Saturday 5 October, 2013 

Birmingham City 1 - 2 Notlob
St. Andrew's Stadium  -  Attendance: 13,627

A new challenge today with an early kick-off. So, were my lunchtime pie urges met......

[do you like the new addition of a fork in the pic?]

 

Verdict:
With an evening Balti on the horizon, it had to be another Steak & Kidney pie - with ketchup, obviously!

Despite a queue, I was served quickly and pleasantly, and even managed to get 2 pies as the old man joined in the pie exploits.

As you can see from the pic, it looked great. Golden crispiness, that crinkled beautifully with the fork insertion.

Initial tastes were also great. Perfect pastry, lots of filling, including big, tender chunks of steak (although not a great deal of kidney).

Everything was going great, so I expected a burnt bottom (pie, not mine), soggy bottom (pie, not mine) or greasy bottom (both me & pie)!

But not so. The pie was cooked perfectly throughout, with a thick but not too soggy or too greasy bottom.

So I was thinking to myself, this could be a perfect 10 out of 10 score???

But I can't bring myself to do that. The pie was lovely, but there was nothing 'special' that grabbed me by the throat and gave me a big pie-based snog!

I have no idea what that special-ness could be, but there has to be something that WOW's me to get that full score.

Maybe I'm being harsh, but this pie gets a very near perfect:

SCORE : 9.5/10

 

 

There isn't a match for a few weeks now, so this is a great way to enter that break. Perhaps that special something will even be present next time and we'll reach the promised land of 10/10!
 

 
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Tuesday 1 October, 2013 

Birmingham City 4 - 0 Millwall (no-one likes them)
St. Andrew's Stadium  -  Attendance: 13,133

A new month, and a new ex-Blues player on my club calendar, but what does October have in store for pie lovers......

 

Verdict:
I couldn't take the risk of a half-time poor showing (see previous blogs), so went for a pre-game Steak & Kidney pie, with compulsory ketchup.  Everyone knows that pre-match pies aren't as good as half-time ones (again, see previous blogs), so I was already on the defensive.

Service was great as usual and the pie looked OK, with a bit of sinkage in the middle, suggesting undercooking.

First tastes were great. Crispy top, hot filling. I thought the mid-week pie problems had finally been solved.

But my enthusiasm was short-lived.  Whilst tasty, there was a paltry (not poultry) amount of steak or kidney and - completely opposite to my undercooking expectations - the bottom was burnt!

I don't quite understand how that's possible in a tinfoil encased pie, but the bottom pastry tasted like bread that's been in a toaster turned up to 11.

Some good points, especially for a mid-week pre-game pie, but the overcooking is inexcusable, so:

SCORE : 6/10

 

 

Another match on Saturday gives a great chance to undo this poor(ish) score and go into the International break in fine form!

 

 

 
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