Battersea Pie Station, Lower Ground Floor, 28 The Market The Piazza, Covent Garden, London WC2E 8RE

‘A cup of tea and a slice of pie Aunt Sally?’

******THE BLUEWATER STORE IS NOW CLOSED******

Ade’s son Oliver was feeling a bit down… So Ade decided to cheer him up with a boys day out! And the best way to cheer up this particular 9-year-old was with a movie and a slap up lunch. So off we all nipped over to Bluewater so the lads could watch Super 8 (a must see film by the way!) While they were in the cinema, Charlotte and I wasted time looking around the shops and having our faces painted at Krispy Kreme, well Charlotte, 7, did anyway! She also got to decorate a donut, using every single type of icing and decoration there was.

With the film over and done with, it was time for phase two of ‘operation cheer up Oliver’ – lunch…

Bluewater has a huge choice of eateries, from the usual fast food chains to Leon, Carluccio’s, and Loch Fyne. But it was the newly opened Battersea Pie Station that caught our eye. Or possibly the sight of Ray Winstone on the poster that caught mine,  one of my odd crushes.

‘Oi Duncan, take that lampshade off your head!’

Situated down in the Wintergarden, The Battersea Pie Station serves a great selection of Pies (stating the bloody obvious), pasties, sides and soups (we didn’t see these, but then again we weren’t looking). Like their Facebook page says, this is ‘proper british grub!’

Here’s a brief rundown of how the Battersea Pie Station got going… It was founded by James Stephenson back in 2007 with a simple goal in mind – to make and serve the best pie & mash there is. After success at local markets, they bought a vintage Airstream trailer to tour the UK music festivals. After two years and over 20 events, Battersea Pie has become a recognisable brand amongst festivalgoer’s. They were at this year’s Hop Farm Festival where we were lucky enough to see Prince at his very best! Now they have two outlets, one in Covent Garden and one in Bluewater. None in Battersea!

The boys opted for the The Winstone (Steak & Kidney) and the Steak & Guinness pies served with mash and gravy. Both of these pies were delicious, Oliver even commented that this was the best lunch he’d had all summer holidays! The ingredients, all free range produce from the British Isles, are obviously well sourced and their quality really stands out. The meat was tender and flavoursome, the pie lid’s rich buttery shortcrust pastry was crisp and flaky (the herb markings adding taste and indicating which pie is which) and the pie ‘wall’ was good too, soaking up the pie’s meaty filling without being soggy. The rich Red Wine & Herb Gravy complimented the soft perfectly seasoned mashed potato.

The pie’s the limit!

Us girls both had the Chicken and mushroom pie – again the lid was perfect and the filling contained large chunks of succulent white chicken breast, huge slices of mushroom and a creamy sauce (not sure if had a hint of wine in it). But this time the crust was slightly undercooked and doughy. I had my pie with the mash and the traditional liquor (the first time I’ve tried it) – a thin parsley sauce which tastes much better than it looks. While Charlotte has a side order of chips, very similar tasting to McDonald’s fries but thicker. I ended up drizzling some gravy on mine also as it looked so good and I wanted to try both, the liquor was great, but a bit too delicate for me.

One day this bike will come to me

I almost can’t wait for winter so I can revisit on a cold night and warm myself up with some pie and mash. And how cool is this? They now deliver! Minimum spend of £20 though, and it looks like it doesn’t apply to Bluewater. More of an office/corporate thing I think, shame. Maybe one day we can get it delivered straight to our door, until then, we’ll be back for sure.

Chicken and mushroom pie, liquor and chips.

Happy shiny people! A regular sight at the festivals..

******THE BLUEWATER STORE IS NOW CLOSED******

The Battersea Pie Station
www.batterseapiestation.co.uk
(Covent Garden)
Lower Ground Floor, 28 The Market
The Piazza, Covent Garden, London WC2E 8RE
Tel: 020 7240 9566
11am-7pm Mon-Fri, 10am-7pm Sat, 11am-6pm Sun

james@batterseapiestation.co.uk