Pieminister

Pie, mash & gravy. That’s one of the most English dishes you can get.
Pretty simple set up inside, choose your pie, choose your sides — easy. I went for the Deerstalker pie as a ‘Mothership’ (£7.95) which means it comes with sides of mash /​minted mushy peas and is covered in crispy shallots & cheddar — with gravy, obviously.
I have to say the stand out part of the meal was the crispy shallots & cheese topping which was delicious. The mash was creamy & smooth, and the peas were nice, but I was expecting a little more from the actual pie. Very acceptable but no more exciting than a Hollands pie from the chippy. The pastry was a little bland too.
Maybe it’s just that English cuisine is a bit more of a home comfort rather then anything spectacular…
Overall it’s a good filling meal but if you’re coming here make sure you get the ‘Mothership’ i.e. all the trimmings, as that’s what makes the experience. Otherwise paying £4.20 for a pie on its own probably isn’t worth it, you may as well get a pie from greggs.

I am reviewing Pieminister from an access and gluten free point of view, and sadly it doesn’t really meet that all too well, Pieminister are a small company of pieshops, who also sell their pies and pie pots in British supermarkets, including Sainsbury’s, having tried a gluten free pie pot, I picked up from Sainsbury’s from this brand, I decided to finally visit one of their restaurants and was really dissapointed on both 3 accounts meaning I actually decided not to eat here, I will explain them in further detail now.
It is quite a nice store, with an interesting logo, being typical of Church Street with a grey shop, with orange writing, which seems to be common for most shops around there, the store inside is quite nice and does have a decent vibe to it.
1 — Disabled Access
There is a few steps going into the store, with one then another, and there isn’t really a lot of room to put a table downstairs which helps reduce their clientel as it makes it harder for people to visit with wheelchairs.
2. Gluten free Choices
Pieminister don’t have anything gluten free on their menu either, whether that be mains or desserts, despite selling some gluten free foods in supermarkets meaning they can do it, so unless I want the soup of the day, a starter with no bread, there is near enough nothing else I can have, not even sides which is poor on its-​self, as the only thing avaliable is a starter, and soup is just something you’d want something to go with it.
3. The menu choice overall
When considering the full, gluten filled menu, the menu choice overall is still quite poor, there is a good selection of pies but apart from a few other minor things, that’s all they seem to sell, they do have some nice sounding sausage rolls as snacks though but I don’t feel that cuts it, and they do need at least one different main, like even Nando’s too, who are known across the UK for their perri-​perri flavouring and chicken. I also was shocked to just find them advertising «Pie and mash» really hard and there not to be any choice for things like chips, which is a shame.
Pieminister does seem a nice place but from my point of view, it doesn’t meet my needs which makes me dissapointed to be giving it a single one star, especially as it seems so popular with some of my Unilocal friend’s.

This place does exactly what you’d expect.
Gourmet Pies, as a northerner I must admit to loving pies and they hit the nail on the head.
Their choice of pies is minimal but delicious, not only this the option to eat in or take away is a bonus if you’re in need of a quick bite!
Enjoyable!

This was an amazing find during our trip to Manchester, and one we only found thanks to online reviews!
Pieminister is a restaurant dedicated to pies, unsurprisingly. The love of pies here is so great that the provided internet is advertised as «Pie-​fi». Very humorous indeed. The pie selection is large, and there is definitely something for everyone. I had a chicken and ham hock pie and Mary had a spicy vegetarian one. We had mash, peas, and gravy as well. Everything tasted just wonderful. The pies were a good size, tasted fresh, and were served quickly after ordering.
The restaurant is a good size, with plenty of tables inside, and a small few outside as well, in case the weather is nice. There’s a good selection of drinks, including beer. The staff are friendly and welcoming, and the atmosphere is really nice to spend time in.
Pies have never been my first choice of cuisine, but this opinion is changing gradually, and Pieminister has catalysed this process, with excellent quality food, great prices, and a lovely venue in which to enjoy a pie as well. Highly recommended to anyone visiting Manchester!

Oh my god! Yum! I went here on a visit and it was the best restaurant I had been to on my whole trip. I so wish we had something like this in the states!

If you like pies and also like to try different varieties of this British dish, you are at the right place in Manchester: Pieminister offers a variety of pies — some very standard, some unusual. The staff is friendly and they offer to make you share pies with another person, so you can get more than one on your plate :)
The restaurant is very central but quite small. So you should better reserve a table if you are planning to come with more than 2 people. The location itself is nothing special, I wouldn’t recommend it for a special event (but others might?). However, another good thing about the place: prices are comparatively low!
Thus, it is a good choice if you are looking for a location where you can sit down and take your time without spending too much money for your food.

Taking a day off work can be an unusual thing; when you — and the majority of your friendship group — work the standard 9 – 5 working day Dolly Parton was singing about, you suddenly realise that you have nothing to do with that random 24 hours you have away from you desk. Lunchtime, however, provides the perfect excuse to get out of the house and see someone.
With drink plans in the evening, the other half suggested going to Pieminister for a carb-​heavy midday meal. My pie eating in Manchester tends to revolve around Pie & Ale (this quickly changes to Greenhalgh’s in Wigan), so I decided that — yes — it was time to expand my education.
It was very busy when we arrived but managed to grab a pair of seats at the high bar and look over the menu. We instantly decided we would both go for The Mothership ‘meal’, where your pie comes with gravy, mushy peas, mash and cheddar cheese. I went for the Heidi pie which was goats cheese, sweet potato, spinach and onion. It was delicious, with very sturdy pastry that didn’t crumble beneath the mash and peas, though the cheese on cheese didn’t feel like a great idea towards the end!
Service was friendly and efficient throughout, despite the rush of pie fans during a Northern Quarter lunch hour, and we were out within 30 minutes, more than sufficiently full. The post-​pie nap was especially excellent.

Very reasonably priced and enjoyable food. Me and my boyfriend opted for a bottled beer each to wash down with our pie, mash and gravy combo. Tasty food, quick service, and a good location. However, I personally prefer Pie and Ale (the Northern Quarter’s other pie offering, near Bakerie) despite it’s slightly higher prices. Very pleasant but not the same food quality as Pie and Ale. Definitely a good quick eat place, and good value for money.

I love Pieminister pies! You can also get them at Pi in Chorlton, but it’s nice to see they’ve opened an official bar now.
I definitely recommend getting a pie with ALL the trimmings. The mushy peas and mash are delicious. There’s a wide range of meat, fish and veggie pies, so something for everyone and lots of beer options to wash it down with!
The only downside was that it got quite warm, we asked to move near the door so we had a breeze, which the staff were happy to do!
Definitely worth going for a cheeky afternoon pie or on a Sunday if you can’t be bothered to cook a roast!

After this I can definitely say I’ve been too critical of the British Cuisine. I’m fact, the word «meat pie» sounded quite horrendous to me when I first heard it.
The pies here were everything but, very tasty. A great British classic. Especially the Matador in the Mothership version.
And all that for little cost considering the quality of the food.

Great value, friendly service and a nice selection of cheeky beers. My tip is get on the Scotch Bonnet pie on a bed of mash its a delicious treat of heat and meat.
See you soon,
The El Food Brothers

All Aboard the Gravy Train
If you’ve seen the El Food Brothers Twitter recently, you’ll have seen that Mash Madness has taken its hold of us.
The quest was set, lets find the best mash in the Northern Quarter. Our first hit of mash is being provided by Pieminister, for two reasons, first, we love a good pun, and secondly, it says ‘Pie & Mash’ in the window.
Entry to Pieminister is slightly confusing, not because we couldn’t figure out to push the door, unlike several other people we watched later, but because the first thing that greets you is a staircase.
«Have we walked into someones house?»
We head up the staircase, in the classic English way of confused politeness we make our selves known and are given the initial option «Are you eating in?». So they do takeaway pies as well, good to know for grabbing a pie and mash on the hoof.
We are told to take a seat, and we decide to head back down the staircase, as things are looking at bit too ‘Yard and Coop’ cozy for our liking on the mezzanine level.
Its benches and hard looking chairs down here as well. I make a bee-​line for the bench with the spongy looking surface, and am actually pleasantly surprised. El Food two takes the chair-​shaped-​bullet, but theres no complaints.
Service is speedy, and we are soon ordering a beer. It has to be the ‘Madness IPA’, we spot its 6.8%, but egged-​on by the waitress we go for it. Having already agreed that «Thursdays are bullshit» anyway, a strong beer can only help.
We follow our ordering under pressure method of picking a pie, we already know we want mash. Its the ‘Matador’ (beef, chorizo, olive and butter bean) for me and ‘Beer and deer’ (venison, smoked bacon, kidney bean, scotch bonnet and Brewdog beer) for El Food Two. A friendly warning of El Food Two’s choice being «a bit hot» are heeded, but he’s been in the kitchen long enough to stand the heat.
Gravy is an optional extra, this is bullshit, why would you want a dry pie and mash. I think gravy is as optional an extra as a parachute when you’re skydiving.
Obviously we both take the gravy «option», its 30p extra, the El Food Brothers millions haven’t quite rolled in yet, but we push the proverbial gravy-​boat out.
You actually get a gravy boat as well, which round here, its a surprise to find one of these used for its intended purpose. Rather than floating a burger out to sea, or keeping your custard from your desert. It makes the whole thing seem quite classy by our standards.
The drinks come quickly, and the pies not much after. Obviously most, if not all, the menu is pre-​cooked and ready to plate up. This isn’t a problem, it suits the lunch hour crowd perfectly, millennials don’t have time to cook a whole pie.
The brief interlude is spent watching passes by out of the window. Apparently people watchers are a thing, I find this an odd term, its like identifying as an air breather, but if you think of yourself as one, then this is the place for you. If you don’t want to do that, you can entertain yourself watching people try and fail to open the door to Pieminister. For the record, its a push to open situation from the street.
Pies delivered, gravy shipped and Colemans mustard in jar provided, we are ready to start. First things first, the pies are drowned in gravy, and then swiftly cut in two for the holy trinity (pie, mash, gravy) money shot. You can’t look at these pies and not think ‘bad things’ about them.
We nail the pies, that is to say, we eat the pies, quickly and not leaving any trace of pie and mash on the plate. El Food Two is loving his pie, «the perfect treat of heat and meat» he says. Personally the bit I tried was a bit hot, but I’m more of a mass than a heat fan when it comes to food.
My pie is tasty, but its not the sort of pie you’d write about on a postcard and send to your parents when on holiday. I spot a good few slices of chorizo in there though, so they aren’t scrimping on the ingredients. Having said that, I’m scraping the last of the mash of the plate with my knife and licking it off by the end, manners are bullshit.
Its all over quite quickly in the end, but everyone seems satisfied. Its not always a marathon, sometimes a sprint can be just as much fun. We head up the stairs to pay, its £10.40 a piece, with the beer proving the £4.40 in that equation. Its not quite the £5 lunch, but then no one forced us to have the beer.
Getting out of Pieminster provides the second challenge of the visit. We are now stuck with the till to the left of us, tables on the right, and in the middle a large group of people with absolute no self awareness or grasp of the basic laws of physics. Feeling like a contestant on the Crystal Maze who’s grabbed the crystal but only has 5 seconds till being locked it, we get out, but I’ve no idea how.
We will return, but might bring gloves next time.
Overall: 7.5 gravy boats out of 10 passengers on the gravy train.

This place is fantastic! Get the Mothership, you will not be sorry. Mushy peas and mashed potatoes with gravy, cheese, and fried shallots with pie are brilliant. I enjoyed it with HP/​brown sauce. You do have the option of having all of the sides on the side.
I want to try all of the pies. I have already been here twice within the span of a week. Great music and friendly staff.

Yum! I have been thinking of trying this place for sometime after good reports from friends. On this occasion I came with my brother who is also a fan after discovering them when they were just starting out at a festival back in the day, this Bristol based pie and mash place lived up to my expectations.
I had the mothershipped chicken of aragon, which was really very good, I love a good chicken pie and this one was super. My brother had the mothershipped matador which seemed to be taken care of quickly so must of been good as he would say so if it had not lived up to expectations and to be fair it was gone fairly quickly which is always a good sign. The gravy here is really good, rich and smooth and complemented my pie and mash really well, it is important to get a good gravy, and the amount of times I am disappointed by bad gravy when out means when it is as good as this one was it is worth a mention of its own.
Friendly by quiet (could barely hear him from time to time) waiter, was great and brought things quickly after it took me a wee while to pick what to have, but he coped with that.

Hit all the right places! The pie was just amazing mash was creamy and the gravy was amazing and it was so filling and it was cheap for the quality and the atmosphere is cosy. I went at night and the staff were super friendly food was also fast.

Pieminister is really rather good, but I only got in on my second visit. The first time my friends and I tried to come for dinner and arrived at 6:01pm only to find a sign on the door saying they closed at six on that particular day. We were a bit bummed not to be let in, especially since we made it so close to closing, but no matter. We returned for lunch a few days later.
The pies were excellent. We all ordered different pies (which I recommend ordering with gravy if nothing else) and i opted to go for a vegetarian option. It was VERY good and I’ll definitely be back to sample more!
The atmosphere was also greatest: not a huge space but very cozy, in sync with the food.

This place has been on my hit list for a while now so when my friend came down for the weekend it was high time I gave it a go!
We arrived around 4pm on a Sunday afternoon so it was pretty quiet but we were welcomed in and told to take a seat if we were eating in. The little menus are great with a good few options for pies (including a good veggie selection!) and lots of sides to add if you are particularly peckish!
We both decided to go for the MOTHERSHIP — which is any pie from the menu plus mashed potato, minted mushy peas, gravy, cheddar cheese topped off with crispy shallots.
Luckily we didn’t have to wait long as we were starving! The pie itself was so tasty and filled to the brim with chicken and mushroom. The pastry wasn’t too stodgy or thick and was lovely and crispy on the outside. The mash potato was gorgeous and creamy and the minty peas were delicious — considering i’m not a mushy pea person! The addition of the crisp onions gave it that little bit extra.
As a gravy conisour I would have to say it was a ¹⁰⁄₁₀ — you can taste the red wine addition and it was just the right amount of thickness. This place is just so fantastic — with a laid back atmosphere and the lovely staff it’s a perfect weekend pie stop!
I’ll be back to work my way through the menu!

Let me set the scene for you…
It’s a miserable, wet day in Manchester — unheard of, I know! I’m late for my bus to work and as a result have no breakfast, my stomach weeps all morning.
Come lunchtime a voice cries «Pie glorious Pie» and I leg it to Pieminister!
What’s to fault; blue and Moo pie with creamy mash, red wine sauce followed by a salted caramel slice for £8.00. The service is relaxed and friendly, playlist ambient and soothing and most importantly, the pies are hot and lovely!
This place has you covered for lunch or a meal out, unfortunately I ate a bit too early today to enjoy any Wild Beer Co … Next time!

It’s pie, with mash, gravy and a few other extras if you so wish.
Proper English food always served with a smile. There’s a wide variety to choose from and the place always smells delicious, the food always matches the smell too
Even though you will leave full, you’ll always be wanting more

Came here last week during British Pie Week. I had heard this place was really good and you can’t beat a good pie. Don’t think it has a menu on their web site but thankfully someone has uploaded a photo of the menu on here so I was able to see what pies they did before going — they all sounded delicious.
When I walked into Pieminister, it was about 3pm so wasn’t busy at all — not near lunch time and everyone in work. I had a look at pies on display and what was listed on the board. I was kind of hoping for the steak and kidney pie they do but didn’t see it on list. I did ask what she would recommend and she then mentioned they had some specials on. I decided to go for the Minty Lamb one — which was the last one! Must be good. I went for it and also had some mashed potato on the side.
I decided to have it as a takeaway and it was nicely packed up in a box.
So when I opened the box, the pie looked lovely. And the taste. It tasted great! Lovely lamb, nice carrots and swede and a minty taste. The mash was not bad.
The pie itself only cost £4.20. The mashed potato was £1.50. I am planning to go back again and try more of their delicious pies.