Guest Review - Pot Belly Pies, Glen Innes

This week, I'm waiting impatiantly for my IT guru (who happens to be a follower of the blog and has accompanied me on a pie-eating expitition) to come and de-flea my computer; which seems to have forgotten where to find the thousands of photos of pies that I've taken over the years.

In the meantime, Rosco has kindly sent in another guest review from a  recent visit to Pot Belly Pies in Glen Innes.

Hi pal,

 Always on the look out for a good pie on my travels and as I'm on another ski trip to Perisha with the family and traveling along our bike trails we came across the Pot Belly pie shop in Glen Innes.

The name itself was enough reason to give it a go and happy to say as soon as I walked in the door & saw the pies in the warmer I was starting to get my hopes up as the name Pot Belly matched the look of the pies in the warmer, yes, they had BIG FAT bellies.

They looked just like they would fit nicely in mine.

It was about now I noticed there was no one on the other side of the warmer to serve me and as I looked thru the kitchen door I saw the youngish local gal cowering in the kitchen. 

When I asked if I could order something she didn't speak and just pointed at the top of the warmer which had a big hairy, egg infested spider sitting on the top, hence the cowering shop assistant.

Now it became clear that I wasn't going to be able to see if these big fat pot belly pies were gunna taste as good as they looked, so I did what any red blooded Aussie male would do and asked my bride if she would get rid of it so I could get my laughing gear around a pie.

After a bit of discussion it became clear that wasn't gunna get me a pie so I manned up and picked up a pie bag off the counter and set about sneaking around the counter to get behind him and flick him toward the door. Just as I was about to give him the flick a tradie burst thru the door and nearly got to wear this ugly fella.

I managed to stop in time and the door way got cleared & now everyone is looking at me to get this done as the girl wasn't coming out of the kitchen until it was gone. Go number 2 saw me flick the spider & the bag towards the door, but it didn't quite make it though as I didn't plan on the spider being heavy & he dropped like a stone onto the floor & was no longer happy.

Long story short I managed to get him out the door and shut it to stop him coming back in, at least until I got my pie & got out of there. Now as the girl came back out of the kitchen she was so relieved with my heroics that she said my pie was on the house, getting better as I was pretty hungry after having to smell the hot pies at close range while I dealt with the intruder.

Now for the pie, the reward I chose was the mint Lamb and rosemary pie with the nice big fat belly.

 It was sensational, crust was firm and a bit crispy but the filling was great with the biggest pieces of tender lamb that I have experienced in all my pie eating years. It was priced at $6.50 but it was value for money as it was not only great to eat it was a little larger than the usual job due to its Pot belly.

As a rating I would give it a 9/10 as far as pies go it was Lovely.

Cheers Ross

 

Thanks very much for that Rosco - although I can't help but wonder whether the score was in any way influenced by the fact that the pie was free....we all know that they always taste better!

Until next time, take care.

The Pieologist

Thorobread Bakery, Racecourse Rd, Hamilton

See what they did there? No, ‘Thorobread’ isn’t a typo – it’s a tricky little play on words from the bakery parked directly across the road from the entrance to Eagle Farm Racecourse at the top end of Racecourse Rd Hamilton. Very clever.

One can easily imagine the parade of drunken broke punters scratching around in their pockets for loose change at 5.30pm on a Saturday afternoon… to provide them with enough sustenance to make the arduous trek to The Hammo for the last 20 rum and cokes of the day; while girlfriends Courtney, Tiff, and Summer sway and screech at the passers-by outside whilst clutching high heels in one hand and bummed durries in the other. It’s not a big stretch, is it?

Having never been in this position, I ventured in on a weekday. The store itself is very nice, airy, and the lady behind the counter is very friendly and welcoming. The sign outside proclaims that the preservative-free bread is their specialty, along with award-winning pies. You can even ‘Like’ them on Stalkbook, should you be so inclined. I’m not sure when the bakery opened its doors, but I believe it hasn’t been there all that long. Perhaps the awards were won at a previous location – I’m not sure.

Thorobread Curry Beef

Rimmer and I had a curry beef, a steak bacon & cheese, and a steak and kidney. I had already tried a curry beef and wasn’t impressed with the filling – everything else was pretty good, but it just didn’t have enough curry flavour for me. Rimmer was in agreement, and was sorry he chose it. His words: ‘fail’. Doesn’t mince words, our Rimmer.

The pies come in a little foil nest with holes punched into the bottom, which allows the base to cook through. Too many bakeries don’t do this, and you end up with a doughy, sloppy bottom….and I don’t need to tell you how undesirable that is. Similarly, the lid has been cooked out really well, and is nicely brown without egg wash. 

Overall, the pies have a homey, slapped-together-in-a-sheltered-workshop look which I find pretty appealing. The cost was about $4.50, which is OK, but these were nothing more than your basic standard size; perhaps slightly smaller, as they weren’t overly thick through the middle.

Steak Bacon Cheese

My steak bacon & cheese looked great in the mounting yard, and came out of the gate at a million miles an hour, with a nice scattering of cheese on top, accompanied by more cheese and bacon throughout. The filling was mainly chunks of steak that were generally well cooked and overall it was pretty good without being great. In a horse race, this would have settled three wide at the turn and never kicked on. A reasonably solid performance, but not enough to become a black booker. Score is a shaky 7/10, helped along by the casing top and bottom.

With a slightly disappointing first leg, the steak and kidney blew out in the ring, as the punters were not overly enthusiastic about her stablemate. She was a feisty little filly however, and it immediately became apparent that she had the potential to go the distance. The filling was a pretty good consistency being mince through a thick gravy, and there was plenty of kidney flavour apparent straight out of the blocks. 

Steak & Kidney

Nice base

I was happy with the amount of kidney chunks scattered throughout, although some more seasoning wouldn’t have gone astray. It was hands and heels to the line for the place. Score again is a 7/10; but it’s a solid 7. I probably could have awarded 7.5 - 8/10 if both pies were thicker – the photo of the steak and kidney especially makes it look thicker than it really was because the pie is tipped up a bit. I probably could have eaten three without too much trouble.

Steak & Kidney Innards

Thorobread Bakery probably needs a fair bit of encouragement with the jigger to turn it into the Black Caviar of bakeries, but it’s safe from the glue factory for now…and if you happen to be one of those poor souls who had the house on your mate's roughie tip in the last (which stopped as if shot at the first furlong), then I daresay the pies at The Thorobread will go a long way towards easing your pain.

Until next time, take care.

Pieologist.

Flour Power, cnr Dornoch & Gladstone Rds, Highgate Hill

Remember folks - click on the images for full size!

We wheeled the big dak-dak into the small service road in front of Flour Power – a bakery that comes with an ardent group of online admirers. The first thing I noticed was that the whole place looked like it could use a good scrub (check out the signage)….but I reminded myself that we were next door to West End – and that the whole suburb west of Annerley Rd could do with a bloody good scrub. 

Now before you start getting all precious that I’m bagging a place that went through the floods last year, I’ll have you know that this bakery sits on a hill in the highest part of Highgate Hill. It’s about 400m above sea level. No excuses - scrub your frikkin’ shop, man.

The bakery specialises in sourdough. That should have been my second clue. I hate it. There’s a conventional pie menu (pictured, in its nicely laminated A4 format which was carefully sticky-taped to the outside wall of the building), plus a lamb pocket / triangle, cheese & spinach triangle (his description - it IS next door to Greeksville, after all) and a vegetable pastie, which I imagine is very popular amongst the smelly, pierced, jobless hippies living in and around the West End.

The shopkeep was a very friendly young bloke, and the windows were full of really good looking breads, cakes, brownies, pull-aparts, and mini-brioches….it all looked very appetising, in contrast to the exterior appearance of the shop itself.

The pies looked pretty good up top, but the experienced observer could see even through the window of the warmer that there was no flaky lid – they were kind of flaky, but in a glazed-biscuit kind of way. They came served in a foil nest.

Curry Beef

Rimmer & I both had a curry beef, plus I had a Steak Tomato and Onion; and Rimmer had Steak Bacon & Cheese. Both of our alternative pies were second choices after being informed that our first choices weren’t available. 4 pies were $13.60.

We sat outside at the grubby outdoor setting, which could have been nice with a bit of care and attention. Seriously dude, buy a Chux.

Out of the foil, the bottom of the pie was barely cooked – Rimmer’s Steak Bacon Cheese was translucent, and he said that it definitely wouldn’t pass the driving test. Mine held together OK, but again the base was very floppy and undercooked.

Curry Beef interior

Both curry pies were lukewarm, temperature-wise…heat-wise, they were cold. Even Roobs could have eaten this one. As you can see from the top photo above, there is barely a sprinkling of curry powder on top – I think that the only curry inside the pie was the powder that managed to filter its way through the lid’s cracks. The meat was OK, consisting of clusters of mince floating about in a flavourless gravy.

It was an epic fail for both of us on all fronts. I’d struggle to give this a 4/10. In fact, I’m not going to. It gets a 3/10: one point for it actually being a pie (everyone deserves a point for turning up), another for not falling apart on me, and a third because he was a nice bloke.

Steak Onion & Tomato

My steak, onion, and tomato was the same story on the exterior – not good. The interior was markedly better, with plenty of onion and tomato, as you can see from the pictures. The flavour from actual veges went through the meat and gravy which was a good consistency; but again lukewarm and unsatisfying – like a one-armed hug (apologies to anyone out there with only one arm – I’m sure the people that you hug aren’t thinking that. I was really referring to people who choose to hug with one arm…the lazy huggers). For those reasons, it gets a bare pass of 5/10, based on the quality and flavour of the filling alone.

Steak Tomato Onion

Rimmer said that his steak, bacon, and cheese was a little hotter - possibly due to the visible cheese within – but there was no crunchy cheesy top, and he was pretty underwhelmed by the whole experience. So was I. So much so that we considered giving the bakery a one-word review: FAIL, so as not to waste time and energy on it. But I think the public needs to know.

As I couldn’t convince Rimmer to go halvies in a third pie (hoping that we’d strike gold), he agreed to try the cinnamon Berliner. It looked pretty impressive. It wasn’t. The much-anticipated light and fluffy interior was heavy and bready, and neither of us bothered to finish the half we had. The only high point was the generous crusting of sugar and cinnamon on the outside, which was really good.

I think Flour Power has a lot of work to do – certainly in the pie department. Maybe their sourdough is the best thing since, well, sliced bread. I’ll never know, as I won’t be going back.

Unfortunately I have a few more ‘Fails’ to share with you in the near future. I’ll try to intersperse them with good reviews – or maybe group a few short ‘fails’ together. For some reason, I’ve had a bit of a run of substandard pies recently. Popular opinion is that the Rock N Roll has spoiled me for all other pie shops, and it’s probably partly true. Still, the search continues.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to give a shout out to my new mate Gary Reilly, from Piefinder, who has put together a very comprehensive pie-appreciation site of his own. You should check it out:  http://www.piefinder.com.au/

Gary has reviewed over 350 pies on his site, and has an excellent Leaderboard and Pie Locator if you happen to be south of the border. 

Remember that I'm always happy to take requests if you have a bakery that is worthy of some scrutiny. Just hit the message board below and I'll get straight onto it for you.

Coming up soon, The Thorobread Bakery at Hamilton; and my own pie-baking experience at home this winter - including recipe.

Until next time, take care.

Cheers, The Pieologist

Fredo's Pies, Pacific Highway, Frederickton, NSW

Sorry about the lengthy delay between postings (again), folks - it's been a bit busy in my neck of the woods with EOFY. Now that that's out of the way, I hope to increase the volume in the second half of the year. This week, we're in cockroach country; trying to bring a bit of Qld joy to those hapless souls who have the misfortune to live south of the Tweed River:

Aaaaah, Frederickton – as the old saying goes, it’s not the arsehole of the Earth, but you can see it from there. And in Frederickton’s case, you most certainly can. Perched on a hill, it has majestic views south to Kempsey; aka Earth's date. It’s populated by people who can’t afford to live in Kempsey – or I assume so, as I can’t see any other reason why you would live there.

The houses in Frederickton certainly aren’t up to Kempsey’s standard of boxy, run-down neo-Australian post-war masterpieces, and there seems to be an abundance of sagging aluminium awnings and car bodies on front yards. Not the sort of place you’d want to stop; or break down. Except, that is, for Fredo’s Pies.

Fredo’s has been operating since 1993 – no doubt sustained by the 10,000 trucks that rumble through town every hour of every day. Everyone knows how much truckies love a pie, and they’re a pretty picky bunch, too. The mere fact that Fredo's is still around after 20 years is testament to the fact that they're doing something right - and this is reinforced by the semis, cars, and caravans that always seem to be lined either side of the street near the pie shop.

Mulloes and I rode into town early one Saturday morning. It was freezing, snot-inducing weather to be astride a motorbike. It was colder than mother-in-law’s breath; but we were having a ball. Much as a grand chess master is planning 10 moves ahead; I’m planning 10 meals ahead. I’m the Garry Kasparov of pies, if you like. So a bit of forward planning the previous evening had us lobbing outside Fredo’s 15 minutes after the 7am opening time; ravenous and ready for some hot pie-goodness.

From the outside, Fredo’s looks pretty good, but given the state of rest of the town that wasn’t exactly difficult….a bit like Hayley Lewis on the Biggest Loser…she’s no Miss World, but hey, compared with the competition…..

Perhaps it was the anticipation, perhaps it was the general hunger, but the smell of the shop was fantastic – not only could you smell golden baked pastry, but there was a rich casseroley aroma of slowly stewing meat that hit me from 3 feet outside the door. I did my best impersonation of Pavlov’s dog.

Once inside, the view was like a vision from heaven (well, fat-bloke heaven, anyway). I knew from previous experience that Fredo’s had a big range. One look at their website can confirm that for you, but there is the disclaimer that not all varieties are available at once. Well when we walked in, it certainly looked like they were; three full bain maries presented themselves. And when I say ‘full’, they were stocked to the brim, with plates of sausage rolls and other goodies balanced between the pies…

Service was friendly and welcoming, and the lady waited patiently while we ummed and aahed over our decision. The lady behind the counter also suggested that we nip next door for a coffee at Café 73 (no affiliation to Fredo’s) due to the frostiness of the morning - I can highly recommend the coffee there, too: it's top notch.

 

Fredo’s is famous (amongst those who know of them) for their crocodile pie. It therefore chose itself. As there was such an exotic selection (nearly every animal known to man is encased in pastry at Fredo’s), I felt an obligation to Roobs and everyone else not to go for yet another curry pie, so I chose a wild boar pie instead. That’s right, wild boar. Giddy-up. It really was a tough decision though – Fredo’s claim to have 160 different pies, and on offer when we were there were things like Mongolian Lamb, buffalo, pork honey and chilli, and venison.

Mulloes chose a ‘truckies pie’, which was steak, bacon and onion; and a kangaroo pie. I really should have selected an emu pie (yes, they have them), so that we could say we’d eaten the two animals on our national flag for breakfast; but I find emus to be nasty birds and imagine them to be mean and stringy.

The pies looked really good straight out of the packet – a standard size that taunted the hungry traveller to chance his arm at a third. I almost did. Probably could’ve too, but I heard my darling wife’s singsong voice in my head reminding me politely that I’m not getting any younger. Or thinner. She even called me by my full name like mother used to when I was in trouble, so I thought I’d better not. Regretted that one for the rest of the day. Still do. *sigh*

 

Anyway, the pies had been baked in foil, and their size and general structure reminded me a lot of my ‘home’ bakery, the Wavell Hot Bread shop. The foil had no holes in it, so the base was cooked through (see photo), but still very pliant. Some people hate this, but it doesn’t bother me so long as the pastry itself is cooked. Sometimes bakeries go too far the other way, and the short crust becomes too solid (I’m talking about you, Gerbino’s) and it feels like you’re eating a biscuit.

The amount of filling wasn’t over the top without being stingy. It meant that, despite the soft nature of the base, it wasn’t going to fall into your lap just as you’re punching 16^th gear in your B-double causing you to run headlong into a bus-load of pensioners on a Probus outing. It’s a treacherous track, that Pacific Highway, and it's good to know that Fredo's are doing their bit to keep you and I safe.

I attacked the crocodile pie first, figuring that it would be the more delicate of the two, and found the flavour to be excellent. I expected the large chunks of croc to taste like chicken, but it didn’t at all. It was moist and delicate, and was a bit like fine-grained gravy beef on the tooth, with that gelatinous connective tissue broken down through hours of slow cooking. It also had some chunks of celery in there (I can hear you retching from here), but I really liked it, and it worked well with the white sauce that held it all together.

The gravy was a bit odd in texture and (much like the wild boar pie) it didn’t look good at all; but tasted fine and was well seasoned. Temperature was also really good, and from memory they were a fraction over $5 per pie – maybe $5.50. Either way, I wasn’t quibbling.

This one scores an 8/10 from me. Extra points for originality.

The wild boar pie was an unusual beast. It was kind of gamey, kind of beefy, kind of dog foody, and I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about it. The pastry was really good once again, and the temperature was OK considering it was sitting on a freezing cold table for 5 minutes while I demolished the croc pie. OK, 3 minutes, but you get the picture.

Speaking of pictures, this one illustrates the interior workings of the wild boar pie pretty well. It doesn’t look hugely appetising, does it? A bit like congealed Pal perhaps? Fortunately, the taste was a lot better than the appearance, but I wouldn’t buy another one with so many other interesting pies to choose from. I don’t think that one is worth more than a 6 – 6.5/10.

 Mulloes said that his pies were pretty good without being spectacular - below is a picture of his kangaroo pie, which looked strangely similar to my wild boar pie...but as there was different lettering on the top, that must just be a coincidence...don't you think?

So if you have the pleasure of driving along the mighty Pacific Highway – the undisputed jewel in our nation’s motorway crown, and the envy of expressways worldwide – and find yourself within cooee of Frederickton, Fredos Pies is definitely worth the effort.

We tried some unusual pies because on the day we were in the mood for something a bit different from the usual offerings, but next time I would be tempted to go for something a bit more mainstream and see how it stacked up against the competition. I also would have been keen to take a few home, but that just wasn't possible. Maybe we'll just have to plan another ride....is 1000 km round trip too far to go for a pie? Methinks not. Until next time, take care.

Cheers,  Pieologist

http://www.fredopies.com.au/

Horners Pies, Sorrento Shopping Village, Bundall Rd, Gold Coast

I had to see a couple of clients on the Goldie one beautiful autumn day, and decided to work in a bit of research. After my experiences at Goldsteins, I knew that 'the badlands' had to have something decent to offer in the way of pies for the hungry outlaw bikie....after all, there's nothing like a couple of drive-bys, a home invasion, and a bashing or two to work up an appetite for a young bloke. But enough about my appointments.

I had been given a couple of leads by my best mate Flair. Many of you know of his work...he's the kind of bloke that can't walk down the street without a dozen people saying hello and clapping him on the back. If anyone knows the Goldie, it's him. In fact fairly recently there was a significant campaign to get him elected as mayor. Shit went viral, as they say, and he gained traction from all sorts of corners. Check this out:

As Aussie as they come...

The big tour bus

Channel 9 picked it up....

Pretty soon, everywhere you looked...

...there was a Flair supporter

People of all persuasions got on board...(*political* persuasions, I mean. Ahem.)

World leaders queued up to shake his hand: 'The United States has no stronger ally than Flair'

...when suddenly - NOOOOOO!

Unfortunately, the pie leads he'd given me to date were crap. Sorry bro, but they were. One consisted of a series of great-looking photos from a home-made pie cart lady at a market near his home. 

The pies looked and sounded brilliant, but the chances of me being at a local market on the Goldie on a Saturday morning? Fark-all. Usually, I'm waiting for the hangover to wane enough for me to open my eyes without stabbing pains. His other suggestion was a pie at the Anglers Arms hotel in Southport. Fine, but it was a 'pie' in a bowl with a pastry top, which we have scientifically proven through a half-arsed poll not to be a pie.

As it turns out, Flair lives within 5 minutes of one of the best pie shops  in SE Queensland, if the two I sampled are any indication...Horners Pies at Sorrento. The Sorrento shopping centre is on a devilishly busy intersection where people driving to and from Surfers meet those traveling north / south to Southport. It can be a bit tricky to get into , but is well worth the effort.

The pie warmer itself isn't the most grandiose thing you've laid eyes upon, but serves its purpose, holding a pretty good selection of (as described on the chalkboard) standard and gourmet pies. Happily, the gourmet pies were of a largish standard size, and were reasonably priced, in the mid-$5 range. My choices on the day were a beef and Guinness, and, joy of joys, a Sri Lankan lamb curry.

The pastry was flaky, golden, and well cooked top and bottom (see pic).

Beef & Guinness

The beef & Guinness was tasty, tender, and swimming in a rich and flavoursome gravy that one would expect to receive at an Irish pub. The gravy had a slight sheen to it that suggested gelatin, but old man Horner managed to strike the right balance of consistency and moistness resulting in a really good pie. Score is a very solid 8/10, taking into account the perfect temperature and value for money.

Sri Lankan Lamb Curry

The Sri Lankan curry. What can I say about this? Well, if you're on the Coast, this is probably about as close to the Rock N Roll lamb curry pie as you'll find. I'm not saying its a perfect '10' (the pastry being the main difference), but I'm happy to give this gem a solid 9/10. The generous chunks of lamb were perfect, and the flavour of the gravy and temperature were spot on. Some people may be put off by the inclusion of rice in the filling (that's cheating, I hear you cry), but I didn't mind it, and if anything it lent a certain degree of authenticity to the premise that you're eating something that could easily be served to you in an Indian / Sri Lankan restaurant (if there is such a thing as a Sri Lankan restaurant).

 

It made me very keen to return and try some of their other offerings. Stay tuned. And that's about it for this week. I hope that everyone has a good long weekend, and that the Wallabies can lift from what they showed us (or didn't show us) during the week.

Lastly, if you have a Twitter account, you can follow me @thepieologist (the feed updates at the top of this blog also, so don't fret if you're stuck in the 90's like Ed; you won't miss out). But the heirarchy at Twitter have requested that you don't all rush on there at once to follow me, as they don't want the tsunami of pie lovers to crash their servers. :D

Until next time.

Cheers!  W

Guest Review - The Upper Crust, 1003 Pittwater Rd Collaroy NSW

I used to live just down the road from this pie shop on Sydney's northern beaches; back in the days of my glorious but impoverished youth - when I had hair and a 6-pack (well, hair anyway). I'd bound out of bed on a Sunday morning after a big night on the tiles at The Oaks or The Greengate (the liver still being relatively fresh in those days), and wander down the road to the best pie shop (at the time) in Australia...just to give myself a bit of a 'base' for the Sunday afternoon session at The Newport Arms.

You had to be early - get there at 12.30 and the queue would be down the street. And they had interesting pies, too. Things like tuna and avocado (sounds awful, tasted great), beef & burgundy, and Thai green chicken featured on their innovative menu - at a time when nobody but a cow cocky could tell a Black Angus from a Murray Grey. Now, a ten year old will ask you what kind of sausage you're serving them at a BBQ, and you'd better bloody well get the answer right - 'Woolies thin BBQ snags, son' will earn you a look of horror / derision / pity; whereas 'they're 300-day grain fed wagyu Black Angus Brahman cross from the James St Market' will get you at least slight acknowledgement that you've passed the test - for now (but dessert had better be from Cold Rock at least). 

But I've got nothing against children - in the words of Whitney Houston: 'hey, who the f*ck snorted the last of my Vicodin?' Anyway, speaking of children, I have a guest review this week from my old friend Crashball - a self-bestowed nickname which simultaneously describes his signature move on the rugby pitch; and his skills with the laaaaaadies. 

Being from NSW, Crashball has had it tough this week, and has given himself RSI venting his spleen online over Greg Inglis' completely 100% legit, match-and-possibly-series-winning try...so I'll go easy on him.  Over to you, pal:

 

Fellow pie-lovers, it’s with both excitement and disappointment that I find myself guest reviewer for this edition of the Pieologist’s blog.  You see, for some time now I’ve been telling the Pieologist that next time he comes to Sydney, he should jump on a ferry to Manly, where I would pick him up, drive a short ways up Sydney’s glorious northern beaches to Collaroy and review the offerings from The Upper Crust Pie shop.  So when Poopa-Pat invited us to his 40th, it seemed the stars had aligned.

The morning after Poopa’s, I woke to a beautiful sunny Sunday, a stinking headache and my mouth watering like Pavlov’s dog’s in anticipation.  With a skip in my step and a rumbling in my stomach, I picked up my phone and noticed I had a message.  I can’t remember the exact words, but it said something about Ken’s of Kensington and sitting down to pee, the bottom line; Pie-hole wasn’t coming.

At this point, I want to confirm that the ‘disappointment’ mentioned in the opening line had nothing to do with my mate not making the effort to catch up, no fellow pie lovers, the disappointment refers to the Pieologist’s lack of commitment to the pie-cause and us, his pie eating blog followers.

Not to be discouraged, I grabbed the bride, a 12 year old bottle of French Pinot (I didn’t really feel like the wine, it was only 8am, but I knew the not-so-Pieologist would be envious) and headed up Pittwater Road.  20 minutes later, I was laying a picnic blanket on the grass next to the beach with a couple topless birds sunbathing square in view.

Before I move onto the business bit, I have to confess that my wife doesn’t normally like pies, I hear some of you say “that’s un-Australian”, but there’s good reason for it….she’s not Australian, she’s from Svabia, a funny little country wedged between Norway and Denmark, where they speak Hoolly-Goolly, and don’t eat pies…well not pasty ones anyway, they do have ‘Taco Pies’ and they’re genius, but that’s for another blog.  Despite not really liking pies and an impressive hangover, the misses did what Pie-hole should have, and played along.  She ordered a minced meat pie, and I, a steak & mushroom and for something different, a Mexican pie. 

While I opened the cork, the misses opened the batting; as you can see from the photo, it was beautifully golden, slightly larger than average size and at $6-50 average value, but apparently that’s where the ‘average’ description ends.  At this point I should be showing you a picture of the half eaten pie, I’d even love to be confirming her review of a delicious pie, flaky top pastry, firm bottom pastry, bursting with deliciously moist, but not wet, meaty goodness and an impressive 8/10 score, but she scoffed it and I didn’t get a chance to take a pic or steal a bite, we’ll also have to assume that the lack of spillage on her plate confirms that it passed the driving test. Considering she doesn’t like pies, but said she’d come back, it must have been good.

Onto my breakfast; they were both beautifully golden, all pies were the same size and bursting with filling, flaky top pastry and firm but not dry bottom, but at $7-50 my ‘gourmet’ selections are now pushing the price a little, but this is Sydney and like Pie-hole at Ken’s the night before, we expect to get reamed.  

First cab off the rank was the steak and mushroom, my favourite type of pie, so it had to come in the goods.  As you can see from the photo, they didn’t scrimp on the mushies, it passed the driving test with flying colours and was easily the best steak and mushroom pie I’ve eaten; 9/10, a ‘must try’ for steak and mushroom lovers.

Next comes the Mexican, I’d never eaten a Mexican pie before and so I had no expectations, but I have to say; it was bloody good, nicely spiced, possibly too hot for some. Filled with red beans, minced meat, cheese and the all-important Mexican flavours; delicious.  I’d probably try some of the other pies in the shop before going back, but I’d definitely go back. The only flaw was the driving test, the pastry held together, but oil would most likely have run down my best Ron Bennett tie if eaten whist driving, so its marked down to 7.5/10.

Lastly, the bottle of wine, a 2000 Domaine du blah blah blah; it was superb, but let’s face it, I was only drinking it to make the pieologist jealous.

Until next time and perhaps the taco pie.

Crashball

Syd's Pies, Loganholme

See YOU, Jimmy

Before I launch into this week's update, please allow me to draw your attention to the Twitter feed over to your right there....

After scratching my head for the last couple of years, I think I've finally come up with something to tweet about! All my tweets will feed through into the blog here, but if you have your own account and want to follow me over there, I'm @thepieologist. I'm happy to take suggestions for future reviews vie Twitter, am interested in what you've just eaten (pie-wise), and will probably reply to your comments fairly quickly as pie-related issues take precedence over most others in my life.

This whole Twitter thing came about because Roobs and his lovely but long-suffering family and I called into Yatala on the way to a thing on the Gold Coast a while back. We took the opportunity to call in and sample the then-recently-reviewed-by-The Pieologist Lamb and coconut curry pie. It was pretty awful. Lukewarm, lacking in character, too much gravy, and generally ordinary. I immediately broke out in hives with worry that hordes of blog followers would make the long trek down there, find the pie not as described, begin to think me a dumbass, and rebel en masse, online. I just can't take that sort of criticism.

If only there was some way, I thought, rubbing my stubble and staring into the distance, of giving real-time updates; so that people could be forewarned that - for example -  I had just purchased the last dozen Rock N Roll lamb curry pies and there wouldn't be any more available until tomorrow.....or that Yatala may have a problem with consistency (remember they also gave me lamb and pea instead of lamb curry that time at the drive-thru?). 

I think it may have been Roobs' son Will-I am (I didn't realise he could hear the voices in my head) who, without looking up from his PSP, said, 'why don't you tweet it?' Bright kid, that. Gets it from his Mum.

So I decided to get bejiggity with it, and create a Twitter account. I'm no Quade Cooper, so I won't tweet every time I think I need to fart, re-tweet when I have, then again to let you know how it smells; but I will try and keep it relevant. I'm sure you'll let me know if otherwise. So on to this week's review:

Braddles and Juice had been onto me about Syd's and there is quite a bit of good feedback on the web around this bright yellow and red beacon that sits alongside the northbound M1 at Logan. Syd's has a giant banner out the front proclaiming that it has been voted winner of Brisbane's Best Pies...by 4BC listeners. Hmmmm.

According to the signage and the web the store itself specializes in British food, and has fridges-full of exotica such as black and white pudding, haggis, faggots (no kidding) and Irn-Bru - which, for those of you who haven't had the pleasure, is like Red Bull but without all the sweat-inducing, pulse-racing, artery-bursting gear that makes Red Bull so awesome. BTW is it just me, or is all that 'British' food actually Scottish food?

So I wheeled the big silver bus in there and was immediately greeted by a buxom wee lassie behind the counter. The pie cabinet looked very appetizing, but with a belly already bursting with  lamb coconut curry pie from 10 minutes south, I decided to pick up a couple of coldies for the freezer. The lady suggested her favourite, a curry beef (a woman after my own heart) and the pepper steak. I think the price was around the $5-mark for a standard sized pie.

They cooked up quite nicely without any egg wash due to the good quality puff pastry lid, although the bottom casing was a bit thin for my liking. I recently had a conversation with the plumber to the stars, and we agreed that a slightly soft base is a good thing in most instances - as long as it still holds the pie together. A hard, crumbly,  biscuit-like base is often dry and awful, but at the other end of the pastry spectrum so is a soft, thick, undercooked base. Those are OK for blokes like the plumber who eat their pies upside down whilst driving between jobs doing the work of 10 men and 50 women, but for those of us that return to the air conditioned confines of an office environment, those heavy bases can sit in your guts like a lead ball for the rest of the afternoon. Not nice. Takes your mind right off all the porn you're downloading.

The curry beef base would have been OK had the filling been less sloppy - it just needed a bit more structure to hold it all in and pass the driving test. As it was, I wouldn't recommend that a novice try eating this pie in a moving vehicle. 

The plumber to the stars could probably get away with it due to his years of training (and undeniable pedigree), but not your average schmo. A bloke like Garnet the Magnificent wouldn't have trouble eating it whilst punching 16 gears in a crash box with no synchro, but he's a law unto himself. As you can see from the photo, I'm holding the pie tipped up on its end and Elvis is still trying to depart the building on the right hand side. You've been warned.

The mince itself was a type 1 Keens curry, and had a good balance of flavour without being hot. The curry powder-waver could have been a bit more enthusiastic over the pot with this one, but it was OK. My score is a 6.5/10, which means it doesn't qualify for a mention on the leaderboard.

The pepper steak was pretty good, with nice chunks of beef and a decent hit of pepper in a fairly thick and well-seasoned gravy. As you can see from the photo, the base looks to be a bit thicker than the curry pie for some reason: it was actually pretty good and had no trouble holding together. This pie isn't going to set the world on fire, but you won't hate it either. I'm awarding a 7/10.

I subsequently returned several weeks later and had the Steak Dianne pie, which as you can see also looked like a million bucks. That dried black thing on top is baked parsley. I didn't add it - it was already stuck to the pie.

The flavour, as per the others, was pretty good without being great. It didn't seem to have any standout flavours of the 3 main 'Dianne' ingredients though: Worcestershire, brandy, or cream, but overall flavour was OK and the meat was quite tender. It's another 7/10. Unremarkable, but inoffensive.

All in all, Syd's is worth a stop if you're travelling north up the M1 and you're sick of Yatala and want to try something new. Sizes are pretty good, and prices are reasonable....and that bonnie wee lassie...hoots, man!