British Pie Week: Five of London’s top pies to pick up – and one to order for next week

The slice is right: Willy’s Pies
Andy Parsons

This week – from now until Sunday – marks British Pie Week, one of those nonsense calendar-fillers that nevertheless offers an excuse to indulge.

A bastion of this country’s cooking, pies have rarely been in better shape. A few years ago, a good pie was hard to find, most found hidden away on dusty pub menus.

Still, recent(ish) times have seen a change in the dish’s fortune, and now they’re distinctly upper crust. Part of this might be accredited to social media and the likes of Calum Franklin: the brown, beige lumps of yore were reborn as sleek works of art.

While many of the capital’s pie specialists are still shut – or now permanently closed, as in the sad case of Piebury corner – there are still plenty of places firing up their ovens and getting handy with the glaze. Below are five offering pies for pickup, with one more to order, for luck.

Parlour

Since the very early days at the Kensal Green pub, Jesse Dunford Wood has drawn a crowd with his Desperate Dan’s Cow Pie. Dandy readers will know that means it’s a steak, ale and mushroom number with suet pastry. It’s available through the week as part of the at-home menu, as is Parlour’s famous chicken kiev. Delivery is also available.

£10, daily, 5 Regent Street, NW10 5LG, parlourkensal.com

The Quality Chop House

Everyone’s favourite spot in Farringdon – granted, there’s not an awful lot of competition – has three pies always on the menu (four counting pork pies). The leek, cheddar and mushroom pies start things off at £12, but there are also steak, ale and stilton, and chicken and leek options for £16.50. The Quality Chop shop has a bit of everything else, too, for an especially upmarket weekly shop. Delivery is also available.

From £12, daily, 88-94 Farringdon Road, EC1R 3EA, thequalitychophouse.com

St John

The Clerkenwell stalwart is making its customers come to them – but the results are worth it. The pies change weekly: so far they’ve had the likes of pheasant and trotter, smoked eel and fish and spiced rabbit. This week they’ve a more classic take with chicken, leek and mushroom on offer.

£35, Friday and Saturdays, 94-96 Commercial St, E1 6LZ, stjohnrestaurant.com

The Marksman

Hackney favourite the Marksman has an especially tempting menu: everything from the baked pressed potatoes to the curried lamb stuffed buns look gorgeous. The three pies presently on offer might just be the best of it, though: there’s shrimp and smoked haddock on offer, alongside chicken and wild garlic alongside the particularly warming braised beef with winter truffle. Start with a round of their cured-in-house Tamworth ham shoulder. Delivery is also available.

From £16, Friday to Sundays, 254 Hackney Road, E2 7SJ, marksmanpublichouse.com

Levan

There’s just one pie on the menu here, but it’s a good one. It’s one that’s a favourite in usual times and, when they’re back open, will be worth making a trip for. In the meantime, collect it: inside puff pastry brushed with egg, Dauphinoise potato comes smothered with mushroom duxelle and Vacherin Mont d’Or cheese. Delivery is available, but it’s worth the pilgrimage to Peckham.

£19.90, Wednesday to Saturdays, 12-16 Blenheim Grove, SE15 4QL, levan.bignight.app

Willy’s Pies

Not craving a pie right away? To to order comes from former St John and Brat chef Will Lewis launched his venture way back in lockdown one, beginning with just 30 or so pies a week, but has found such success he’s doing somewhere north of a 1000 every month these days. You’ll need to be swift – the weekly drop on Sundays at noon sells out almost instantly – and while pies change often, the hit has always been their bone marrow jobbie, complete with a slice of bone.

Usually around £12, willyspies.com

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