Dubs Pie Review - Steak and Ale in Brooklyn, New York

Pierateer Rob in the Dubs Pies shop in Brooklyn

For a city that never sleeps, there is one main draw back to life in the Big Apple. Sure, they have plenty of fruit pies on the market, but where are the meat pies??? As a Briton looking for an ex-pie-rience in what American pie can offer, I took a subway into Brooklyn to try out the pie shop at Windsor Terrace, next to Prospect Park, called Dub Pies.

You may well have a vague memory of the name Dub Pies if you read our live blog of the British Pie Awards 2018, as we actually met the owner Gareth at the Awards! He had come over to the UK and timed his trip to include a visit to the awards and to sample some pies. His background is the meat pies of New Zealand, but you can never sample too many pies now, can you!!

Dubs Pies Shop in Brooklyn, New York

The store itself is a bit out of Downtown Brooklyn but still very accessible, just a minutes walk from the subway line on the west side of Prospect Park. While it was a shame they didn't do sides to go with the pie in store, I was there for the pie and this allowed me to focus on it! (To note: They do sometimes do sides when selling from their pie truck or at catered events, just no longer in the shop.)

You could choose to have your pie hot or take it away cold, but I was in the market for a hot pie for lunch! As you can see from the menu board in the photo they have quite an extensive range of pies, from the traditional beef mince and cheese pies common in New Zealand and Australia, to Chicken and Veggie options.

Dubs Pies - Steak and Ale Pie

However my eyes were set when I saw they had a steak and ale pie on the menu, which I felt would be a good benchmark to compare to the regular UK pies I regularly have. The content was pieces of steak in Fifth Hammer/Rockaways Blockaway Barleywine. At $6 this seemed very reasonable for a hot pie in such a location as central New York. The pie was reasonably flat, reminding me a bit of the Piebury Corner pies that aren't the deepest but are full to the brim of filling. These were the same.

The pie wasn't the most golden I have ever seen, but the colour and condition was pretty good. The lid of the pie undulated slightly, teasing the large chunks of steak below. However when bitten into it held together very well. As you can see from the cross-section you could hold the half-eaten pie without it crumbling everywhere. It seems it would be the ideal pie for a sports event!

Dubs Pies - Steak and Ale Pie

The capacity was very strong, filled to the brim with meaty chunks. The meat itself was nicely cooked and tender, with the main criticism of this pie being that it was rather dry inside. I do come from a land of gravy filled pies - legend has it I would bleed gravy, not blood - but even so, the dry pastry and dry filling did take the edge off this pie.

However the filling was very nice and I would certainly suggest that with a little more moisture inside this would really be challenging for a top pie rating! All in all I would certainly recommend giving Dub pies a look in and trying their traditional flavours - the Steak Mince and Cheese pie and the Thai Chicken Curry pie.

Score: 5.57/7
[Colour 5.5, Capacity 6.5, Consistency 5, Condition 6, Chewiness 6, Cheapness 4.5, Content 5.5]
RAS

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It's as if they could read my thoughts or something! Just days after I had visited their Brooklyn shop, the owner Gareth messaged me on twitter to say that the low gravy content in their steak and ale pie had been noted before, and that they had now in fact created a new version which addressed the lack of moisture! You can check out the photo of their new steak and ale pie below and I for one would love to give this new version a pie rating! I wouldn't be surprised if it got Pierate Highly Recommended! Next time!!!

The new Dubs Pies Steak and Ale Pie! Photo provided by Dubs Pies

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After a busy summer period, including a couple of Pierateer weddings (check out the wedding pie we had!!), it's high time we set sail on some more pie related adventures! But before we do, we thought it would be rude not to fill you in on some exciting pie news we've come across these last few weeks. Check them out below!

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Fellow Pie rater needs your Pukka vote!

Regular viewers of our @pierateers twitter feed will know that we follow and regularly chat with fellow pie blogger and football fan Katie Peal, who came to one of our Birmingham Pie Nights and has been a fellow pie judge at the British Pie Awards with us.

She supports Telford United and travels around rating pies at the lower league football grounds they play in. She's created her own special persona - @awaydaypiegirl - and has even got her own branded pie fork that features regularly on her Twitter! This lady is dedicated to pie!! And it's for that reason we're backing her in the com-pie-tition Pukka Pies have set up to find the biggest Pukka Pies superfan! Check out the tweet below:

It’s time to put our superfan in your hands! Who do you think deserves the crown? RT for @awaydaypiegirl, who lives and breathes all things pastry, and LIKE for @JimJamRadford, who shouts his fandom loud and proud. Take it away, vote ends Monday, 17th September! pic.twitter.com/2rLZP7eJKQ

— Pukka Pies (@PukkaPies) 12 September 2018

You can vote by either retweeting (for Katie) or liking (for Jim) the post above on the Pukka Pies Twitter account or voting on the Pukka Pies Facebook page until Monday 17th September. All the best Katie!!

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Pierateers heading back to Pieminister for their Sunday Best!

You may recall back in March of this year during British Pie Week 2018 we hosted a Birmingham Pie Night at the Pieminister pie shop in Birmingham City Centre. If not, you can read all about our Pie Night here - especially to whet your a-pie-tite as we'll be planning another for British Pie Week 2019!

But before all that, we're excited to be going back to Waterloo Street this coming Sunday to try out Pieminister's new "Sunday Best" pie meal option. If you've ever thought "What would happen if you combined an award winning pie with a roast dinner?" then think no more - you can try it out at your local Pieminister shop each Sunday starting this very Sunday 16th September!

To whet our a-pie-tite Pieminister sent us a preview description and it sounds e-pie-c!!!

"The Sunday Best is any of Pieminister's award winning pies on a pile of delicious mash, topped with a Yorkshire Pudding filled with swede mash, roast garlic & rosemary potatoes and finished with free range British Pork crackling and a pig-in-blanket. All served-up with a brimming boat of gravy on the side."

If that doesn't sound amazing, I don't know what does! Look out for the pie rating next week!!

British Pie Week Pieminister Pie Night

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MyPie is set to open a London pie shop!!

Pierateers with number 1 pie maker - Chris! (L to R - Chris, SJL, TJP, RAS)

Possibly the best pie news we've heard all year:

MyPie London, who make our number 1 rated pie out of over 600 have shared on Twitter that they're planning to open a pie shop in central London next month! We'll be sure to check out the MyPie website for updates from Chris about the details, but the plan is to open 20th October in Zone 1 for a three month period. We for one cannot wait to visit!!

From 20th October - we’re opening a restaurant. In zone 1. On one of the most famous damned streets in the world. #openforbusiness #pie #mash #peas #scotcheggs #3monthsonly

— MYPIE (@MYPIE_LDN) 3 September 2018

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British Pie Awards Winner Turner's Pies are now available for postal delivery!

Check out this great news from Turner's Pies, who were the Supreme Champions at the British Pie Awards 2018. They are now available for postal delivery!! We look forward to placing an order soon so we can get them on our pie rankings page. Act quick if you want to enter their com-pie-tition, which closes at 6pm today!!

#piesbypost GIVEAWAY ‼️
To celebrate our new service piesbypost. com we're giving away a whole box of #AwardWinning Pies. (Anywhere in UK)

To enter simply FAV,RT & TAG a friend you MIGHT share your pies with it they are extra nice😋

Winner announced Friday 6pm. 🤞 pic.twitter.com/w2YJFqVJ6g

— Turner’s Pies (@TurnersPies) 13 September 2018

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If you have a story you think would be good to feature on the web's leading pie review site, send us an email at pierateship@yahoo.co.uk or contact us on Twitter @pierateers Follow @pierateers

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Plymouth Football Club - Ginsters Peppered Steak Pie

On the Pierate Ship we can be a bit cautious about the South West. It is the pasty heartlands and whilst there are many decent pasty products, we maintain that a pasty is not a pie. But of course, everyone agrees with us on this point, it is not like a pasty would ever win the British Pie Awards.....

Often, because of the dominance of pasties, our beloved pie can be squeezed out. Hence I had a bit of trepidation about heading South to Plymouth Argyle for the match against Wycombe Wanderers. Would they even sell any pies to add to the Pierate Football Pie League?

Entering the ground I started to worry, there were a lot of Ginster's adverts (they are even Argyle's main shirt sponsor). We have reviewed some Ginster's pies but they tend to be rare, with their fame mostly associated with the Cornish pasty. I needn't have worried, as well as a range of pasties they also had Ginster's Peppered Steak and Chicken Balti pies; a very wide range of pastry products. I opted for the Peppered Steak for £3.50, slightly more pricey than average for the size of pie (which was a bit smaller than a Pukka). It was presented well in an eco-friendly paper bag. This not only prevents adding to the mountain of plastic in our environment but also seemed to have allowed the pie to breath whereas football pies in plastic/polystyrene can often be soggy. It had been sat on a warm counter which had kept it hot. The good Condition that this pie was served in was the biggest success for the Plymouth pie. It seems like they have a well organised catering team, making sure the food is cooked at just the right time rather than sitting around for ages and becoming dried out which is often the case for other football pies. Taking the pie out of the bag it looked pretty good, although it had sagged in the middle. It also looked a bit 'top heavy' with the pastry lid extending wider than the rest of the pie to make it look bigger than it actually was. It looked quite different to the supermarket Ginster's steak pie that TJP previously reviewed and I was certainly hoping for a better score than the dismal 2.32 out of 7 which that version picked up!

Delving into the pie it was immediately obvious to me that it was better than TJP's version. The pastry was perfectly cooked, quite rare for a football pie and quite difficult when you are cooking hundreds at once. Hats off to the Plymouth catering team for that. The lid had a nice crunch to it with a slight biscuit taste. The sides were softer, but not too soft, having also been properly cooked. There were identifiable pieces of steak, although they were perhaps a bit small compared to other 'steak' pies. There were also unexpected pieces of potato, which were fine and added some variety although I did initially think they were massive pieces of fat. There was a nice thick sauce, enough to keep it moist but not an excessive amount like you get in a Pukka pie. This was good because it meant the pie could be eaten by hand without making a mess, ideal for a football pie. The pastry also held together well. However, there was a lack of filling given the small capacity and the fact that the lid had sagged.

My main note of caution was that when they say 'peppered steak' they mean PEPPERED Steak. There really was a big hit of pepper. I love pepper but I think it might be a bit much for some people. You could actually see the big pieces of pepper within the pie. The peppery taste in combination with the potato reminded me of that classic Cornish pasty taste! Perhaps no surprise when it is Ginster's making the pie. It was a really nice change and I did enjoy this pie, but it is not something I would be looking to eat regularly outside of the football. Given how well it was cooked, this pie claims a reasonable mid-table position in the Pierate Football Pie League.


Plymouth/Ginsters (Peppered Steak)
4.45/7
SJL

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Notts County Football Club - Pukka Meat & Potato Pie Review

Three of the Pierateers made their way to Meadow Lane for the clash between high flying Notts County and Wycombe Wanderers at the end of last season. Not having been before I was surprised at how the ground is almost right next to the home of their city rivals, Nottingham Forest. The fairly modern ground provided a reasonable fan experience. An entertaining 0-0 draw helped Wycombe on their way to promotion (and a whole new set of away day pies). Despite our campaigning for more choice, this is yet another ground serving Pukka pies. At £3 the price was about average for League Two. There was a healthy choice of 3 pies, I went for a Meat & Potato which is generally not available in Southern football grounds with it being commonly associated with the North. I guess Nottingham probably sits on the Meat & Potato and Steak & Ale divide between North & South. I normally prefer a Steak pie but it was actually a nice change to have a Meat & Potato, the thick creamy texture is something you don’t get in the Steak pie. This was a typical example of a Meat & Potato, it did a good job of capturing the classic peppery flavour. I am often a bit scathing about the potato element which we often regard as ‘filler’. But in this case I enjoyed it. When you have potato as a ‘filler’ you expect the pie will be well filled. In this regard I think they could have done a bit better, it wasn’t exactly exploding with filling, the lid had sagged down a little. I have had a lot of badly cooked pies at football matches recently but fortunately this one was cooked okay. Having said that the pastry base was dried and a little burnt although not too badly; it was still worth eating. The reasonable condition has helped give it a respectable score, especially for a Meat & Potato pie. It did still fall apart on eating and I continue to question why so many football clubs choose to serve Pukka pies when they are not really suitable for eating by hand at a football match. The score sees a lower mid-table position in the Pieremiership, the Pierate Football Pie League.

Meat & Potato (Notts County Football Club/Pukka) 
4.05/7 
SJL

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You might think it has been quiet recently on Pierate and it is true that we have made less posts than usual over the Summer. This is mainly because we have been busy with weddings. It has been 5 years since the last Pierate wedding but we have recently celebrated two more Pierate weddings. After all this wait they then occured on consecutive weekends at the end of June! First Pierateer TJP tied the knot in Cheshire. Next Pierateer SJL married Pierateer ALE in Gloucestershire. It was great to get all the members of the Pierate Ship together for both weddings with Pierateers RAS, ARL and The Ship's Cook also in attendance. Pierateer RAS has been busy as well because he was the best man for SJL and organised a great stag do which involved pies from our number one pie supplier, MyPie and inevitably saw Sam dressed up as a pie. Many thanks to Chris of MyPie and Pierateer Rob for arranging the delicious stag do pie lunch.

You might expect that for a Pierate wedding there also has to be a pie involved at the wedding itself! If you are an avid reader of Pierate you may know that Pierateer ALE is the Gluten Free reviewer for Pierate. Fortunately this didn't prevent there being a top quality pie, with Voakes Free From providing a tiered wedding pie for the wedding of ALE and SJL! We have previously scored their pies very highly so we were delighted to be able to have them at the wedding. It was really quite spectacular, we are very grateful to them for arranging it and for sending samples to review beforehand, thanks so much to the team at Voakes Free From. They even did a pastry lid to the pork and chicken pie on our request (it normally comes with a stuffing lid). The pies went down very well with the guests. There was very little pie left over at the end, the two smaller layers had completely disappeared before we even tried them! The pies arrived by courier the day before in excellent condition. We cannot recommend them enough. You can see from the photo how happy we were to be cutting our wedding pie! We didn't think it would be possible to have such a tasty free from pie that everyone could enjoy (it was dairy and gluten free with some smaller Voakes pies on the side for the vegetarians).

We will finish this article with a quote from Sam's stag do "Marriage is like a pie, it is what you fill it with that really matters".

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Luton Town/Pukka Pies - Cheese & Onion Disaster Review

Sometimes it can take a while to be able to talk about a traumatic experience and the delay in providing this review is one of those occasions. In a bid to boost the number of clubs in our football pie league (the Pieremiership) I made the trek from my home in Gloucester over to Luton for the top of the table clash with Wycombe on a Tuesday night in February. Despite arriving in Luton quite early I delayed going into the stadium which is an absolute school boy error when it comes to pie reviewing. Getting in early you should get the best choice of pies and they are less likely to have dehydrated in the hot locker. The reason for my delay is that I am a minor public transport geek these days. Luton has a bus on rails (busway) which I wanted to see. (Yes, such a thing does exist!) I enjoyed my trip on the busway and I can't really explain why. I know that I am so far from cool that I am probably contributing to melting of the polar ice caps, but I don't care!

In this case my trip on the busway wasn't worth it. Although I was still about 15 minutes before kick-off the away end was packed. All the Wycombe tickets had sold out because this was a tasty top of the table clash. But the food wasn't tasty. In fact it didn't really taste of anything, the food kiosk having completely sold out of hot food. This was very worrying, especially as I had arrived hungry! They pointed me in the direction of the bar which might have more food. I desperately hoped they would have something, having come all this way, to go home pie-less would have been heartbreaking. My spirits lifted when I eventually got into the crowded bar and saw what looked like a pie in the hot locker. They told me it was cheese and onion, really not my favourite but I wasn't going to be fussy as it was apparently the last pie available in the whole ground and they weren't going to get any more (or any other hot food), even at half-time! This seemed like a bizarre situation to be missing out on much needed revenue. I wondered whether there was perhaps some food in the home end and away fans were being treated worse (again).





Anyway, back to the pie. To be fair they did warn me it wasn't in a great condition (which is why it was left til last). But what they hadn't warned me about was that it wasn't actually a pie! Absolute disaster! It took the form of something I would describe as a 'slice' as sold en masse by companies such as Ginsters. Unfortunately this was not the first time that I have ended up with a slice instead of a pie and I have developed a bit of a reputation on the Pierate Ship! In my defence this has mainly been down to lack of clear advertising, although I don't think this excuse will wash with the rest of the crew. If you are familiar with Pierate you will know that this doesn't meet our definition of a pie because it doesn't have a lid. Therefore we are unable to give it a score, which is perhaps a let off for Luton because this was one of the worst products I have had the misfortune to come across whilst sailing the 7 Cs.

But you might be wondering why this was so bad. Not only was this not a pie, it was also the most disgusting pastry product I have had the misfortune to eat at a football ground. Even worse than the ASDA smart price pie I was sold at Cheltenham. I like the occasional bit of puff pastry but this was so dry and flakey it disintegrated to nothing. Then there was the burnt bottom which was practically inedible. But this wasn't the worst bit about this pie. The filling was absolutely vile. I have to admit, I don't often go for a Cheese & Onion pie, but I have had some that I liked as long as the right cheese is used. But this one was just full of liquid cheese the type of which you might find in a burger. I tend to refer to this as 'plastic cheese' and I am not convinced it is actually made of cheese at all. That said, I am quite happy to eat a little bit on a burger, BUT NOT THE WHOLE CONTENT OF A PIE! Who ever thought this congealed mess of cheesiness was a good idea?  The soft onion provided some respite but was also a bit overpowering. There was nothing to get your teeth into at all with this pie. It felt like eating a soggy bag of cheese & onion crisps.

Overall, you might gather than I wasn't impressed. But rather than not enter Luton into our the Pierate Football Pie League (The Pieremiership) I have decided to enter them on zero points, given that they failed completely with their pie delivery. Not entering them feels like letting them off the hook. Hopefully this will act as a warning to others who might think about going to a match at Luton!

This slice was advertised as a Pukka. I didn't want to believe it but having reviewed photos it looks identical to what they have called a Cheese & Onion 'pasty'. Clearly it is not a pasty either, I really think Pukka need to work on their understanding of different pastry products, a shame when they are one of the biggest pie producers in the country!

SJL

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Voakes Free From Pork Pie Reviews

We came across the company Voakes during last year's #LeedsPieTour. Whilst not actually from Leeds itself, Voakes produced a proper Yorkshire pork pie and they narrowly beat the local boys Wilson's in producing the top pork pie of the #LeedsPieTour. Having already enjoyed the gluten version of the pie, we were excited by the prospect of getting our hands on the Voakes Gluten Free range for our coeliac reviewer, Pierateer ALE. They have a great choice of pies available for delivery from the Voakes Free From website with most of them also being dairy free (with some egg free vegan options). We were delighted to be sent a whole box of pies, including pies which were best eaten hot but with their reputation for pork pies we asled Pierateer ALE to review these first. All were eaten cold but of course, if you are from more Northern climes you might need to warm them up a tad.

See below the reviews from Pierateer ALE, interestingly the free from pork pie scored almost exactly the same as the gluten version we reviewed last year.

Pork Pie (Voakes)
5.57 out of 7 (Pierate Recommended)





Condition - 5 out of 7 - I was really impressed with how good all of these pies looked. Given that Gluten Free pastry can be so crumbly these pies did well to survive travel in the post. This pork pie was a little bit broken but none of the others were. Despite being free from gluten and dairy, this pie looked pleasingly 'normal'. In fact it had a classic pie shape with a satisfying crimp around the edge and a vent hole. From the outside you might not realise it was a pork pie as it looked like regular pastry rather than the hot water crust pastry you often get with a pork pie.
Colour - 6 out of 7 - For a gluten free pie I thought this looked really appealing. There was some glaze to the pastry although the colour was paler than many other pies.

Cheapness - 6 out of 7 - This was the smallest 'individual' sized pie priced at £2.10 each. When you consider the premium that you often have to pay for free from products, this is excellent value. You can pay more than this for an up market regular pork pie!
Capacity - 6 out of 7 - Most of the pie was filled with meat, there wasn't a lot of jelly but this suited me. There was hardly any air gap.
Chewiness - 6 out of 7 - Compared to your average pork pie this had a great texture. Rather than being in one lump of ham, the filling had more granularity and bite. It tasted like pieces of gammon rather than ham. There were some small pieces which were perhaps a bit too chewy but you do expect a bit of fat with a pork pie. Sometime a pork pie can feel dense but this one didn't. I felt I could slightly tell that from the texture of the pastry that it was free from because it was a bit more crumbly but it was pretty amazing considering it had no gluten OR dairy.

Content - 5 out of 7 - The flavours were subtle and what you would expect from a pork pie. But it was seasoned enough to keep it interesting and it was nice that it wasn't too salty like some pork pies with less good quality meat can be. 
Consistency - 5 out of 7 - Whilst it was an excellent pork pie, it was somewhat overshadowed by the other excellent versions which had more variety to the filling!

Pork & Black Pudding (Voakes)
6.07 out of 7 (Pierate Highly Recommended)



Condition - 5 out of 7 - This pie was similar in appearance to the pork pie and so scores equally highly.
Colour - 6 out of 7
Cheapness - 6 out of 7 - This pie was the bigger 'large' size which retails at £5.80. It was enough for two people to share with lunch and again represented excellent value for a free from pie of this quality. It is worth noting that this was a pie that Pierateer SJL could eat in one go so it depends on your appetite!
Capacity - 6 out of 7 - Another pie crammed with filling.
Chewiness - 6.5 out of 7 - This pie was anything but chewy, as you would expect, the black pudding was soft and made the whole thing wonderfully moist. It slipped down really well.
Content - 6.5 out of 7 - Wow, the tangy flavour from the black pudding really made this pie stand out. It is not the kind of thing you can normally get hold of as a free from product so this was a nice treat. The mixed up nature of the pieces of pork and black pudding kept the pie interesting from beginning to end. The flavours seem to have seeped into the pastry too, giving this pie an extra edge.
Consistency - 6.5 out of 7 - I would say that the pastry and filling of this pie were friends, happy to be in each other's company which made for a brilliant final product.


Pork & Chili (Voakes)
6.01 out of 7 (Pierate Highly Recommended)



Condition - 4.7 out of 7 - Whilst it again looks good enough to get my tastebuds going, it loses out slightly on condition compared to the other two because of the jelly boiling out on top.
Colour - 6 out of 7
Cheapness - 6 out of 7 - Another up-market large pie for £5.80.
Capacity - 6 out of 7 - Again this pie was well filled, perhaps too well filled because the jelly boiled out!
Chewiness - 6.5 out of 7 - The texture was like the pork pie but perhaps a bit more moist due to the chili.
Content - 6.5 out of 7 - The chili added plenty of flavour and made the normal pork version look a bit boring. There was a sweetness to the chili and it wasn't very spicy but full of flavour. For me it wasn't quite as good as the black pudding version but I would choose this over the pork any day.
Consistency - 6.4 out of 7 - The flavours of this pie worked really well. The chili flavour permeated through the whole pie so it didn't have to rely on an intense pork and salt flavour like many pork pies do.

Overall these were excellent gluten free pies, in fact I would go as far as to say these were the best gluten free pies I have ever had! I would agree with their adverts that these pies are all of the flavour, none of the gluten. It is so nice that these pies are available and it doesn't feel like you have to compromise, they are better than the majority of the gluten equivalents. I would recommend them to anyone with allergies, you could even get the large ones to share and the great thing is people would never know they are free from!

ALE

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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

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Ben, Pierateer Rob and Pierateer Sam at the British Pie Awards 2018

The 10th annual British Pie Awards took place just a few short weeks ago and we were delighted to once again be there for judging and full media coverage via our Live feed! 

Held in the heart of pork pie country - Melton Mowbray - we saw a record 146 judges rate a record 963 pies from across Britain! And we were delighted to share on Day Five of British Pie Week that the British Pie Awards Supreme Champion of 2018 was Turner's Pies!

🏆‼️ WE DID IT ‼️🏆

Absolutely honoured to be named the SUPREME CHAMPION 2018 at this years #britishpieawards #BritishPieWeek

Our Steak & Ale Pie overcame stiff competition from 963 other pies to be crowned #1 In the UK.

More news to follow soon...MR T@BritishPies pic.twitter.com/0yTfZvMDUJ

— Award Winning Pies (@TurnersPies) March 10, 2018

And after their win, Turner's Pies immediately set their eyes on another award - this time becoming the number 1 pie on Pierate!

Thanks guys, we were waiting for the official press release before we told the world but it seems that’s not coming today. We’re chuffed! Only accolade we need now is no1 pierated!!

— Award Winning Pies (@TurnersPies) March 9, 2018

Back to the Awards judging on Wednesday 7th March and we were glad to be back where it all began as the 10th annual British Pie Awards headed home to St Mary's Church in the heart of Melton Mowbray. You may remember that last year the Awards took place at an alternative local venue while the church was refurbished but I can confirm it was well worth the wait, as the new renovations looked great and the church really is the home of the Pie Awards!


After a three hour trip from Gloucester to Melton Mowbray via Birmingham, Pierateers Sam and Rob, ably accompanied by friend of the Pierateers Ben, arrived for the 10th annual British Pie Awards. It was the first time we'd driven to the Awards and after a light breakfast and coffee upon arrival, it was time to head to see the newly refurbished church. We weren't disappointed! And having settled in, it wasn't too long before new chairman Colin Woodhead conducted the all important judges briefings, where consistency in judging was the main point stressed to the judges.

Then it was over to Chairman of the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association Matthew O'Callaghan to welcome people and share a few top tips about judging, before the Vicar of St Mary's church in Melton Mowbray blessed the pies with a brief prayer, thanking the pie makers for all their hard work in baking! Amen to that!!

St Mary's Church in Melton Mowbray

The Pork Pie Class at the British Pie Awards 2018

There were once again a number of celebrities judging the pies, in particular TV's Andy Clarke on the Pork Pie Class and food critic Charles Campion. And we were delighted to catch up with a number of friends of the blog such as Katie "AwayDayPieGirl" Peel and "Life of Pies" author Martin Tarbuck, as well as Awards hosts Matthew and Stephen Hallam.

As always there were a number of interesting occurrences, such as controversy in the Savoury Pie (cold) class as a pie with a stilton lid - rather than pastry - got disqualified and a chicken and banana pie was rated in the Chicken pie class! Plus there were once again some interesting flavours in the Speciality Meat and Game Pie class. Rabbit, venison, wild boar and duck pies were among the entries there!

Speciality Meat and Game Pies

So who were the big winners and notable entries in the British Pie Awards 2018? Some of the pie-lights this year included:

- As previously mentioned, Turner's Pies from West Sussex grabbing the big prize - the Supreme Champion 2018 for their Steak and Ale pie. This was also followed up with the win in the small producers award category too! Many congratulations to them - we look forward to getting our hands on one to rate soon!

- Lesson Family Butchers winning the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie class. This was a turn up for the books, as last year the Supreme Champion was from this class, but this year the Dickinson and Morris Pork Pie didn't even win the class!

- Ben's Kitchen - who won the small producer award last year - won the Beef and any flavour class for their Beef Bourguignon pie.

Stephen Hallam and Pierateer Rob!

- MyPie London won the Chicken and other meat class with their Chicken, Smoked Ham & Tarragon pie, which follows on from last year's vegetarian class win! (You may also be aware we pie rated this chicken pie a massive 6.39/7 when we reviewed it!)

- The Speciality Meat and Game pie class was won by Stanbury Wild Game Pies, whose pies we ate at the end of British Pie Week (see Day Six and Day Seven reviews) and which will be formally rated in the next week.

- The Apple Pie class was won by none other than Graham Aimson, whose name may well ring a bell as in the past he won the class (and Supreme Champion) when working for Morecambe FC but this year won the class while working for Kendall Rugby Club! Find out more about Graham's transfer here.

The full list of winners can be found on the British Pie Awards website.

Once again there was a great array of top pies made from hundreds of pie makers (many small producers of less than 5 employees!) It certainly reminds us we have many more pies to set sail towards on the Pierate Ship! We'll keep searching these Great British Isles for more top pies and, as always, let you know how they all rate on the 7 Cs of pie rating!!

RAS

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Pie at the football!

Regulars to our pie blog know that the world's leading pie review blog - featuring over 600 pie reviews with multiple football pie media appearances - are fans of a pie at the football! We've talked about football pies in many articles, including giving a number of o-pie-nions on the results of the annual BBC Price of Football Survey that looks at the price of pies, had the chance to share our ex-pie-tise on BBC Radio, BBC TV (through our appearance on "Rip Off Britain") and even been in a pie-related video on the BBC Sport website!

But probably the best pie related video we've seen in a while - and the best save of the season thus far - happened recently, as captured on TV and posted on the BBC Sport website! A Scottish league footballer's wayward shot over the bar narrowly avoided taking out a fan carrying his pie and drink back to his seat due to the quick reactions of a fellow fan! In the video on the BBC Sport website you can see a leg pop out at the last minute to re-direct the ball and save him from a calamitous situation! The pie was saved and all remained well in the world due to the quick thinking of his fellow supporter. I'd like to think the guy walking down the stairs bought his life-saving friend a half-time pie as a way of saying thanks, but I guess we will never know!! Thanks to friend of the Pierateers Steve for sharing the video with us!

We've rated over 600 pies, including a number of football pies

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More about us and our football pie pedigree:

Sam and Rob being interviewed by BBC Sport's Azi Farni Watch the video on the BBC Sport website

Just over two years ago we joined BBC Sport's Azi Farni at Morecambe FC, who make some of the best pies rated on Pierate (let alone football grounds) to discuss what makes the perfect football pie! Watch us featuring in the BBC Price of Football video here.

Top of our pie league, Morecambe FC's Globe Arena is certainly the place to be for top football pies! They are also winners of the British Pie Awards twice, and while Head chef Graham Aimson has sadly moved on, the pies at Morecambe are still made in the kitchen on site by hand, rather than just buying them in! Great work!

RAS

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As part of our Pie Pledges for British Pie Week last year, we decided to head up to Leeds to do a #LeedsPieTour! A bit delayed but we have finally caught up with this being the all important last place we really had to review!



As part of the Leeds Pie Tour one of the most highly regarded pie shops we visited was Wilsons. Some claimed that they produce the best Pork Pies in Leeds so we had to check them out!  It was nice to see that this was a shop specialing in pies which goes to show how much the good people of Leeds love their pies.

As you can see from our video, I devoured the pork pie straight away having gone for the hot option. As a Southerner, a hot pork pie is not something I would normally choose but I thought I had to give it a go. Unfortunately it made it hard to compare it to other pork pies I have eaten. The pastry was certainly nice with a crunch on the outside but nice and moist in the middle. It was a bit softer than normal because it was hot. I liked how the jelly had melted, I don't particularly like the cold jelly layer in a pork pie but when hot it makes more sense.

It did take me a bite to get through to the central pink ham meat. The filling was moist and certainly not lacking in flavour. I really enjoyed the first couple of bites but then found it got a bit sickly. I am not quite sure why this was, perhaps it was because there was quite a lot seasoning. I think it was a good pork pie but I prefer the cooked pork you find Melton Mowbray pork pie whereas this was cured meat; like eating a lump of ham. It was actually quite similar to the Voakes pork pie we had at Haley & Cliffords but I thought slightly not as good. However I was more in my comfort zone with the Voakes pie because I had it cold.

Pork (Wilsons [Leeds])
Score: 5.36/7


SJL



I also picked up a Wilson's Steak pie which TJP and myself ate hot later on. This was of course very different to the pork pie. The flavour of the filling was fairly standard Steak & Ale territory. The whole thing was moist because there was plenty of nice thick sauce. It was well filled with big chunks of meat although some were a little chewy.


The pastry was not your standard hot pie pastry, this was thick and in some ways a little dry but this did mean it had a good crunch and an almost biscuity flavour. It was quite nice to have this as a change to the soft and stodgy pastry you get with mass produced pies. Overall I enjoyed the pie and it was great value. I note that I also picked up a Meat & Potato pie which really wasn't as good so stick with the Meat & Meat!

Steak & Ale (Wilsons [Leeds])
Score: 5.05/7


SJL & TJP

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