English or Australian Meat Pies

[irbaboon]

Any place to get them in San Francisco?

[Robert Lauriston]

The New Zealander in Alameda's specialty is "New Zealand Pub Pies." Call 1-800-I-eat-pie.

[irbaboon]

How would one get there from the city of San Francisco if one didn't have a car?I will be visiting San Francisco for 2 weeks

[pavlov]

Roxie Deli on the corner of 9th and Kirkham has a couple options.

But Peasant Pies off of 12th and Irving is probably your best bet for dozens of types.

http://www.peasantpies.com/

not precisely what you want, but I think you might enjoy.

[Robert Lauriston]

Which Peasant Pies do you like? To me they're so nasty I don't understand how they've lasted so long.

[pavlov]

Honestly... I have only had a couple, and only like the spinach one. The others are too much like old school hand held pot pies, and I am not a fan. But they are cheap and old timey and people seem to LOVE them. Voraciously. So there's that.

[Robert Lauriston]

I don't think there's anything old-timey about their weird crust.

[rworange]

Yeah, I am really not a fan of Peasant pies. I'd go with John Campbell's.

Haven't tried it but Pig and Whistle has a Cornish pasty on the bar menu
http://www.pig-and-whistle.com/offer/barfood.html

If you don't object to Irish verson

Tiernan's Irish Pub
http://www.foodiebytes.com/menu/ca/sanfrancisco/tiernans.html

Too bad you don't have a car. There's a new restaurant in Richmond that has an owner/chef from Liverpool and they serve meat pies.
http://www.chow.com/photos/185997

[Robert Lauriston]

The 72M runs from Richmond BART to a block from Royal Oak.

[rworange]

Heh .. taking them places tourists rarely see. That is a major shlep even with a car, but nice to know it is reachable ... probably want to do this at lunch rather than late night.

[Pandora]

I agree that the Peasant Pie crust is strange. It tastes like it was made with only water and no butter or lard. On the other hand it does come across as healthy-ish (not greasy). I liked the Basque beef, but they switched from stewed beef to ground beef. So now I get the black bean and tofu.

I was intrigued by the mention of Roxie Deli so went by for lunch. Per the Yelp reviews on the sandwiches, I had a really good pastrami on dutch crunch. There were all sorts of great british and irish foods. The above-mentioned meat pies looked like the pasties from John Campbells, as did their sausage rolls, scones and soda bread. I didn't ask about whether they are made in house though.

That said, when I think about English meat pies, I think about Melton Mowbray pork pies. Not sure which the OP is looking for, but has anyone seen pork pies around at all?

[rworange]

link

[scosco]

Ugh...Peasant Pies. These should not be mentioned in the same sentence as English / Australian pies. They have an flavor that lingers...and not in a good way.

[ChowFun_derek]

...and that cardboard crust!!!

[Robert Lauriston]

It's a two-mile walk from the Alameda ferry terminal, or you could take the O or W bus from the Transbay Terminal in SF, they go within a block or two.

[David Carlson]

There is a bus (I forget the number) that stops at the Alameda Ferry Terminal and goes down Webster. Transbay bus or BART to 12th Street in Oakland and the 51 to Alameda are both cheaper options and easier on the schedule - 51 runs every 15min during the day, every half hour later in the evening. The ferry ride is nice, though...

[ChowFun_derek]

There is a ferry which should be fun!

For full instructions try.... http://511.org/

[Carrie 218]

John Campbell's Irish Bakery out on Geary - close enough to the English version and REALLY good!

[ML8000]

In SF - Pig and Whistle, O'Reilly's Holy Grail. In the East Bay - Kensington Circus in Kensington next to Berkeley.

[rworange]

They are not on the current online menu of O'Reilly's

[ML8000]

They serve Hunter's Pie, with venison. I haven't had it but I heard about it..sort of pricey. I've never had venison pie so I wouldn't know if it was good in the first place.

[irbaboon]

Pork pies would be my number one goal! Are there any to be had in the bay area?

[Sixy]

As a Brit living in SF who is very much interested food I would not recommend a visitor who is only in the city for two weeks go searching for British style pies in the Bay Area. I have lived here seven and a half years and am yet to see a pork pie of any sort. If I did find one I wouldn't expect it to be any good since even in Britain it's not simple to find a really good pork pie. Every Brit style foodstuff I have tried to date in the Bay Area (cornish pasties, fish & chips, bangers and mash, etc), has been quite far removed from the actual British versions of the same thing. If you are visiting the Bay area, I would recommend indulging in the fantastic local foods instead. There are dozens of amazing things worth tasting in these parts. Much as I am a fan of my birth country's cuisine and much as I like to blow its trumpet as much as I can, sorry American imitations of British foods wouldn't make my list of things worth trying on a visit to San Francisco.

[wolfe]

Longer and better than I said it. Thank you.

[rworange]

Yes ... but for you and not the visitor ... try Royal Oak in Point Richmond ... it is a few door down from Hidden City Cafe.

The chef.owner from Liverpool is somewhat of a perfectionist. Takes him two days to make the pasties ... something about letting things rest. There is a report attached to this Place record
http://www.chow.com/places/30248

[Sixy]

Thanks for that info - I'll have to get some Brits together to try it out. The menu looks quite interesting, although I am shuddering a little at the thought of a pre-cooked banger. Never heard of pre-cooked sausages til I arrived on these shores. Thanks for the info

[foodeye]

Can't say I know exactly what a pork pie is like, but at Frog Hollow in the Ferry Bldg. they have a carnitas turnover that is grand!

[wally]

Is this always available?

[foodeye]

Yes.

BTW, in the late afternoon (4 or 4:30?) most items get shifted to the first shelf and are 2/$6. No guarantee that the carnitas is still available then, but it is often.

[wolfe]

And now you know the rest of the story.
http://www.froghollow.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=BC0C7DAE-3048-23C1-DD4C33CE5ECFBF35
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pork_pie

[ML8000]

I had the pork pie at Frog Hollow. It was good/tasty but I don't remember it much. I didn't think of it as outstanding but I don't have a lot to compare it to. It was as good/a bit better then the place that use to be on Kearny in the FiDi.

[Joan Kureczka]

Venison is great in pies -- I've had it many times in UK.
But I think this one is more like a cottage pie with a potato crust -- also haven't tried the Holy Grail version yet.

[ML8000]

Venison in pie does sound great. I'm curious but I heard the pie is $20 bucks. Understandable given venison...but I'm not sure I'd make a special trip for it. However if I was there I'd be tempted.

[wolfe]

Found on the Beef Wellington thread by rworange.
http://www.theduke.com/menu.html