With The Royal Wedding Coming Up, Treat Yourself To A Cuppa And A Visit To The Pie Store

A rain-drenched week and twice-daily updates on the royal wedding from a Dorset friend put me in the mood for traditional British fare. A trip to London was tempting, but a journey over the mountain to The Pie Store in Montclair was more practical.

I heard The Pie Store was a good source for hard-to-find foods, such as canned mushy peas and baked beans, British-style, with a savory rather than sweet sauce. In this small shop, I found that and more: The Pie Store has digestive cookies, wine gums, and—yes—Hobnobs, the beloved chocolate oatmeal cookies that say England to me.

Need salad cream, HP sauce, or Irn-bru, the soda beloved in Scotland? This is the place. Does your Easter bunny have a British accent? Enough Cadbury eggs to cover Essex County are on offer. 

All well and very good, but this is The Pie Store, after all? What about the pies?

The Pie Store is small, but hard to miss: the windows are decked with the Union Jack. Likewise, the pie menu stays loyal to the UK. Steak and Kidney Pie ($10.95) and Sausage Rolls ($3.75) were the centerpiece of a large glass case. I bought one of each, plus Steak, Ale and Mushroom Pie ($10.95), a Dhal Pasty, and a Chana Masala Pasty ($5.75). I also bought a custard tart ($2.25), in the interest of playing fair; I couldn’t sample only savories, right? It’s important to reflect the sweet side of life, too.

I took the pies home to heat them, but couldn’t resist cracking open the Chana Masala pocket pie in the car. It didn’t disappoint. I worried that the vegetables would be too heavy for the flaky crust, or that the spices would overpower. No, with no more garnish than the paper it was wrapped it, that pasty wowed me.

Likewise, the Dhal pasty was rich and spicy, and I couldn’t choose a favorite between the two. Luckily, I had Steak, Ale and Mushroom Pie as a rich, beefy, tiebreaker. That made a great meal, and would be just as home at a dinner party as a casual gathering. The Sausage Rolls, made from Irish sausage, were all I hoped, flaky crust, spicy sausage sweating slightly into the dough. I could have eaten many more.

And the custard tart? Also a very nice treat, especially with a cuppa. And, yes, The Pie Store sells tea, including Barry’s by the box, and has coffee and tea in carafes, to go ($1).

In short, nothing disappointed and everything impressed me at The Pie Store. I don’t know what they’re serving at the palace for the royal wedding, but televised coverage begins here at 3 a.m. on April 29, which sounds like the perfect occasion for a celebratory sausage roll or two.