Pastry Case: Beijing’s Best Meat Pies

Let’s talk about pies. Not pizza pies, key lime or the kind in Jason Biggs’ fridge in American Pie. For a sizeable slice of Beijing’s expat populace, pies mean meat encased in – or topped with – pastry. Whether you’re from Australia or Lebanon, the pie is steeped in history, equally at home at a footy match, down a mine, or gracing the tables of kings. Honest, filling, unhealthy. Gravy. Mmm.

“I’d kill my own mother for a decent steak and kidney pie,” confessed one lonely pie-lover a year or so ago on the TheBeijinger.com forums. Well, we may be too late to save the lady in question, but to appease any other homicidal pie addicts, here’s our guide to getting your Beijing pie fix.

WHO ATE ALL THE PIES?
Australian meat pie, 12SQM
RMB 40
In Aussie slang, a “pie eater” is a chap of unfortunate means. Best not to point that out to the antipodean
regulars at this Nanluogu Xiang drinking hole. The pies, made in Shanghai by an Australian beef exporter, are small, gluey and bursting with chunky steak and gravy. One pie-eyed punter – surrounded by empty VB bottles – claimed they taste “even better than back home.”

PIE IN THE SKY
Crusty egg pie topped with mutton (danxian subing kaorou 蛋馅酥饼烤肉), Crescent Moon
RMB 45
This huge, circular Xinjiang pie, enough for two or three diners, does everything right: crisp, golden pastry with a nice outer pleat; a deliciously moist, steamy filling of veggies and egg; and the crowning glory – a big heap of fried lamb and onions dumped on top. Order a pot of salty milk tea (RMB 20) to wash it down.

AS EASY AS PIE
Pasties, Sequoia Café
RMB 12
Is a pasty the same as a pie? Pretty much. Like Tex-Mex, it’s all in the way you wrap it. At Sequoia you can pick up a duo of freshly baked beauties – chicken with potato or the superior-tasting beef. They
deliver too, but that might be a little indulgent for such a humble blue-collar snack.

HUMBLE PIE
Meat pie (roubing 肉饼), Xiangsu Niurou Bing 香酥牛肉饼
RMB 4
Every time I “pie” at this tiny shop south of the Drum Tower, one guy says something to the other about “waiguoren” that I never catch. Then they both laugh. I’ve a sneaking suspicion it’s Beijinghua for “that fatty.” It’s their fault for making such a great, cheap pie: flaky pastry that’s been well-acquainted with hot oil and a well-seasoned filling of beef and onion.

FOUR-AND-TWENTY BLACKBIRDS
“Pastilla” pigeon pie, Argana
RMB 98
The Moroccans certainly aren’t afraid to combine sweet and savory, and this impressive pie is no exception.
Called a pastilla, its rich, gamy center of pigeon is complemented by fragrant almond rosewater and topped off with flaky pastry dusted with icing sugar.

UPPER CRUST
Meat pies, Delicatessen (Holiday Inn Lido)
RMB 20
It might be a bit of a schlep for some, but Lido Deli boasts an admirablerange of meat pies: classic steak and ale, chicken, lamb curry, and beef with cheese. Made fresh every morning in the Holiday Inn kitchens, they can be nuked in-store if you want to eat them on the spot. But microwaving results in soggy pastry, so it’s better to take them home to your toaster oven.

PIE-EYED
Chicken and mushroom pie, Private Kitchen
RMB 50 (at Paddy O’Shea’s, with fries and gravy)
Ghanaian cook Rose bakes a range of pie varietals from her Private Kitchen home business. Paddy O’Shea’s and Pomme O’Shea’s regulars may have already wolfed down her chicken and mushroom or beef pies; she also supplies Café Carmelo at Dongzhimen's MOMA. Watch this space for the chance to try her Jamaican-style patties, coming to Sanlitun soon.

LIFE OF PIE
Chicken, lamb or cheese pastries, 1001 Nights
RMB 30
1001 Nights’ manager Malek Monzer hails from Syria, as do his small selection of pie-like pastries, called mouajanet in Arabic. Oven-baked to a burnished bronze, these curvy crescent pockets come loaded with chicken, lamb or cheese, as well as lots of tantalizing Middle Eastern spices.

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