Pieman has recently received this photo of a typical Australian gourmet pie from an associate currently working down under:
It looks pretty good, although Pieman has his doubts about the dollop of ketchup on top, and, what's more, he thought Australian pies were traditionally served upside down, and surrounded by a generous helping of mushy peas (what the Australians charmingly refer to as a "pie floater").
Some Pie Club members will be visiting Australia early next year, so expect to see some pie reviews from down under soon.
All Australian beer is rubbish, of course, so there's no danger of the Aussies doing better than the Poms in our ongoing quest for the perfect Pie/Pint combination.
Whilst researching possible venues for the next Pie Club outing, Pieman (accompanied by his long-suffering wife) undertook the hazardous task of visiting all the pubs on the No 17 bus route, which runs from Bishops Waltham to Petersfield, to try to find a pub that serves a pie worthy of our attention. The results were mixed, and largely disappointing:
The Bakers Arms, Droxford
May be worth a visit because we know the food here is seriously good, but there was no pie on the menu when Pieman visited, although their web site says there is a Chicken & Mushroom Pie with mashed potato at £12.95 (expensive).
The Bucks Head, Meonstoke
Possibly worth a visit. One "big and hearty" Steak & Ale Pie with shortcrust pastry @ £9.50
The Shoe, Exton
Doubtful, and expensive. A Steak & Wine Pie with mash and puff pastry @ £12.50. The service here is still as bad as ever, even on a quiet day.
The George & Falcon, Warnford
Might be interesting, but it's a large pub with poor ambience, and expensive. Their "Pie of the Day" when Pieman visited was Pork & Apple with a puff pastry lid and shortcrust pastry lining @ 12.50
Thomas Lord, West Meon
Nice looking pub, but no pies. Disappointing!
The Olde George Inn, East Meon
Nice looking pub, but no pies. Disappointing!
The Isaac Walton, East Meon
No pies
Seven Stars, Stroud
Doubtful, big family pub with poor ambience. Steak & Ale pie @ £9.45
The Good Intent, Petersfield
Pub closed down.
The Square Brewery, Petersfield
Nice pub, but no pies
The Folly, Petersfield
Nice pub, but no pies
Other pubs in Petersfield
There was not enough time to visit all the other pubs in Petersfield, but a quick tour failed to find any that would justify the long bus trip from Bishops Waltham. It didn't look as if any served pies.
On a warm sultry summer's day, Nick, Trev, Si undertook the arduous 2.1 mile walk to The Black Dog, Waltham Chase. They were joined halfway by Doug, and a lively conversation ensued as we worked up a fine thirst. Unfortunately Joe was unable to join us for this outing as he was enjoying his usual summer break in Canada. The Black Dog is a nice looking pub (tied to Greene King) with extensive gardens:
We could have sat outside in the garden, but opted instead for the cool interior. There were 3 ales available: Ruddles County 4.3%, Greene King IPA 3.5%, and Old Speckled Hen 4.5%. We felt that after such a long walk, through all the heat, this was a difficult choice. After some hesitation Doug chose the IPA, and the others chose the County. The beers were quickly served up by the very attractive barmaid, and very enjoyable they were too, being served at exactly the right temperature - just what we needed after that long walk. For our second pint we all moved on to the IPA, and we stuck with that for the rest of the session (We felt that the Old Speckled Hen might be a bit too heavy for the summer conditions).
There was a Steak & Ale Pie (with puff pastry) on the menu, but we were rather put off by the puff pastry so, in a radical departure for the Pie Club, and despite the warm sultry conditions, we all chose to have the Steak & Kidney Pudding with Suet Pastry, served with fresh vegetables (brocolli and home-grown carrots) and hand-cut chips:
This was an excellent choice. Notice in the photo above how Nick is rubbing his stomach in eager anticipation of the delights that lie ahead. The pudding was massive. The suet pastry was near-perfect - thin, light, crisp and tasty. The filling was maybe of not such a high standard: It was tasty but didn't have enough large chunks of meat, and had rather too much gravy (although to be fair, some pointed out that maybe steak and kidney puddings are supposed to be like that. This being our first experience of a steak and kidney pudding we have no basis for comparison, so we shall have to wait and see). The ratio of filling to pastry was very good. The vegetables were cooked perfectly. At first sight it seemed that the vegetable portions were rather small, but in fact, given the massive size of the puddings, we could not have managed any more. The meal was served with gravy already applied (generally not a good idea), and we couldn't help noticing that the puddings had a sprinkling of finely chopped parsley on them, which was impossible to remove.
Afterwards we were all so full that we could not manage any pudding, although there was a tempting choice of 9 puddings available.
The ambience of the pub was not cosy but very pleasant: The pub was busy but not too crowded; the table service was good; the pub was clean; there were flowers in the loos and on some of the tables; there were no fruit machines but unfortunately some background music appeared halfway through the session. At 2:45 the pub was due to close so we were asked to settle the bill and finish our drinks outside in the garden, which we were happy to do.
We thought the value for money was about average: The meals were £9.35 each. Puddings (if we had had any) were £4.35 or £4.95 each. A pint of ale was £3.35.
Scores (max. 5 in each category, 25 overall):
- Pastry 4.575
- Filling 3.4
- Beer 3.975
- Ambience 4.0
- Value 3.7
- Overall 19.65
This puts The Black Dog in 3rd place in our rankings, after the Bowman and the Barleycorn. Nevertheless, this was a good meal out.
During the course of the meal we discussed various possible amendments to the Pie Club constitution, but we agreed that nothing could be decided unless all members were present, so we deferred any decisions until Joe returns to this country. The issues discussed included:
- drinks: beer only, or should cider be allowed?
- year-end award to the best pie (or best overall score?)
- touring
- new members/guest days/affiliated pie clubs, eg Botley
- penalties
- members' pie competition in November for charity
After many unfortunate delays Trev, Nick, Si, and Joe met for the 5th meeting of the Pie Club at The Barleycorn Inn, Bishops Waltham, a fine local pub which we should visit more often.
Doug failed to turn up for this meeting, offering some excuse about having to go to hospital, so he will of course have to pay the usual forfeit at our next meeting.
Trev and Joe arrived early at 11.30 in order to take advantage of the happy hour, which runs from 11:00 to 12:00 every weekday. Simon arrived at 11:58, just in time to buy the 2nd round of Ringwood Best 3.8%. at the reduced price of £2.50/pt (normal price £3.20). We all agreed that this was a fine pint of beer, and stuck with it for the remainder of the session (other beers available were Old Speckled Hen 4.5% and Greene King IPA 3.6% ), although unfortunately the barman Sean was quick to point out to us that we weren't able to buy beers in advance at the reduced price for consumption after 12:00, and once the clock turned 12:00 we had to pay full price. Despite this, we were very impressed by Sean, who continued to give good service at all times.
Nick joined us at 12:30. After a 3rd pint we ordered the pie. There was only one pie available, but it had been especially prepared for us that day after a request from Joe. It was a minced beef with stilton pie, made with suet pastry:
It was served with (frozen) peas and chips (or mashed potatoes) and gravy, to make a fine looking plateful:
The food was brought to our table by the excellent Sean, and it was piping hot. Inexplicably, the pie was garnished with a sprig of parsley: Most of us didn't know what to do with this - Si was the only one to eat his (He was brought up to eat whatever is put in front of him).
A number of comments were made about the pie:
- The suet pastry was lovely, but it was a controversial choice.
- The filling was lovely, but the use of minced beef instead of chunky meat was another controversial choice.
- The taste of the Stilton was barely discernable.
Despite this, we all thought that the pie was delicious, so perhaps we were just being a bit too traditionalist. We need to keep an open mind about such things. The vegetables were fine, and the gravy was very tasty. The servings was more than ample in size.
There was a huge array of puddings available. The ever-excellent Sean even brought us a supplementary pudding menu to consider. Despite being full of pie, we couldn't resist them.
Trev had flaked chocolate cookies with ice cream:
Nick had Hot Whisky & Marmalade Sponge with Custard:
Joe had cheese & biscuits:
Si had good old Spotted Dick with Custard, inexplicably garnished with a sprig of mint (which he didn't eat):
The puddings were all very large and delicious.
The ambience of the pub was very good:our hosts Marie and Pete came and chatted with us, which is always a nice touch; the pub was busy but not too crowded; Sean the barman gave excellent service; the table service was good; the pub was clean; and there were no unnecessary distractions such as music or fruit machines. We especially liked the Happy Hour. We didn't get an itemised bill. but the puddings were around £4 each, and the pies were around £8 each We felt that was very good value for money.
Scores (max. 5 in each category, 25 overall):
- Pastry 4.375
- Filling 3.75
- Beer 4.125
- Ambience 4.25
- Value 3.875
- Overall 20.375
So The Barleycorn leaps into 2nd place in our rankings, just behind the Bowman. Well done Marie, Pete and Sean.
Pie Man's true identity has to remain a closely guarded secret in order to protect him from possible corruption by over-eager pub landladies, some of whom will stop at nothing to secure improved ratings for their pies.
After our first 4 outings, The Hampshire Bowman is clearly in the lead:
- The Hampshire Bowman (21.5)
- The Rising Sun (19.25)
- The Brickmakers (16.33)
- The White Horse (16.2)
Some comments have been made about some of these reviews:
- The Rising Sun was quite expensive and their pies were very salty so perhaps we were over-generous in our scoring.
- The Brickmakers was our first outing, and perhaps we should have been more generous in our scoring.
Clearly we need to revisit some of these pubs!
On a fine spring day it was with mounting excitement and high expectations that Trev, Nick and Simon set off for the long walk across Dundridge Meadows (in searing April heat and blistering sunshine) to one of their favourite local pubs, the Hampshire Bowman:
We were greeted outside by Doug, who had been patiently waiting for us there, having overcome problems with electricians to join us.
Joe was unfortunately unable to join us for this meeting, on account of having family problems back in Canada. You have our sympathy, Joe. After a brief discussion it was agreed that this was a reasonable excuse for his absence, and he needn't buy a round of drinks next time because of this.
After such an arduous cross-country hike, we had (of course) worked up a bit of a thirst so we went straight into the pub, to a warm welcome from Heather (the landlady). We were immediately impressed by the fine choice of ales available:
Doug very kindly bought the first round because (1) he'd already got himself a beer while he was waiting for everyone else to arrive, and (2) he'd driven there. Whilst this was not strictly necessary according to the rules, it was much appreciated by the others. Nick started with the Wallops Wood 4%, and the others had Swift One 3.8%. Both fine ales from the local brewery.
Heather offered us a choice of 3 pies: a Country Harvest Pie @ £7.95, a Chicken & Ham Pie @ £7.95, or a Lamb & Redcurrant Pie @ £9.25, all served with a selection of fresh vegetables and a choice of potatoes (baked, new, saute, or chips). On being told by Heather that the Lamb & Redcurrant Pie was freshly-baked and straight out of the oven, there was only one choice for all of us: We all ordered the Lamb & Redcurrant Pie, and had a second pint while we waited at our table in the garden outside.
Nick had new potatoes with his pie:
Everyone else chose the less healthy option of saute potatoes:
The vegetables and gravy were served separately, with a full selection of condiments:
When put together, the end result was a lovely-looking meal:
We all agreed that the fresh vegetables and the potatoes were very nicely cooked. The gravy was actually more like a redcurrant jus, and was delicious. We also agreed that the pastry was near-perfect, being of the approved short crust variety, and fully enclosing the filling. The filling was also near-perfect, the firm succulent pieces of lamb being accompanied by some very tasty onions. Portion sizes were average, and certainly adequate. Afterwards we all felt very full, and nobody could manage any pudding.
Various people ensured that we sampled each of the ales on offer, including the Warbler 4.8% and the Palmers 200 5%. All were up to the same high standard as the first 2 ales.
The ambience of the pub was also near-perfect: Heather gave us a nice welcome when we arrived; the pub was busy but not too crowded; it was easy to get served at the bar; the table service was excellent; the pub was clean; there were no unnecessary distractions such as music or fruit machines; and the weather was brilliant. The total bill came to £20 each (including service, and 4 beers each), which we felt was good value for money.
Scores (max. 5 in each category, 25 overall):
- Pastry 4.625
- Filling 4.375
- Beer 4.25
- Ambience 4
- Value 4.25
- Overall 21.5
Congratulations to Heather. We set off with high expectations and we were not disappointed. Your pies have earned our highest score yet. We'll surely be back for more!
Next meeting arranged for 2nd June (to be confirmed).
