Wilsons

Wilson’s Pies and Pasties, in both Armley and Morley are owned by the proprietors of Wilson’s Butchers of Crossgates, John and Andrew Green. These guys really are proud of their products, and with the Pie and Pasties shops this is no exception.
A shop dedicated to pies is many a person’s idea of food heaven, and near seasonal times of year, Bonfire Night, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, people flock to Wilson’s for good olé pork pies, and by flock I mean flock, queues outside the door and around the block, Wilson’s is famous. And if the addage, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach is to be believed, then Wilson’s is a good place to start. Pork Pies have never done much for me, but lawd, my friends love them. After calling in a favour from a mate, he requested payment in, of all things a Wilson’s pie. Bargain! Twas when I went along to purchase one that I saw the busy bustling nature that is all things Wilsons. From this favour payment led to a whole bunch of people craving the Wilson’s pork pie.
You can’t help but notice the acolades Wilson’s has aquired over it’s years, from best pork pie in the world, to small pork pie champions, winning awards in the pork pie appreciation society, yes this really does exist, to coverage in the local press, it seems everyone who has tasted a Wilson’s pasty or pie becomes a fan.
The pork pies tend to overshadow things with their famous nature, but Wilson’s also does some killer pasties, and they’re flippin enormous, from steak and ale, using Timothy Taylor’s ale, corned beef pasty, Cornish Pasty, which is scrummy without being to peppery, but the right mix of flavour so it’s not all bland and nasty. Pies wise, the Huntsman is fabulous, and my prefered option over the pork pies, much to the scorn of my friends, but the Huntsman is tasty and sweet and tart all at the same time. Large or small, meat and potato, steak, Huntsman, mince and onion, sausage rolls, cheese straws, scones, apple pies, muffins, and the big daddy, the three tiered wedding cake; 20lbs of award winning pie for £100, awesome.

Being from the West Country I consider myself to know a fair amount about pasties, and can often be found lurking outside bakeries scowling at too thick pastry or too narrow crusts. It is a great compliment, then, that I consider Wilsons to make the finest pasties outside the South West. Despite the rather unpromising exterior that makes it look like a generic chain bakery, Wilsons has won many awards for its baking, its pork pies in particular, and their cheese and onion pasty is one of the best I’ve ever tasted, with flaky pastry surrounding a tangy, mature filling. They also do amazing snacks, like freshly baked cheese straws and radioactive looking mushy peas, and even make special three-​tiered pork pie wedding cakes, which look so good they nearly make me want to eat meat again.