Restaurant Review: The Pie Emporium

I'd popped into the Pie Emporium for lunch soon after they opened, hungover and bleary. Initial impressions (through a headache, severe dehydration, and sleep deprivation) were good, but I thought it deserved a return visit to assess it in a slightly more capable manner. In need of a speedy pre-theatre dinner, it seemed an ideal venue.

The welcome when we arrived was friendly and charming. The decor is hip without being too cold; there are lots of touches of colour, and the evening addition of candles on tables made the whole place feel quite cosy. It's certainly not a formal venue, but it's a lot warmer than you might expect. We were talked briefly through the menu, and were disappointed to hear that they had run out of two pies, including one of the veggie options (of only two on the whole menu) and one of the fish pies (again, of only two). The menu isn't long, so this had a fairly large impact on our choices; if you didn't eat meat, it would have been even more annoying.

There's an interesting range of mostly local beers, but we both went for wine, from the somewhat less diverse wine list ("red" or "white" if you're ordering by the glass). It was unexpectedly good: not amazing, but for £3, much better than it needed to be. There was a slight wait for food to arrive, but only as you'd expect for fresh-cooked pies: this ain't Pie Minister, with their battalions of pies slowly drying out under hot lights. 

My partner had opted for the rather exciting sounding Lamb Tikka Jalfrezi pie, certainly not one for the traditionalists. They'd be missing out, though, this was a superb curry, tart but rich and stuffed with melting chunks of meat. A side of lentils came as a smooth dal, not the salad we had expected, and was lightly spiced: an excellent accompaniment to the pie.

I opted for the slightly more normal-sounding Old English Woodland pie, being a massive fan of game meats. The chunks of partridge and pigeon were lovely, but the rabbit was slightly tough - perhaps it could have done with slightly longer time baking. The meats came in a gorgeous thick gravy, one of the best I've ever found in a pie, with lots of garlic and rosemary. The side of mustard and cabbage mash was a bit overpowering in terms of taste, but had a lovely smooth texture. The biggest downside for both pies was the slightly thin pastry lid, and therefore the rather low ratio of pastry to filling. Those of you who don't call a pie a pie unless it has a pastry lid *and* a pastry bottom would be even more furious: it's just a lid here, chaps. I won't argue with Pie Emporium's definition of a pie, but the glutton in me would still like rather more flaky starch with my meat and gravy.

We had two additional sides; the peas were fine, but the red cabbage was very dry, and yet somehow still tasted watery.

When we visited, we ate on a Groupon voucher, so the price was very reasonable, but their normal prices are not exactly excessive: pies range from £7 to £11, including one side (and we wouldn't recommend adding another). They were also advertising a few lunchtime and early evening deals which seemed very reasonable, making this a good place to go for a simple lunch or, like us, a pre-theatre supper.