While there may be a stewards enquiry if a Pierateer were to review a fellow Pierateer's homemade birthday pie, it is safe to say that SJL's homemade mini "Turkey and trimmings" pies were lovely and a great addition to the birthday winter picnic experience. Happy Birthday!


(For the record, I did also have some birthday cake, but only after at least 3 pies!)

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Reindeer Pie from Ye Olde Traditional Pye 'n' Puddin Stall

I realise the timing of this post – on Christmas Eve of all days – is slightly on the controversial side. Here’s just hoping that there are clear skies tonight, so that Rudolph’s red nose isn’t required for directing Santa’s sleigh... and that Father Christmas forgives me enough to still provide me with at least a few presents...

For a few days ago, I found to my surprise (and couldn’t resist purchasing) a Reindeer Pie from a farmers market in Birmingham! Now, as you can see from the photo this is definitely a pie of the “pork pie” variety i.e. it has been made using cured meat rather than tender meaty chunks and gravy. While this was not ideally what the Pierateer would have preferred, the lure of the Reindeer pie was too strong and he was right to give it a go, as while the meat was not as tender and moist as he would have liked, the pastry was very nice and crisp and the meat certainly had a twist to it. Definately tasted more deer like but quite rich. Not your average steak and ale!





Reindeer Pie

The capacity was good, however you couldn’t help feel it was slightly padded out with fat, rather than 100% meaty goodness. This meant that while the meat wasn’t chewy, it wasn’t as flavoursome as the reviewer had hoped. However, the pie was in good condition, especially as one would presume the reindeer had flown in to the UK especially to be in this pie! While the price was a bit off putting for its size, the intrigue more than made up for that! While I would have preferred a moister pie centre and proper chunks of meat, it was certainly worth a go. Probably won’t head over to Lapland for another one anytime soon though!

Ye Olde Traditional Pye 'n' Puddin Stall Reindeer Pie
Score: 4.2/7
RAS

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For all the pie loving geeks out there. (Apologies for the anatomically incorrect pie.)

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....if a pie chucker could chuck pies?

Check out this game on the Porters Restaurant website. It is quite simply an amazing opportunity to throw pies at France. Not to be missed! I managed 1328 miles.

http://www.porters.uk.com/tossthepie/

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Jumbucks - The Kiwi Pie Review

Yet again the Pierateers have gone 'down under', but by no means have lowered their standards, by visiting the Aussie pie makers, Jumbuck's, in Shepherds Bush. Jumbuck's are always worth another visit because they have so many unusual pie flavours to try and with new ones arriving regularly even the Pierateers struggle to keep up. This time I went for a pie called, somewhat controversially for an Aussie pie shop, 'The Kiwi' which was mince and cheese. To me this is emblematic of how the power of pies can really influence people. Here we have two countries, more often caught in rivalry, uniting in spirit to bring a bit of joy encased in pastry to West London. Jumbuck's make their pies in what they call 'Jaffle Irons', which means the pie is encased in a metal mould while being cooked and hence the pastry can't expand so much and is more gooey. This is rather like the pie maker previously reviewed. An upshot of this seems to be that they can get more filling into the pie without risk of it exploding, hence a great capacity. This seems like a good thing although my main bone with it is that the filling taking up this capacity is mostly liquid. Admittedly the gravy was delicious and thick but I felt like I was pretty much drinking this pie rather than eating it. Seriously I bet you could suck it up through a straw and just leave a hollow pastry case. In fact that sounds like a challenge for the Pierateers! Given that the pastry is also gooey, mastication is barely necessary for this pie giving my teeth a well needed break and making it high scoring on the Chewiness-o-meter.

At £2.50 this was slightly pricey for what is essentially a quite small pie. However, for me if I had more of this pie I think the cheesy flavour would have become too much although I enjoyed it in the quantities I had. This pie seemed to have some benefits over the 'Bushranger Deluxe' previously reviewed in that the content wasn't taken up by excessive quantities of mash potato. Jumbuck's have a knack of producing their consistently fab pastry and the condition seems to be great at any time of day. They are open until 1am on Friday and Saturday which gives them a massive plus in my book. As they are open at 7:30am during the week the deliciously unique 'Bacon and Egg' breakfast pie is also well worth a look.

The Kiwi - Meat & Cheese (Jumbucks)
5.06/7

SJL

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Birdseye Pie Review

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After pie loving friends “The Senei” had very kindly brought a John Crawshaw Butcher’s pie all the way back from Sheffield, it didn’t take me long to stick the pie in the oven and have a butchers at it. One of your standard steak pies, the pastry turned a lovely golden colour upon heating up and I was looking forward to a highly recommended pie. And the fact it was straight from the handmade producer, rather than having been caught up in a mass-produced supermarket chain production, only added to the sense of anticipation as I delved in. Would it be worth the mileage to go back and have a butchers at another flavour? Would the pie be a cut above the rest?


Well firstly, there is no doubting the meatylicious content of this pie – it is full to the brim with very nice meaty chunks. Top quality meat comes as no surprise straight from a butcher. The main downside of this pie is that the pastry was a bit dry and there was not really any gravy – certainly no liquid gravy oozing from the pie as you ate it. This may in part be due to heating a pie straight from the butchers stand, but it is a significant downside to the pie as a whole. While I had the facilities to make some additional gravy to go with the pie as I was at home while eating, this is not an ideal situation to find yourself in. It certainly reduces the ‘grab and go’ appeal of this pie. It was however good to know that I wasn’t lining a large supermarket chain’s pocket with the pie purchase (even if, technically speaking, that’s because I didn’t buy the pie in the first place...but good to know the Senei were ‘going local’ in their purchase). For the butcher’s meaty goodness, it gets a good score.

Score = 5.1/7 (RAS)

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Cadwalader's Ice Cream Cafe Steak Pie Review

Now before you get over excited by the title I am sorry to say that I haven't made an ice cream pie... although now I think of it that would be an excellent idea for a future pierateer adventure.... This review is actually about a pie I purchased from Cadwalader's Ice Cream Cafe in Criccieth, North Wales. Even without the pies on sale this is a lovely place, perched half way up the hill towards the castle in this picturesque coastal town. They sell the best ice creams which have been made in this location since 1927 to a secret recipe, famously made with 6lbs of "shan't tell you".

But enough with this twaddle about calories that aren't encased in pastry, I hear you cry! Don't take up our time talking about where you went on holiday. What is this, a documented suicidal canter towards pie related heart disease disguised as a pie blog or another tedious travel guide telling us about how everything is so fantastic everywhere that your not? Next we will be telling you the only way to get to Ulaanbaator is by pogo stick and the fermented yak's milk you have when you get there tastes so much better if you stick the straw up your nose.


Anyway, I have digressed far too much, so I will compensate by cutting right to the chase. This is a fantastic pie, especially for the price which came in at something like £1.50. The pastry was solid which made it especially portable. Handy to handle if you want to take it down to the nearby beach. This didn't detract from the taste, which was as golden delicious as it looked. The meat was tender and the gravy had a viscosity nigh on perfection. Cadwalader's pride themselves in making their own products and using local ingredients wherever possible and it shows. Fantastic, I just need them to open up a cafe nearer to home now.

Cadwalader's Ice Cream Cafe Steak Pie
Score: 6.11/7
SJL

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Tesco Finest Chicken, Leek and Bacon Pie Review

We have here a first for Pierate - a video review of Tesco Finest Chicken, Leek and Bacon Pies which can be found in the frozen aisle of your local Tesco.

Apologies that our reviewers were confused over both the cost of the pie and the actual flavour, it had been a long day of pie reviewing.

Tesco Finest Chicken, Leek and Bacon Pie Review
Score: 5.56/7
SJL and TJP

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L. Manze - London Pie & Mash Shop Review

Eel and Pie Houses have been providing traditional London pies since the 19th century and although less of the historic shops can be found today the Pierateers certainly weren't about to let this noble tradition pass them by. The L. Manze shop on Walthamstow High Street came highly regarded as one of the oldest having been established in 1928. The Manze family are a famous name within the Eel and Pie world having 3 different members of the family still with shops bearing their names today.

See our article on traditional Pie & Mash Shops to understand more about the history of these quaint old establishments

It is so unexpected to see such a lovely old fashioned eatery stuck inbetween the pound shops of Walthamstow. Upon entering it is like stepping back in time. There is a lovely marble and tile interior with narrow wooden booths. It is good to see a healthy stack of empty pie dishes on the counter and also a sign saying they had sold out of eels that day, clearly business is good. Although saddened that I couldn't grab myself some jellied eel that is a story for another day as of course I had my eyes on the pies.
I grab myself a mince pie and settle down in a booth. I'm not sure I have ever sat in such an uncomfortable seat, they were so very narrow it seems hard to imagine they were designed for real people. Fortunately for Manze's 'comfortable' is not one of the 7 Cs and this will not affect their rating.


But the real question is, do these pies provide anything special? While the offer of jellied eel is special, are their pies any different from the local chippy? The answer is most emphatically yes. The pies are served with mash potato and a thick parsley sauce which they call 'liquor' and is allegedly made using eel stock. I loved the liquor and appreciated the uniqueness of the marine flavouring. The pastry itself had a crunchiness around the edges and a crispness in the middle which turned gooey and flaky in the centre. They must use pastry and cooking techniques that I haven't come across before because it really was different. However this worked in it's favour because it isn't often that a Pierateer finds something unique and I loved it. The meat seemed to be consistently good quality with plenty of gravy. Overall I think every pie lover should take the opportunity to try one of these pies if they visit London. If not you can also order online from M. Manze, a separate shop originating from the same Manze family who sell similar pies.

On the way out of this historic establishment I noticed they had put saw dust on the floor. This doesn't happen in my local McDonald's or any other eatery I frequent so I questioned the motivation behind it. They said it was done as tradition and it soaked up spills. This really summed up the experience for me, unashamedly traditional. Please find a pie and mash shop near you and keep this original 'fast food' alive.

Traditional Minced Beef (L. Manze)
5.96/7 

SJL

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