner Apple Pie Review

Apple

The classic fruit pie flavour and done well. Some decent sized pies of fruit – though could perhaps have been a few more large pieces that had a bit more of a bite to them. They were rather soft, so not much to bite onto! The flavour worked well with the crisp sweet pastry. Would definitely want again.

Piebury Corner Apple and Blackcurrant Pie Review

Apple and Blackcurrant

Another classic fruit flavour – the apple was nice but again could have perhaps given a bit more bite to the pie if they were a bit less soft. The blackcurrants were also very noticeable, particularly because the seeds got rather caught in my teeth during the eating of this pie, which spoilt my enjoyment of it a bit. However a good balance to the flavour and in combination with the pastry.

Piebury Corner Blueberry Pie Review

Blueberry

We don’t seem to see many blueberry pies out there on the market, so Pierateer Sam was particularly keen to try this one. While quite sweet, the flavour was very nice and again complimented the crisp pastry well. Well worth getting hold of.

Piebury Corner Cherry Pie Review

Cherry

While perhaps not as famous as the apple pie, the cherry pie is still another regular flavour and the pieces of fruit were very obvious upon slicing through. Quite sweet again, but not overpowering. I’d happily eat another of these.





Overall, while these pies are not going to compete against the Piebury Corner meat pies for our affection, they are very good individual fruit pies that I’d happily enjoy for dessert as part of a “Double Pie” main and pudding option. I’m Gunner have to go back to Piebury Corner and get some more soon!

Piebury Corner Apple Pie
Score: 5.89/7
[Colour 6.5, Capacity 6.25, Consistency 5.75, Condition 6, Chewiness 5.5, Cheapness 5, Content 6.25]

Piebury Corner Apple and Blackcurrant Pie
Score: 5.75/7
[Colour 6.5, Capacity 6.25, Consistency 5.5, Condition 6, Chewiness 5.25, Cheapness 5, Content 5.75]

Piebury Corner Blueberry Pie
Score: 5.89/7
[Colour 6.5, Capacity 6.25, Consistency 5.75, Condition 6, Chewiness 5.5, Cheapness 5, Content 6.25]

Piebury Corner Cherry Pie
Score: 5.82/7
[Colour 6.5, Capacity 6.25, Consistency 5.5, Condition 6, Chewiness 5.25, Cheapness 5, Content 6.25]

RAS

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Piebury Corner - Steak and Ale and Chicken Balti Pie Reviews

There is a corner of Highbury and Islington devoted to pies, one that you may have heard of before because they are loved by our very own Pierateer RAS, who has reviewed a number of their pies, putting a couple of them right near the top of our pie rankings. I was delighted to finally get my hands on some of these pies which come so highly regarded, so of course I had to get a few!

I got a Lamb and Veg ("Ian Wright") because this had been reviewed highly by Mr RAS. I also got a couple of pies not yet in our pie rankings, a Steak and Ale ("Tony Adams") and a Chicken Balti ("Lee Dixon"). After refusing gravy on my pie (as I wanted to experience it in the purest form) they kindly gave me a separate pot of gravy. Sadly this backfired as I suffered a gravy explosion all over my take away pies and the bag, a bit of a nightmare, but my fault for taking the pies away on my bike. That aside, Piebury Corner seemed like a lovely little place and I was very impressed by the large array of pies on offer.


These pies were all the same shape and had the same pastry so I have some general comments which apply to them all. I can see why RAS likes them so much, the pastry in particular was the kind of pastry that exemplifies what I look for in pie pastry. It was crisp on the outside but soft and gooey in the middle. It also held together really well because it was fairly thick which meant it could be eaten with your hands if desired. The pastry also tasted very nice on its own. They were all well presented with some decorative pastry features and a nice colour. The pies were completely packed with filling but with only a small amount of boil out. I think this was achieved because there wasn’t much sauce in general. However, for me there was a downside, these pies were just too shallow for my liking. They didn’t look like what I imagine the perfect pie to look like. They were quite shallow and this combined with the thick pastry meant I thought they were a bit ‘pastry heavy’ and missed the ideal pastry to filling ratio. They were also a little bit small and I could have quite easily eaten more than one in one meal (but I do really love pies). But don’t let this put you off trying these pies, they are great, I would much rather have a pie which has a smaller capacity which is packed with content than one with an airgap. It is also nice to have a smaller pie of better quality, more isn’t always more fulfilling as I have found before… They were £3.50 cold or £4.80 hot, although the prices do vary with some of the other pies. The addition of roasties for a couple of quid more was welcome.

Lamb and Veg - The "Ian Wright"

There was a great lamb flavour from this pie and plenty of pieces of meat. The veg seemed to mainly just be carrot but it was very nice and it wasn’t overcooked, which is difficult in a pie. Overall this really was delicious. See the full review by RAS.

Steak and Ale - The "Tony Adams"

Condition – 5.8 out of 7 – Nicely presented although some boil out.

Colour – 6.5 out of 7 – A pretty darn good golden brown.

Cheapness – 4.5 out of 7 – The price was comparable to other gourmet pie companies in London such as Battersea Pie Station and Square Pie. I couldn’t help feeling though that these pies were a little small.

Capacity – 4.5 out of 7 – Quite a small capacity but it was well filled.

Chewiness – 6.9 out of 7 – A fabulous texture throughout the pie.

Content – 6.7 out of 7 – It didn’t do anything special with the flavours but it did capture the Steak and Ale taste perfectly. There were nice meaty chunks to sink my teeth into. Some great seasoning.

Consistency – 6.5 out of 7 – This pie was very, very easy to eat (although it was all gone too soon, I forgot to take a photo until I had nearly eaten it all). A little more gravy would have been nice but it was still lovely and moist.

Piebury Corner Steak and Ale "Tony Adams" Pie
Score: 5.91/7

Chicken Balti - The "Lee Dixon"

Condition – 6.0 out of 7 – Nicely presented.

Colour – 6.5 out of 7 – A pretty darn good golden brown.

Cheapness – 4.5 out of 7 – Same as Steak & Guinness

Capacity – 4.5 out of 7 – Quite a small capacity but it was well filled.

Chewiness – 5.8 out of 7 – A fabulous texture throughout the pie. The chicken was chunky and fibrous.

Content – 3.5 out of 7 – On my first bite I thought this was going to be really nice, the flavours were proper curry spices, not generic curry sauce as many curry pies have. However, after eating a bit more I found the whole thing very bland, there wasn’t enough spice for me, it wasn’t hot at all. I am not sure whether my pie was just lacking any sauce as it was almost entirely taken up by pieces of chicken. This may have been where the problem was.

Consistency – 3.5 out of 7 – This pie was again very easy to eat but didn’t really quite work holistically, there needed to be a bit of sauce to give it the consistency I would expect from a Balti pie which normally have plenty of sauce, like a Balti curry does.

Piebury Corner Chicken Balti "Lee Dixon" Pie
Score: 4.90/7


SJL 

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Piebury Corner Venison, Ox Cheek and Mushroom "The Ox" Pie Review

We all know that football and pies are a match made in heaven. But here on the Pierate Ship we have found some Premier League pies in the form of Piebury Corner, located just a stone’s throw away from Arsenal’s Emirates stadium. It was therefore a pleasure to be able to do the proper “pre-match pie” ritual before a recent evening kick off at Arsenal, which I had seen many Arsenal fans tweet about before going to matches themselves.

When I arrived at Piebury Corner about an hour and a quarter before kick-off there were already plenty of people consuming pies inside and outside of the shop. They had opened a pie hatch which served the pies and beers to people congregating on the street outside the shop – in addition to those serving pies in the shop – and Piebury were doing a roaring trade. The hatch, which had been used to serve pies from when the premises was last a pie shop, was certainly helping get the pies out but there was still a steady flow as I joined the queue and ordered my pie.

Piebury Corner Pie Menu

It must be pointed out that they have a set match list of pies, featuring a number of their fans favourites, but one of their new pies – the Venison, Ox Cheek and Mushroom Pie or "The Ox" after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – had been set aside for me to pick up and rate, as a new addition to their menu. In addition to the general bustle of lots of happy pie customers was the addition of a DJ playing tunes outside the shop, which added to the atmosphere and gave it a different dimension to the more typical restaurant feel I had got from previous visits to the shop on non-match days. I’d certainly recommend getting down to Piebury Corner on a match day for a livelier, more exciting atmosphere.




But of course you don’t just want to know about the shop! You want to know about the pie! So how did this latest addition to the Piebury team sheet rate?

Piebury Corner Venison, Ox Cheek and Mushroom "The Ox" Pie

Well, the great thing is this pie had all the great hallmarks of the Piebury Corner pies I had rated in the past. The pie was packed to capacity, again bulging slightly with the large pieces of meat inside the pie. The pastry:filling ratio was pretty much spot on, with a good flavoursome filling complementing the crisp but thin outer pastry. As you would expect from a proper football pie you could easily have eaten the pie by hand, picking it up from the plate, as the pie held together really well.

The filling itself was delicious, tender pieces of venison and ox cheek with a few whole mushrooms thrown in for good measure. The meat was lovely and had a good noticeable flavour to it without being overpowering, while the mushrooms were well cooked and added to the flavour. While I understand that they go for large pieces of meat (and in this case mushrooms) to benefit the football pie eater, who wants to take a few large bites when consuming the pie, I would have preferred a slightly better balanced distribution consistently throughout the pie. However despite being big chunks of meat, it was great quality and went really well with the gravy. The pie was not dry at all and a real pleasure to eat.

While the mushrooms did add a different flavour to the pie, I did naturally compare this pie back to the Thierry Henry (Venison in a Red Wine Gravy) pie that I have previously rated and couldn’t help thinking I would rather have had more meat than meat and mushroom. But that aside, this was still a very good pie and certainly challenges the top of our pie rankings list. Therefore I’m not Gunner say anything else other than that it is yet another “Pierate Highly Recommended” pie from Piebury Corner.

Piebury Corner Venison, Ox Cheek and Mushroom "The Ox" Pie
Score: 6.32/7
[Colour 6.75/7; Consistency 5.75/7; Cheapness 5.75/7; Chewiness 6.5/7; Condition 6.75/7; Content 6.25/7; Capacity 6.5/7; Total: 6.32/7]
RAS

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Pie Review of the Piebury Corner 'Charlie Nicholas' Scotch Pie

Piebury Corner Scotch Pie

I think you can tell a lot about a pie by the amount of distance someone is willing to travel to get their hands on the best! And I can’t think of a much bigger example of that than Paul of Piebury Corner:

On the 1000 miles for a 1000 scotch pies run again. slow on the M6, at least we've got @RealRomfordPele for company on @talkSPORT
— Piebury Cörner (@PieburyCorner) November 6, 2013

Yes, you read that right! Paul travels 1,000 miles from his London shop to Scotland and back in order to pick up Scotch pies from the West side of Scotland. [The reason why it’s the west side of Scotland, in case you were wondering, is because the west coast is more famed for its prime minced beef Scotch pies, compared to the typical minced mutton Scotch pies on the east coast of Scotland.] Paul gets them from a former World Scotch Pie making champion, so you know they’ve got pedigree.




Piebury Corner Scotch Pie

So the 'Charlie Nicholas' then... the 100% minced beef Scotch Pie from Piebury Corner. Of course you already know it is 100% minced beef inside and immediately as you cut through the crisp top layer of pastry you can see the minced beef , spread evenly throughout the pie. There’s no padding it with vegetables or anything unnecessary – it’s just meat, meat and more meat! That’s something we’re quite comfortable with at Pierate HQ!




At £5 it is the cheapest ‘pie and potato’ combo on the menu (or just £3 for the pie alone in restaurant and just £2 to take away), which considering the amount of petrol used to collect these pies is quite a feat! A good size and one that filled the hole well for lunch. I wouldn’t have minded it being a little bigger if I was having it for my dinner though.

On reflection, I think I would generally go for a ‘chunks of meat’ rather than minced meat option given the range of top rated pies at Piebury Corner, but Paul has done us a great favour by bringing a top Scotch pie to the table of London pie fans and  it's top rated. It’s gunner have to be one great pie to travel 1,000 miles for! And I would drive 500 miles and I would drive 500 more...

Piebury Corner Scotch Pie (Minced Beef) ‘Charlie Nicholas’
Score: 5.96/7
[Colour 5.5/7; Consistency 6.5/7; Cheapness 6/7; Chewiness 6.5/7; Condition 5.5/7; Content 5.75/7; Capacity 6/7; Total: 5.96/7]
RAS

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Piebury Corner Pie Reviews

Top Row [L-R]: Reg Lewis; Ian Wright; Dennis Bergkamp Front Row: Evie's cheeky hand; Thierry Henry; Ray Parlour (well, a third of it!)

The pie came hot. With mash it was £6.50, without mash £4.50 (if you're a student or pensioner then you can get it £5 with mash). I thought that was a fairly hefty price tag for not a particularly big pie (the pies are quite shallow).

The content of the pie. It's minced beef, which some might say is indicative of a lower quality meat, but to be honest it was absolutely what I was craving.

It's a very pretty looking pie. The top of the pie is lovely and glossy - how do they get it so glossy? Handsome looks apart, how does the pie taste? It's a yum. The pastry is good quality. I find it hard to assess the quality of beef and onion pies, but it tasted great. In retrospect I should have chosen a different pie where it would have been easier to assess the content, as I don't think this beef and onion content brought anything original to the table. The real winner here though is the pastry. Did I mention the glossiness of it? I'm not sure I've seen something like that before. For me, however, the pie was a little shallow. An intriguing shape and looks pretty, but means the pie compromises on content volume for the price.

Piebury Corner 'Charlie George' Beef and Onion pie
Score: 5.15/7
TJP

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