Stanbury Wild Game Pie Reviews

So a couple of weeks back we had the small matter of British Pie Week to enjoy, and unsur-pie-singly we had a few pies to celebrate this momentous occasion! And while we managed to document the pies we got our teeth into via our daily diary articles (see the bottom of this article), now comes the time to write up all our new pies on the world’s leading pie review blog!

Stanbury's Squirrel and Rabbit Pie and Mixed Game Pie

A pie-light at the end of British Pie Week, enjoyed on Day Six and Day Seven, were the wild game pies that we had from Stanbury Wild Game Pie Company. This is a relatively new husband and wife team producing – you’ve guessed it! – wild game pies. They’ve been making wild game pies for about 3 years now, selling mainly at local farmers markets and food festivals near Exeter in Devon. However this has recently changed with a new online delivery option via their website, so now more people can get hold of their pies!

Venison and Pheasant Pies from Stanbury Wild Game Pies

To mark British Pie Week, the owners of Stanbury Wild Game Pie Company arranged to send us six of their game pies – 4 of which we ate in British Pie Week and review below and 2 of which we froze to eat soon. The pies we review below are the Venison and Mushroom, Mixed Game, Pheasant and Cider and Rabbit and Squirrel pies. Each of them sell for £3 on market stalls or £3.50 online (apart from the Rabbit and Squirrel pie, which is £3.50/£4).

As with any wild game pie, you’ve got to be careful to look out for small bones or leftover shot, but I’m pleased to say all four were fine in this regard, with no fat left on the meat either. This is a great sign of a company who take care of their produce and only want to provide the best pies to their consumers. The pastry was good – especially the crisp golden pastry on top of the pie, even if the side and base were a little paler and less crisp on them all. But all in all, not bad at all.

Pheasant and Cider Pie

Pheasant and Cider Pie
Certainly a combo I’d not tried before – I think I had only consumed Pheasant within a mixed game pie before this one! And there was a good amount of meat too, with no criticism there! The cider added an interesting flavour to the mix, fortunately not making it too sweet in the process but acting as a nice balance to the pheasant’s meat flavour. I’d certainly recommend this pie. The pastry, as with all of them, was lovely and crisp on top and looked beautifully golden. Besides the meat the filling was more thick sauce than gravy, an interesting consistency, but balanced the pie well.

Score: 5.82/7
[Colour 6, Capacity 6.5, Consistency 5.5, Condition 5.75, Chewiness 5.5, Cheapness 5.5, Content 6]

Venison Pie

Venison and Mushroom Pie
Venison pies, understandably, are a lot more common nationwide than some of the other wild game pies on their menu, however they have done a good job of providing a lovely venison pie here. While I personally wouldn’t go for a venison and mushroom option over a straight out venison pie – and also would prefer a gravy rather than a thick sauce – when putting my personal preferences aside this was a nice pie and I still enjoyed it. The pastry (especially the lid) was nice and crisp and complemented the meaty content well. While I have to admit I was more excited by the other (more unusual) flavours, it’s encouraging to see them doing the slightly more regular flavours well too!

Score: 5.54/7
[Colour 6, Capacity 6.5, Consistency 5, Condition 5.75, Chewiness 5, Cheapness 5.5, Content 5]

Mixed Game Pie

Mixed Game Pie
Like London buses, you have your first pie with pheasant in for a long while, and then a second comes along slightly after! This time the pheasant was in a mixed game pie also containing venison, partridge and pigeon! And we also found out on the Friday before we ate it that this pie was the Class winner at the British Pie Awards for best speciality meats and game pie 2018!

As for the pie itself, it was crammed full of lovely, tender meat. The moist succulent filling balanced well with the crisp pastry and it was an unusual mix of flavours rarely seen all in one pie. I can see why this rated well with the judges at the British Pie Awards!

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

Rabbit and Squirrel Pie

Rabbit and Squirrel Pie
Of course both rabbit and squirrel pies are pretty unique (although we have tried both individually), this was the first time we were rating them in combination. And I certainly enjoyed the meat mix! Not your usual combo but one for your dinner guests to talk about! Personally I’m not sure I’d choose to pay more to have a rabbit and squirrel pie over the rest of their wild pie range but interesting flavour mix to give people the option if needed.

Score: 5.82/7
[Colour 6, Capacity 6.5, Consistency 5.5, Condition 5.75, Chewiness 5.5, Cheapness 5.5, Content 6]


All in all, some unique meat flavours in there and some top rated scores, particularly the mixed game pie which backs up its British Pie Awards class win with a Pierate Highly Recommended pie score! Our thanks to Nel from Stanbury Wild Game Pie Company for supplying us with these lovely Pierate Recommended pies. I certainly commend them to you if you fancy something a bit different from your standard beef or chicken pie!!

#britishpieawards class 12

Stanbury's wild game pie pic.twitter.com/vNrSeADb4C

— DUB Pies (@dubpies) March 9, 2018

RAS

Add Your Opinion 0 Opinions

Radford’s Pie Company Venison and Beef in Red Wine Pie Reviews

While snow may have ground most of the UK to a halt last week as the “Beast from the East” and Storm Emma hit British shores, we were delighted to still receive through the post a box with two great looking pies from Radford’s Pie Company on Friday morning! And while I somehow managed to wait until British Pie Week before eating them, on Monday I enjoyed both for my dinner.

Radford's Venison (l) and Beef in Red Wine Pie Reviews

In the post were a venison pie and a beef in red wine pie. Both were in perfect condition through the post and it just so happened that on Monday the owner of the pie company Noel also had a venison pie himself! For those who don’t know, Noel and his family the Radford’s featured on Channel 4’s 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and “20 kids and counting” and are – as you might have guessed – the largest family in the UK! With so many mouths to feed, it’s a good job the family run a pie company out of the local bakery they own! And not just any bakery, but a top rated pie company at that!

With over 15 years of pie baking in the bank and plenty of demand for their home delivery service of those pies, it’s great to see a family run business doing well and expanding their delivery options and we wish them continued success in this. Their previous pies had rated very highly, almost all obtaining a Pierate Recommended score of 5.5/7 or above, so what about the venison and beef in red wine pies I rated this time?


Well, as before, the pies were again made with shortcrust pastry, with a crisp lid and pastry sides that held the content in well. This was particularly evident when seeing how well filled the pies were, as the pies are crammed to capacity with meat! They come in the classic foil case with crimped top edges, familiar to a lot of (particularly Northern) pies and at £3.45 for the venison pie and just £3.35 for the beef in red wine pie, I think these are both very good value for the price you pay.

As you can see from the photos, they cut well and didn’t collapse like a lot of pies can do. The cross-section really highlights the packed content and the golden lids to the pies. The venison pie in particular had an impressive pastry motif on top too! And as mentioned in our previous review, the local ingredients, from butchers and vegetable sellers near to the bakery, also adds to the appeal of these pies. Here are the individual flavours:

Radfords Beef in Red Wine Pie Review

Beef in Red Wine Pie

There was a good amount of tender beef in this pie, which was complimented by a bit of vegetable. The meat was lovely and flavoursome and the gravy was a decent thickness, flavoured well by the red wine. This didn’t overpower the pie by any means and the tender content complimented the crisp pastry well. This was easily another Pierate Recommended pie, and just fell slightly short to the venison pie I also had!

Score: 5.75/7
[Colour 6, Capacity 6.5, Consistency 5.25, Condition 5.75, Chewiness 5.5, Cheapness 5.25, Content 6]

Radfords Venison Pie Review

Venison Pie

While I very much enjoyed the beef in red wine pie, it paled slightly in comparison to the venison pie I also had on Monday evening. In fact, this venison pie was easily the nicest pie from the Radford’s range I’ve had to date. The pie was simple but effective – tender venison meat and a lovely gravy, which was a tad runny but tasted delicious. My only real criticism of this pie was that a couple of bits of the meat were a little fatty still, but this is one of the challenges of working with venison! Overall, the meat was a great foil to the crisp pastry and it is certainly deserving of Pierate Highly Recommended status!

Score: 6.11/7
[Colour 6.25, Capacity 6.5, Consistency 5.5, Condition 6.75, Chewiness 5, Cheapness 6, Content 6.75]


With almost all their prior pies knocking on the door of being Pierate Highly Recommended (which is 6/7 or above), the family at Radford’s have finally achieved it! Their venison pie was one of the best I’ve had and I hope to get my hands on some more sometime soon! And with home delivery as an option, I certainly recommend you get your hands on some Radford’s pies during this British Pie Week and beyond!

RAS

Add Your Opinion 0 Opinions

Slow Cooked Venison and Red Wine and Chicken, Bacon and Mushroom Pie Reviews from Higgidy

Higgidy Pie Review

Not for the first time on reaching a big occasion on the world’s leading pie reviewing blog we’ve gone to a tried and tested top pie producer in Higgidy’s pies to celebrate! You may not remember but several years ago back on 7th July 2013 we rated a Slow Cooked Steak & Red Wine Pie from Higgidy to celebrate our 200th pie review on Pierate, and today I’m reviewing the two pies I had on International Pierate Day 2016 (which was our 7th Birthday Pie-rty!)

A lot has happened on Pierate since that 200th pie review almost three and a half years ago – namely almost another 400 pie reviews plus multiple TV and radio ap-pie-rances! But they have also in the Higgidy kitchen too, with a wider range and much more regular availability showing the growth the company have made too. I mentioned in my 200th review that it was more like me having to sail the seven stores than the seven seas to find a Higgidy pie back in 2013, before getting my hands on one of their pies! But for International Pierate Day 2016 I was able to pick up two new Higgidy pies at my local Sainsbury’s for £3.70 each, which is just 21p more than what I paid back in 2013 (though the pies are still the same size at 250g).

On the shelf, one of the things that really stands out is the attractive packaging, with a number of intriguing features including the care put into selecting only the best ingredients (in the case of the chicken pie, even stating which farm it is sourced from!) and a cheeky see through plastic glimpse of the pie in question. It is clear from the packaging and the quality of the pie when eating that these people clearly love their pies! The box states the pie was “lovingly made in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex” and I very much appreciate the care and attention put into it. The pie holds together well, has good content and interesting flavours. With 4 pies already scoring over 5/7 (thus being “Pierate Recommended”) Higgidy know how to make a good pie! So how did these two flavours rate?



Higgidy Venison Pie

Slow Cooked Venison and Red Wine Pie

This “special guest” pie – available for a limited time only – was a nice addition to the Higgidy family, from which we had not had a venison pie before. Regarding the content, the meat was nice and tender from it being slow cooked and, while a bit lacking at just 22%, it did give a nice flavour to the pie. The first few bites were slightly dominated by the chestnut mushrooms and the cranberry and apricot stuffing does add a surprising sweetness to the underside of the crisp puff pastry lid, however these flavours do combine to give the pie quite a unique and seasonal flavour.

However the biggest surprise was hint of dark chocolate, which certainly added some additional richness to sauce. While not really my cup to tea, I can understand it adds an extra texture to the pie sauce and would appeal to those who like something quirky in their pie fillings. It does however dominate the flavour a lot, so not ideal if it doesn’t take your fancy. The capacity was a bit lacking too, so while a good content the air gap does bring the score down a bit.

The Higgidy pastry, as ever, is very good quality. The pastry is a golden colour and perfectly held together. Fully encased with short crust pastry sides and base and a buttery puff pastry lid, it is a classic example of pie pastry done well, holding together and giving you a good crunch on top while holding the moist filling. The puff pastry lid, in particular, was very nice. I commend them for something new and it is certainly not lacking in flavour, once again being awarded Pierate Recommended status.

Higgidy Slow Cooked Venison and Red Wine Pie
Score: 5.43/7
[Colour 6/7; Consistency 5/7; Cheapness 4/7; Chewiness 5.75/7; Condition 6/7; Content 6/7; Capacity 5.25/7]




Higgidy Chicken, Bacon and Mushroom Pie Review

Chicken, Bacon and Mushroom Pie

Similarly the pastry was very good for the chicken, bacon and mushroom pie and a highlight of this pie. Golden and crisp, it complimented the filling well. Again the meat content could have been a bit higher, at just 19% chicken and 7% bacon, but it was once again the mushrooms that slightly dominated the flavour, with three different types of mushroom in this pie (making up 16% of the pie!) The creamy sauce was pleasant and complimented the pie well, again leading to a Pierate Recommended status pie.

Higgidy Chicken, Bacon and Mushroom Pie
Score: 5.5/7
[Colour 6/7; Consistency 5.5/7; Cheapness 4/7; Chewiness 5.75/7; Condition 6/7; Content 6/7; Capacity 5.25/7]


In summary, Higgidy have once again produced two recommended pies. While both could have been a bit bigger and had more meat content for the price (£3.70 for a 250g pie), they were certainly both being sold as and delivered as a pie on the top end of the supermarket range. A bit more meat would have boosted them ever so slightly higher in the rankings, as neither were at full capacity when you cut into the pies, but in general two pies worth getting your hands on!

RAS

Add Your Opinion 0 Opinions

Plenty Pies - Pie Reviews

Since moving to Gloucestershire a couple of years ago I have been trying to build up my knowledge of where the best local pies can be found. It has been a bit remiss of me to only just review Plenty Pies now. The company, based near Nailsworth, have done well at the British Pie Awards the last couple of years including winning the award for best chicken pie in 2014. Now, having tried a few of their pies I am going to summarise my thoughts with help from our vegetarian Pierateer ARL who will give the veggie version a fair review.

Plenty was started by Marc and Kate Birch in 2010 and they have adopted a policy of baking six different flavours each week from a repertoire which is said to have include 150 different recipes. It allows them to tailor their fillings based on the seasons with creamier, lighter fillings for the summer and stock based recipes for the winter. This method of varying the pie fillings has been adopted by a few top pie producers recently (MyPie and Great North Pie Company spring to mind) and works well. It keeps the pies interesting for their regular customers as well as allowing them to use the tasty, seasonal produce available. They are also committed to making things themselves by hand. All this adds up to a unique pie experience.

Their pies are popular locally and are widely available in markets and farm shops. I have picked up their pies in various places in Gloucestershire including Gloucester Christmas Market, Over Farm Market and Burford Garden Centre.

All of these pies came in the same kind of pastry case. They were all very well presented with sprinklings of herbs or seeds which signified the flavours. The appearance was subtle but effective. I thought that the size of each pie was good for an individual pie but it is about the size you would expect in this price range (approx £3.99). Whilst in general I enjoyed the flavour of the pastry, it was a bit more crumbly that I would ideally like, some of them did start to break after a trip home in a bag but perhaps I should have been more careful! The Squab pie in particular suffered from the journey home on my bike (sorry about that Plenty). The crumbly texture of the pastry certainly helped prevent it from being stodgy.

Gloucestershire Squab Pie

First up I am going to review the interesting Gloucestershire Squab pie I picked up at Over Farm Market (who incidentally have a great range of Plenty pies as well as their own). It is nice to see this traditional local flavour being used. Although a squab is a baby pigeon, in the South West this pie usually contains mutton and apple. It is thought that this unusual combination may recreate the flavour of the baby pigeon which is said to be slightly fruity. I was very pleased that Plenty were willing to try something a bit different with this pie as I really enjoyed it. It was delightfully different with a wonderful spicy/fruity taste complementing the rich meaty flavours very well. I was surprised that I enjoyed this pie so much as I am normally not so keen on mixing my sweet and savoury flavours, but the balance in this pie worked so well. Given that I eat a lot of regular pie flavours, such as steak and ale, it was really nice to have something different. The pie was well filled with plenty of meat. Overall it does enough to gain a Pierate 'Highly Recommended' award by scoring over 6 out of 7. It was £3.99 which is around the upper end I think I would want to pay for a gourmet pie but it justified the price.

Gloucestershire Squab (Plenty)
Score: 6.04/7
[Condition 6.25, Colour 6.50, Cheapness 5.50, Capacity 6.00, Chewiness 5.75, Content 6.25, Consistency 6.00]

SJL

Next up, I got 3 pies for £10 from Gloucester Christmas Market. It was a great market, with plenty of pies on offer (including Brockleby's who we have previously reviewed) but the display of pies on the Plenty stall stood out to me. I got a Wild Boar pie, a Venison pie and a vegetarian 'Veggiestan' pie. The Wild Boar was my favourite. It had a meaty flavour but also the addition of vegetables made it a little different to most wild boar pies. Something was adding nicely to the flavour of the boar and I wasn't sure what it was, I thought the pepper helped and also I wondered if there was a bit of a tomato. There seemed to be a fair bit of tasty onion. Whatever they had added, the flavour was distinctive and worked really well for me. The wild boar was minced but there was still enough to get your teeth into. The potato was quite firm rather than mushy (as it often is in a pie). One downside was that the pastry was a bit overly thick at the base of this pie but it didn't stop it scoring highly and just about edging it over the Squab pie as my favourite of all the Plenty pies that I have tried.

Wild Boar (Plenty)
Score: 6.15/7
[Condition 6.25, Colour 6.50, Cheapness 5.50, Capacity 6.00, Chewiness 5.80, Content 6.60, Consistency 6.40]

SJL

Despite looking superficially similar when I cut these pies open, for me the venison didn't work anywhere near as well as the wild boar. It went down more of the standard route you would expect for a pie containing game meat. It had a really rich, meaty sauce. I am not sure what it was but the flavours were a little too strong for me. There was quite a powerful onion-type taste which I thought was shallot. It also seemed to have a slightly fruity flavour competing with everything else. I also got a very slight sour note to the filling, somewhat like vinegar or alcohol. Overall none of these were bad flavours and I did enjoy the pie, but it didn't quite do it for me for some reason. It contained big chunks of tasty meat which gave it some bite. In that respect it was probably better than the wild boar. It was a shame for this pie that I was eating it at the same time as the wild boar which slightly overshadowed it. On it's own it is still a great pie.

Venison (Plenty)
Score: 5.52/7
[Condition 6.25, Colour 6.50, Cheapness 5.50, Capacity 6.00, Chewiness 5.80, Content 4.20, Consistency 4.40]

SJL

Venison (left) and Boar (right) pies

Just to demonstrate the full breadth of their repertoire, plenty have also got a Salmon pie which I picked up from Burford Garden Centre (another place that tends to have an excellent range of pies, sometimes stocking our number 1 ranked pie by Paul's pies). The colour on this pie looks a bit paler but I think this was primarily down to the lighting, it still had an attractive appearance and I managed to squash this one less than the others! Again this was a well filled pie with no air gap. As is usual for a fish pie there was plenty of filler in there as well as the fish. As you might expect, there was some potato but I was pleased to see the interesting addition of beans. It was nice to find that the filling was moist and slipped down very well. If anything, it slipped down a little too well. As is common with fish pies they don't have as much bite. The flavours were quite delicate, especially compared to the other Plenty pies. On balance I think it could have used a bit more salmon to give it enough of a fishy taste. Overall though this was a tasty pie and it can be tricky to get a 'proper' fish pie to work (by proper I mean encased in pastry rather than topped with mash). I commend Plenty for trying and this is a nice, lighter pie to have in the summer. Another high score.

Salmon (Plenty)
Score: 5.44/7
[Condition 6.25, Colour 6.25, Cheapness 5.50, Capacity 6.00, Chewiness 4.80, Content 4.80, Consistency 4.50]

SJL

Salmon pie

Last but not least we have the 'Veggiestan' pie review by vegetarian Pierateer ARL;

I overcooked this pie a little which created a dry pastry, but it still had a good colour. It was completely packed full of filling (chickpea and vegetable), with a slightly spicy flavour- almost a sweet and sour tang. It was a very nice blend. The content was unusual- it was sort of like a fajita in pie form or some other Mexican inspired dish, which I really liked. Many vegetarian pies can be a bit bland so this was a great plus point for it. As for its condition, early in the oven the pastry slit open, however no content spilled out, luckily. This could have been because I was cooking it in an aga so the temperature was too hot, or because it came all the way from Gloucester Christmas Market (I live in Buckinghamshire!), but regardless, it loses points for this. Although the gravy/sauce was nice, it was quite thick so didn’t soften up the pastry. Despite it’s prolonged time in the oven the carrot was still crunchy. This was fab as I HATE soggy carrot, and I don’t know anyone who does. It is one of the things that makes the traditional cottage/shepherds ‘pie’ a disappointment. The chickpeas were also on the crunchier side, which while ok, were a little bit too hard for my taste. Overall, the pie contained a good selection of vegetables including peas, onion, green pepper, carrot and tomato.


Veggiestan (Plenty)
Score: 4.86/7
[Condition 4.00, Colour 6.00, Cheapness 4.00, Capacity 5.00, Chewiness 3.00, Content 6.00, Consistency 6.00]

ARL

Add Your Opinion 0 Opinions

MyPie - Pie Reviews

If you have been reading Pierate recently you will realise that our favourite pies of 2015 were those made by "MyPie", a business set up by entreprenuer Chris Brumby who we first met back in 2014. In 2015 he started selling his excellent pies in London food markets from a refurbished Bedford van. The Steak & Ale has gone in at number 3 in our all time pie rankings and Chris was good enough to bring joy to our recent Pie Party by doing the catering! We had so many good comments we know it is not just the Pierateers that have fallen in love with these pies!

We do like to think that pies are quintessentially British and that we do the best pies. Hence it is perhaps a bit controversial that Chris is Austrialian and bringing a bit of Aussie pie magic to the streets of London. The Aussies are in fact more obsessed with pie that us Brits. Whilst we have an abundance of hot Cornish pasty outlets and Greggs (who sell hardly any pies) the Australians have a number of shops specialising in hot pies. We found this out first hand in our special investigation when Pierateer TJP was dispatched to warmer climes. Having tasted how good Chris' pies are I can now understand The Kinks song 'Australia'. It has the line 'everyone walks around with a perpetual smile across their face' which is not surprising when the pies are this good.

It is a bit of a treasure hunt tracking down Chris and his Bedford van. Wandering around the South Bank it took me a while to find him, you don't get the same problem with a pie shop, once you know where it is it tends to stay in the same place (if you ignore the effects of plate tectonics). But MyPie is transient and somewhat mysterious. I am now quite familiar with MyPie but I don't really know where I will find the MyPie van each day of the week. It is also uncertain what pies will be served. Then, once you have found him, before you know it he is gone again, such a tease. MyPie is much like the transient and mysterious nature of the pie itself. You never quite know what is going to be contained within the golden pastry case and if you are anything like me, once you do find out, it doesn't hang about for long. I think this all adds to the suspense and theater of the pie eating experience.

When I did track Chris down on London's South Bank, I was surprised to find what seemed like a London pie makers meeting, Paul and Nicky from Piebury Corner were busy chatting to Chris. Paul seemed quite taken with MyPie, which is a massive complement when they have been so successful with their own pie business.



All of the pies had the same fantastic pastry we enjoyed with the Steak & Ale and the Chicken, Ham & Tarragon where it was crisp on the outside and softer in the middle. They look terrific and very close to my vision of the quintessential, ultimate pie.

Firstly the Venison, Chili & Cheese. The pie was packed with chunks of great tasting meat which had a bit more flavour than your average meat pie. The chunks of meat were soft and satisfying to get your teeth into. The small amount of cheese at the base of the pie also added an interesting texture. It was a little like mozzarella in texture and didn't have a strong flavour. This kind of cheese in a pie seems to be a bit of an Aussie trait with the now defunct Jumbucks using cheese in a similar way. It is less common in British pies where Stilton seems to be the cheese of choice. The pie was full of rich gravy which had the perfect consistency in that it didn't just ooze out when the pie was cut open. It was perfectly seasoned but what made the flavour stand out was the heat from the chili. There wasn't too much of a kick but it was enough to give a good kicking to the com-pie-tition and make this pie enter into our top 10 all of all time in the number 4 spot!

Venison & Chili

Venison, Chili & Cheese (MyPie)
Score: 6.57/7
[Condition 6.50, Colour 6.75, Cheapness 6.50, Capacity 6.75, Chewiness 6.75, Content 6.25, Consistency 6.50]

SJL

Beef & Horseradish

Beef, Vegetable & Horseradish (MyPie)
Score: 6.11/7
[Condition 6.50, Colour 6.75, Cheapness 6.50, Capacity 6.75, Chewiness 6.75, Content 5.00, Consistency 4.50]

SJL

Now onto the Mince, Bacon & Cheese. This pie was somewhat different but no less special that the others. It is the closest I have ever come to eating a cheese burger in a pie. If that sounds appealing then you should really try this pie because it really nailed it. It had a full, smokey flavour, perhaps from the use of bacon.  Unlike an actual cheese burger, the meat could be very moist which was the most beautiful thing about this pie; whilst it was like a cheese burger it was even better due to being fully encased in pastry. There was no liquid gravy as such but it didn't need it. There was a layer of classic burger cheese at the top which added variety to the flavour. In some ways it captured all the aspects that I love about Scotch pies. Despite having no big meaty chunks, it felt like the texture wasn't lacking, there was plenty to get your teeth into. Another standout effort from MyPie although scores slightly less than the venison as I think I would more often choose a pie with big chunks of meat. Also, the pastry was slightly too thick in places.

Mince & Cheese

Mince, Bacon & Cheese (MyPie)
Score: 6.46/7
[Condition 6.50, Colour 6.75, Cheapness 6.50, Capacity 6.75, Chewiness 6.00, Content 6.25, Consistency 6.50]

SJL

Onto the Sweet Potato & Goat's Cheese vegetarian pie review by Pierateer ARL.

I didn’t know what flavour this was so it was a surprise. Or a sup-pies. Given the taste I guess that it was sweet potato, pea and some sort of cheese or cream. It was really tasty regardless of what flavour it was. The sauce was thick and creamy and the unidentified orange vegetable was soft and tender. The pastry was utterly perfect. It was crisp and buttery and I don’t know what else to say- it was so good. Generally, the pie lacked a depth of flavour. It was sweet (but nicely so!) and creamy, but that was all I really got from it.


Sweet Potato & Goat's Cheese (MyPie)
Score: 5.93/7
[Condition 6.00, Colour 7.00, Cheapness 6.5, Capacity 5.00, Chewiness 7.00, Content 4.00, Consistency 6.00]

ARL

Add Your Opinion 0 Opinions

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

Add Your Opinion 0 Opinions

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

Add Your Opinion 0 Opinions

Exclusive Cake Company - Game Pie Review

On a trip to Exmoor my Pie-dy senses had been alterted to the small town of Dulverton as a place where I might locate a good pie. Okay, this isn't quite true, I can't sense where good pies are, this was a recommendation, just like many of our visits. We are very lucky to be inundated with so many recommendations we just don't have the time or money to follow them all up. See our 'suggest a pie' page.


Dulverton is a lovely little town nestled in the beautiful Exmoor National Park. With a number of independent cafes and shops it seemed that there were plenty of pie options but there was only one place for me. I was quickly impressed by the Exclusive Cake Company. Despite the name indicating their passion for cakes, it was clear that the Exclusive Cake Company are also passionate about pies. Just have a look at the huge range of pies they have on their website. It was a difficult decision, I really could only eat one pie without leading to the sinful act of wasting pie, what type of meat should I go for? I decided to go all out with the triple meat combo of Venison, Rabbit and Pheasant, known as the Game Pie. This seemed appropriate while on Exmoor which is known for it's hunting pursuits.

Despite being one of the more expensive options this pie was worth the money and receives a much coveted 'Pierate Highly Recommended' award. It was meaty and delicious. Do check it out if you are in the area! See the score breakdown below.


Condition - 6.0 out of 7 - This pie was ruggedly handsome. The pie didn't look perfect but had a pleasing handmade appearance with a pastry shape on top to indicate the flavour.
Colour - 6.2 out of 7 - A pretty mix of different tones of golden brown. A little burnt boil out to indicate the pie is packed with content.
Cheapness - 5.8 out of 7 - At £3.20 this is pretty average for a gourmet pie, but often they can be quite small. Not this one, it was really quite big for an individual pie. When you consider that you are also getting more expensive meats and that it is full of content it certainly seemed worth it.
Capacity - 6.3 out of 7 - The capacity seemed about as big as possible and there was no air gap. However, there was a little bit of extra pastry on the join between the lid and sides so I felt there was slightly too much pastry. Also the sauce seemed to take up quite a lot of the space, but there was enough meat.
Chewiness - 5.5 out of 7 - The chunks of meat provided plenty to get your teeth into without being chewy. The pastry was nice and flaky on the outside without being puff pastry. (This reminded me of my favourite pies from Kings Farm.) It was crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, a great combination. However, it was a little bit dry at the edge which meant my teeth had to do more work than I would have liked. But this was only a small proportion of the pie. There was a bit of a strange texture to the sauce, it was so thick it was almost like jelly (as we have found elsewhere). Whilst not chewy as such, the texture was not what I would have chosen, I like thick sauce, but prefer it not quite this thick. I would note this did only have a small impact on my enjoyment.
Content - 6.9 out of 7 - Pure and simple, this was a great tasting pie. Very meaty and no nonsense. The game meat added plenty of flavour, with the venison being particularly apparent. Even the pastry tasted nice. If I had to criticise the taste of the filling I would say it seemed a little too salty to me which reminded me of a Pukka Pie.
Consistency - 5.8 out of 7 - Despite not being consistently perfect, overall the taste of both the filling and the pastry made this pie stand out and they worked well together.


Mixed Game (The Exclusive Cake Company [TA22 9HB])
6.07/7

SJL

Add Your Opinion 0 Opinions

The Barge – Game Pie Review

I moved to Gloucester in October last year but have yet to review a pie from the city itself. This is partly because of the wealth of good pies to eat elsewhere and a massive backlog of pies to review. The trip to Scotland to get my teeth into the best Scotch pies didn’t help. But the sad truth is that I have eaten some pies in the city, but they just haven’t made the cut when it comes to being review worthy. All of us Pierateers eat a lot of pies and unfortunately there just isn’t time to give them all a review. Sure enough, a really good or bad pie will get a review but often I won’t even add some of the middle or the road pies to my list of pies to review. They just aren’t interesting enough. Why have the pies in Gloucester failed to inspire me? Well to put it simply, they AREN’T PROPER PIES!

Sorry, I seemed to get a bit worked up there…. I would apologise, but I can’t help myself, I get so worked and disappointed when I order a pie only to find out it is a casserole with a pastry lid and Gloucester seems to be full of these ‘top-crust’ pies masquerading as the real deal.

Upon a trip to Gloucester Quays I was delighted to find a proper Game pie on the menu of The Barge restaurant. This is a nice settling amongst the historic Gloucester docks. Although I am not particularly interested in the designer outlets I am really pleased that the historic warehouses have been saved by being converted. There are still some areas where the old warehouses are falling down and I hope the money will eventually be found to convert these too. You start to get an idea of why Gloucester was once such an important city. The canal made the Quays the most inland docks in the country, quite an advantage in those days. I would worry that The Barge is slightly hidden away, a little distance from the main shopping and restaurant area and that they might struggle for custom. Perhaps this suits them. It was quite a charmingly small restaurant, with only a few tables. I found it a nice place to eat, the proprietor didn’t mind that we stayed for a long time, tired from wandering around Gloucester and the Folk Museum.

The pie was pretty decent, both the pastry and filling were different to your standard pie, which is good as it made it stand out, but there was room for improvement. I was very impressed by the fact that it contained 4 different meats, Venison, Beef, Pheasant and Pigeon. The fact that it was a slice of a bigger pie, rather than a whole, smaller pie is not my preferred choice but I did enjoy it. See the scores below.


Condition – 4.2 out of 7 – Well presented which can be difficult when cutting a slice of pie. I would have prefered to pour my own gravy.

Colour – 4.0 out of 7 – I couldn’t really distinguish between the colours of the meat, it looked slightly homogeneous but the pastry had some pleasing golden brown.

Cheapness – 5.5 out of 7 – I thought for £9.50 this was a great value meal in a nice location and setting. The amount of food was immense, especially for more expensive game meat, it was a huge slab of pie.

Capacity – 4.5 out of 7 – This piece of pie had a great capacity because it was so big plus it was well filled. However, I think there was a bit of a lack of pastry if anything, because it was a slice of pie it seemed to miss out the optimum ratio.

Chewiness – 3.5 out of 7 – There were some unusual textures going on in this pie, not always in a good way. The pastry was a little bit like bread which I didn’t like and the crust was a bit dry . The worst part was that the base had absorbed the filling and turned into a bit of a soggy mush. On the plus side, most of the meat was soft, except the pieces which I think might have been the pheasant which were a bit dry.

Content – 5.5 out of 7 – The pie was a real meat feast, I couldn’t tell the difference between the pieces of meat by looking at them but I could taste it. It is unusual to find so many types of meat in one pie and I certainly appreciated it. It was all very flavoursome in a rich meaty sauce. Despite being so big I didn’t get bored of eating the meaty chunks. There was a bit of a taste of biscuit from the crust which was a little weird.

Consistency – 4.0 out of 7 – A bit of a mixed bag which almost, but didn’t quite, work. It is something I would recommend if you like your pies meaty but I wouldn’t plan to try it again unless the pastry was improved.

Badminton Game Pie - Venison, Beef, Pheasant & Pigeon (The Barge [GL1 2DN])
4.46/7

SJL

Add Your Opinion 0 Opinions