Can I be bol-led over by the uni pie experience?

So I was happening to be in the main Aston University cafe – CafeTierra to you and me – and stumbled across “Beef and Onion pie” on the menu, reasonably priced at £3.20 as offering chips and veg as part of the meal. The outer crust looked so golden and appealing that I thought “hey, why not?!” and gave it a go, even though I’m certainly no Onion-lover (and therefore, sad to say, that does tend to put me off this flavour pie).

But what I ate turned out to be one of the most unusual and quite flavoursome pies I’ve come across, and believe me, I’ve come across a fair few in my time! Let me explain:

When you imagine a beef and onion pie, you often think of either chunks of tender beef or, if a cheaper alternative, minced beef, in a rich beef gravy and with varying levels of onion but not a lot else in your pie. But that’s where you’d be wrong with the Aston Experience! For what you found having dug under the golden crisp coating was actually what can be best described as a minced beef tomato bolognaise inside a pie! What a shock!

This certainly made the beef and onion pie pretty unique, in my view, and potentially had the highest vegetable content of any meat-based pie I’d ever eaten! (Not that I’d ever eat a vegetarian pie...for (a) fear of them actually being a slice and (b) the clear lack of meaty-licious content!)

The tomato based sauce, with carrots and onion and a few other pieces of vegetable unknown to the untrained vegetable eater, certainly weren’t what the doctor ordered, but this pierateer was certainly highly impressed by the taste and how well it all went with the lovely golden pastry (by the way, did I mention the top of the pie was golden?) In fact, so much so that I will be trying to frequent this eating establishment again to see if there are any other pies on offer soon! And defo worth a try if you’re a D-I-Y pie maker – make a spagbol and then whack it in fine, crispy pastry and have it as a pie!

Score (for randomness and great taste): 5.5/7

Posted by The Pierateers at 22:28

Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest

Labels: beef and onion