Tuesday 8 October 2013

Eric, I’m not Lyon about these top Birmingham Pies!

Chicken Pie Review and Steak and Onion Pie Review for Eric Lyons Ltd

I have to admit that handmade pies from local butchers have been a bit of a rarity on www.pierate.co.uk but not for want of trying. It's just there are so many other pies that leap out at you from a supermarket shelf that finding a local pie selling butcher can be a challenge. So when Roger, a friend of mine who lives in neighbouring Solihull, asked if I'd had an Eric Lyons I have to admit it drew a blank with me.

Turns out though that the local butcher on Knowle High Street sells a range of pies, which Roger has been commending for years without me realising! And he very kindly picked some up for me. So I give you the Eric Lyons Ltd Chicken and Steak & Onion pies, at a very precise £1.68 each (another sign of a local handmade delicacy).


Eric Lyons Pies
Eric Lyons Pies
How though did they rate? Well it's clear to see that the colour of both pies were wonderfully golden! The capacity was strong in both pies and the pastry crisp and crunchy. There were no soggy bottoms here! The chicken pie had good meatilicous chunks of tender chicken in a light, not overly creamy sauce. Unlike some chicken pies that get very stodgy quite quickly, this was a delight to eat from start to finish. The meat wasn't chewy and the chicken was quite consistently spread throughout the pie. (No padding out the filling with other things here!) Nothing overly exciting had been done with the flavour, which might disappoint some, but the meat itself was succulent and tasty enough in my opinion.


Eric Lyons Chicken and Steak and Onion Pies
Eric Lyons Chicken and Steak and Onion Pies
The steak and onion was also full to the brim with tender meat, although sadly the content was overly onion-heavy for my liking. Sure, it's a steak AND onion pie, but I would always want to see the ratio more heavily weighted towards the steak! That said, the gravy was very good to and complimented the steak well. All in all the pie was one I would eat again (though an all steak would be more my cup of tea!)

So if you fancy a butchers at a homemade pie in the Solihull area, you can't go far wrong with Eric. And I'm not lyon about that either.

Eric Lyons Ltd Chicken Pie
Score: 6.14/7
[Colour 6.5/7; Consistency 6/7; Cheapness 6.5/7; Chewiness 6/7; Condition 6/7; Content 6/7; Capacity 6/7; Total: 6.14/7]

Eric Lyons Ltd Steak and Onion Pie
Score: 5.96/7
[Colour 6.5/7; Consistency 5.5/7; Cheapness 6.5/7; Chewiness 6/7; Condition 5.75/7; Content 5.5/7; Capacity 6/7; Total: 5.96/7]

RAS

See where this pie ended up in the Pierate Pie Rankings or find other pies of a similar flavour.

Make sure you 
and let us know your thoughts!


Posted by at
Labels: , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thanks for getting in touch with the Pierateers!

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)