Classics
Traditionalists will love the ‘perfectly British’ steak and kidney pie at The Goring in London’s Belgravia, and the beef and kidney pie at The Hundred, a rustic 16th-century pub with rooms in Ashendon, Buckinghamshire. Hetton ale gives oomph to a steak pie at The Bull in Broughton, while blue cheese brings an extra dimension to a ‘proper pie’ packed with tender steak and topped with crisp pastry at The George in Alstonefield, a handsome Peak District hostelry.
At Berners Tavern in Fitzrovia, hand-raised pork pie is sliced from a trolley and dressed with piccalilli, pickled veg and mustard, and gala pie gets fancy at The Hand & Flowers in Marlow with onion and cider pureé, pickled gherkin and pork bordelaise sauce.
Moving away from beef, at La Fromagerie in Marylebone we like the organic chicken pie and at Great Queen Street in Covent Garden, a ‘mammoth’ suet-crusted pie packed with rare-breed chicken, fennel and bacon. In Gloucestershire, bacon and mushrooms bring a savoury depth to a chicken pie with greens and gravy at The Churchill Arms, Paxford.
Described as ‘really one of the best chicken pies I can remember eating’, the golden, deep-filled, hand raised, buttery puff-crust pie at The Holborn Dining Room comes filled with chunks of chicken, girolle mushrooms and a not-too-creamy sauce with exactly the right amount of tarragon.
Game on
Rochelle ICA in St James’s serves a generous rabbit, bacon and wild garlic pie, while venison is the base for a pasty at The Garden House Inn in Durham which is ‘a cut above your average pub pie’. For something different, head to The Richmond Arms on the edge of the South Downs for a crispy Moroccan-style local wood pigeon pie.
Meat-free
At Harbourmaster, a modern brasserie in Aberaeron, a lentil pie comes with cauliflower mash and glazed carrots while at The Parkers Arms in Newton-in-Bowland, creamed potato and local Lancashire cheese are the perfect combo in a pie with buttered greens and peas. Find piscine delights at Bentley’s Oyster Bar & Grill in Mayfair where the royally laden fish pie is a showstopper of a main course.
Go large
At The Camberwell Arms you can get a magnificent Hereford beef, ale, onion and bone-marrow pie to share. Over in Hackney, The Marksman has splendid pies and tarts of every description (from pumpkin and goat’s curd to brown butter and honey).
Sweet treats
At The Club House in West Bexington, Dorset an individual apple and blackberry pie with a dry cider and apple sorbet just ‘screamed West Country’. Up in Lancashire, we couldn’t resist a ‘sprightly dessert’ that infused lemon meringue pie with the scent of pine from nearby Wiswell Moor at Freemason’s at Wiswell. An excellent apple pie soufflé served with caramel crème anglaise and vanilla ice cream was a delightful riff on a classic at Airds Hotel in Port Appin.
Finally, let’s settle a debate - pie and mash, or pie and chips? Vote on our Twitter poll now.
Published March 2019
