Pie in the Sky, Olinda - pie and scone heaven!

Without doubt, I love a good pie. I used to dream about having pies and crave about having pies. I was so upset when Jesters closed its doors around Melbourne that I still pout my lips every time I pass its old location in Knox City Shopping Centre. As such, I was over the moon when my friends told me that there was a fantastic pie restaurant in Olinda called Pie In The Sky and that we'd be passing it on the way from the Tesselaar Tulip Festival a few weeks ago. According to their website, Pie in the Sky has 'won a total of 15 medals in the annual Great Aussie Meat Pie Competition' since 1993 as well as other media appearances. Big gold and silver signs can clearly be seen outside and inside the store to further showcase their victories.

I was told that the place was popular as we did go on a Sunday right about lunch time after going to the near by Tulip Festival. However, I wasn't quite prepared for what I saw. In my mind I was expecting a few people in line and some free space as it was in Olinda which is a small town some 50 kilometres from Melbourne CBD. As I entered, I was overwhelmed. There were people crowded around the whole entrance that I could hardly open the door. Mind you, it wasn't a tiny pie place like many are but a full restaurant sized building. The dine in tables are upstairs and there was also a line for those. We ended up waiting about 15 minutes for a table and a further 20 minutes before we got our food. It was well worth the wait though.

You're able to order from either standard pies (such as regular meat pies, mushroom pies or bacon & onion pies) or from the gourmet pie selection such as beef burgundy, beef guinness, beef curry, korma chicken or spinach & feta just to name a few or if you're feeling adventurous, you can even order from the specials board which changes occasionally with a special flavour. At the time of visiting, the special pie was Mexicana which I assumed would have tasted like a burrito. Just reading the titles of these pies made my mouth water. But wait, the choices don't end there. After you're done choosing your pie, you get to choose whether you want to sides to go with it. If a pie doesn't sound filling enough, try having it with the delicious peas, salad, chips, mash and/or gravy. One word of advice though, if you wish to have peas, mash and gravy together, it is best to order peas & mashed potatoes with a jug of gravy as a side instead of ordering the pie special which comes with all 3 as it actually cost less that way (I learnt the hard way).

I ordered a korma chicken pie with the pie special ($14.90). I originally wanted to order 2 pies but lucky I didn't because it was immensely filling. This pie has previously won gold medals and I had wanted something different so this pie it was. Lucky too because it was delicious. The sauce was rich and flavourful and faintly spicy. The pastry was crispy and light which complemented the filling very well.

Korma Chicken Pie with Pie Special (peas, mash & gravy) - $14.90

The lid was a little hard to take off as the pastry crumbled under the force of my fork. I succeeded in the end though. Look at that colour! The peas were beautiful and I ate almost all of it, until I got a bit full and Yuye had to take over. The mash was a little too powdery for me but still went well with the rest of the dish. These pies don't really need tomato sauce as there was plenty of flavour to make them tasty.

Yuye ordered a beef burgundy pie also with the pie special ($14.90). This pie also won gold medals however, I liked my pie more. His pie was good but it lacked that punch that mine had. I preferred his with a bit of tomato sauce.

Beef Burgundy Pie with Pie Special (peas, mash & gravy) - $14.90

What came after the pie was an even bigger surprise. Their scones and home made raspberry jam!! I fell instantly in love with those piping hot and soft like cotton candy scones. You can order a devonshire tea set for $8.50 which comes with a tea or coffee of your choice and two scones with the awesome homemade raspberry jam and freshly whipped cream. I am so craving for some as I'm typing this. We ordered 4 sets between the 5 of us which came with 8 scones in a basket.

Scones that came with our Devonshire tea sets - $8.50 each set (2 scones & a tea/coffee)

The raspberry jam and cream can be topped up if you run out as they only give you one serving no matter how many scones you have. The jam was sweet but not overpowering, it was chunky but not too hard to chew and truth is, I just absolutely love the taste of jam and cream together.

Homemade raspberry jam and freshly whipped cream - delicious!

Tea came in a little pot of my own with milk and sugar. I generally don't like to put milk and sugar in my tea as I find the tea gets watered down and becomes not as fragrant so I had my tea and milk separately. The tea was nice but nothing special as they were just tea bags but of course, the scones were still best had with some hot tea.

In terms of taste and value, I found some other places such as a few beef guinness pies I had in Irish pubs were richer and tastier. However, if you want different flavours such as the korma that I had then Pie in the Sky is a great place for it. We enjoyed it. So much so that a week later while driving back home from the Dandenong Ranges (we climbed down and up at lightning speed so I was dead tired and in need to eat) we decided to take Yuye's aunty and uncle from China to try this famous pie restaurant. Yuye's uncle wanted to be different and ordered the pie floater, a pie of his choice in their homemade pea and ham soup topped with potato mash. I've never had a pie floater before and was a bit sceptical since I couldn't imaging dunking my pie in something wet! I didn't get to try the pie since I wasn't the one who ordered it but I did get to try the soup. As it was very thick and tasty, I was sure it wouldn't have hindered the taste of the pie. What an interesting dish it was!

Pie floater with a gourmet pie - $14.50

This time Yuye ordered the beef and guinness pie with peas and mash ($12.90) with a jug of gravy separately ($1.50), we learnt from our lesson. They give you the same amount of gravy if not more than if you get the pie with the pie special. The pie was delicious as usual, but I found it wasn't as strong in guinness taste and wasn't as beefy as the ones I have in Irish pubs, although of course the pie itself does cost less. I would have still preferred to eat it at an Irish pub though.

Beef Guinness Pie with peas & mash - $12.90

Jug of gravy - $1.50

I ordered my pie - a tandoori chicken and spinach pie - by itself and decided to share Yuye's mash and peas since I remember I was so full last time (I just have to have more scones) that I could hardly walk afterwards. It turned out to be a good idea. The pie, if you take away, would have cost $4.99, however dine in was a lot more expensive, although I don't remember the exact cost. Yuye remember it cost around $8 or thereabouts. For that price, it may have been more value for money if I had it with a set.

Tandoori Chicken Pie

My pie was yet again, better than Yuye's. Just looking at the colour of my pie filling suggests this. It was so chunky and tasty that one single pie just wasn't enough to satisfy me. I wanted more! But I had to wait for my scones. Ok, so I was too eager and happy to eat the scones not to mention busy teaching Yuye's aunt and uncle how to eat them that I completely forgot to take photos that time. Not to worry, since they looked and tasted the same as last time. I did take a photo of my tea though.

Tea from Devonshire Tea Set

Both visits left me satisfied and happy and I would definitely return to Pie in the Sky again. Not so much so for the pies (although of course they're a bonus to have) but more for the scones and that delectable raspberry jam. If you're in the area, be sure to pay them a visit, it's worth the wait!

Pie in the Sky
Phone: (03) 9751 2128
Address: 43 Olinda-Monbulk Rd, Olinda VIC 3788
www.pieinthesky.net.au

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