Pie fans ahoy! With over 600 pie reviews, Pierate is surely the web's premier pie resource. We've been eating and rating pies according to the 'Seven Cs' since 2009. Follow us on @pierateers. pierateship@yahoo.co.uk
Friday 28 September 2018
New York Pie Review: Meat pies need a Dub-ble take!
Dubs Pie Review - Steak and Ale in Brooklyn, New York
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| Pierateer Rob in the Dubs Pies shop in Brooklyn |
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!!
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| 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.
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| Dubs Pies - Steak and Ale Pie |
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!
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| Dubs Pies - Steak and Ale 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
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!!!
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| The new Dubs Pies Steak and Ale Pie! Photo provided by Dubs Pies |
This isn't the first time we've been over the Pond to New York! Check out our other New York pie reviews!
Pierate is a pie review website charting a course to find the ultimate pie. For all the pies we have reviewed have a look at our Pie Rankings or find pies of a particular flavour under Pies: Categorised. Make sure you Follow @pierateers
and let us know your thoughts!
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Friday 14 September 2018
Pieday Friday - 14th September 2018 - Pie votes, pie shops and pie delivery!
It's Friday! It's Pieday!
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!
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:
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!!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
See all the Pukka Pies we've rated here on Pierate right here: Pukka Pie Reviews
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!!
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| British Pie Week Pieminister Pie Night |
See all the Pieminister Pies we've rated here on Pierate right here: Pieminister Pie Reviews
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| 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
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 ‼️— Turner’s Pies (@TurnersPies) 13 September 2018
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
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
Monday 3 September 2018
Football Pie: Stick a Pie in your Plymouth
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
continue reading "Football Pie: Stick a Pie in your Plymouth"
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.....
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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