Eating Some Food in Wellington, a review: Trisha's Pies

Part three of an infrequent series

In Part Three, I visit Trisha's Pies and eat yet another delicious pastry gravy meat treat.

via Flickr user TELPorfolio

For Wellington-based readers, I don't imagine that I am doing anything less than preaching to the converted, because these pies are what other pies DREAM of being when they grow up. They are the Ultimate Pie, on the VERY PINNACLE of pie-based achievements - perfectly balanced quantities of delicious gravy; tender, delicious and non-grisly* meat; and crisp, buttery flakey pastry.

The Cambridge Terrace branch of Trisha's is right across the road from my school, and it takes every ounce of self control NOT to eat a pie everyday. Tuesday is my special day for Pie Treats and I usually zip across the road after class has finished and take a Peppered Steak pie to the waterfront where I proceed to burn the top of my mouth with hot gravy because I'm so desperate to eat my little pastry-meat envelope.

I can strongly recommend the Peppered Steak pie, but may I also recommend that you look into the Steak and Kidney and Steak and Onion pies? I have heard a rumour that the chicken pies aren't really All That, but I cannot testify to that end myself. The regular sized pies are normally fine for me ($4.50) but on a particularly gluttonous day I have been known to have one of the larger ones ($5.20) which was no challenge whatsoever.

Anyway, today I actually wagged school in order to some work for a friend, but I did not allow this to throw out my Tuesday treat! I decided to have a Steak and Onion pie to mix things up, and while it was good I did regret that I hadn't had another Peppered Steak which are my current passion. I believe the lovely older lady behind the counter in the tiny shop is Trisha herself, although I wouldn't swear to that. Generally, she's more cheerful than she was today, but I believe she still managed to call me "dear" which suitably completed my Trisha's Pies experience.

The first time I went to Trisha's Pies was only at the end of last year, during that strange pre-Christmas period where some people have already gone away for their summer holidays and others are still slaving away in stuffy offices. Shannon and I went to buy a pie on our way down from our house, and the lady behind the counter made small talk with us. She remarked that Shannon and I "must have broken up already."

I was shocked! And I believe that my face must have show it as she then quickly clarified the statement with "Oh! From work!" In the split second between remarks I'd had this horrible sinking feeling, that somehow she knew that S was only taking me to get a pie in order to soften the blow of the end of our relationship. Did Trisha know something I didn't? Were meat pies the food of couples that had just broken up? How many other couples has she seen buy their final pie together?

And now for some kind of conclusion:
Trisha's Pies rule, and you should totally get yourself a pie! And Trisha doesn't really want you to break up, it's all a horrible misunderstanding.



*or indeed, non-gristly