pie-not

pie-not is anaussiepie shop located in the back of a tiny, but busy strip mall in costa mesa. it's literally next door to the ever popular sidecar doughnuts. we heard parking can be a problem but we came here on a saturday at the odd time of 4:00 pm. there was no line and we even got a spot in front. surprisingly there wasn't even a line next door.

awesomeaussiepie. came upon this jewel of a place by accident. we have ordered all the pies over time. they are all great! we have also bought the frozen ones and baked them at home, which were just as tasty. i prefer the pies already baked, but for convenience, the frozen ones are good too. i highly recommend pie-not

the 'drover' at pie-not. i am an expatriate brit and love meat filled pastry. i read about pie-not in westways magazine this morning (saturday) and even though i live in san clemente i drove to costa mesa to check it out. all of the items in the display case looked so tempting. i chose a 'drover,' ground angus beef with peas and carrots and topped with mashed potato. as i was eating it i felt like meg ryan in the restaurant scene from 'when harry met sally.' the friendlyaussiethere told me they plan to come to san clemente eventually, it won't be soon enough for me! he did say their products are available at whole foods at the moment. get yourself to pie-one people, you won't be sorry!

pie-not was 2 years in the making by co-founders, jai snowdon and ryan lopiccolo. headed by executive chef, samantha boxer, a native of australia born in melbourne, who developed the 24-item menu that features gourmet pies, pastries and desserts. it also serves up organic australian coffee from bun coffee.
blooming hot (above left – coarse ground tr-colored peppercorn braised premium chunky beef). i like spicy food, so naturally i picked this one. it has a nice heat with great peppercorn flavor but not overly spicy that you’ll need to drink a pitcher of water.

dog’s eye (above right – standardaussiemeat pie, premium ground beef with finely diced onions). most people are probably familiar with it as the sheppard’s pie. i cannot believe i have been missing it. i am embarrassed to say the only savory pie i’ve had was chicken pot pie. //_^ don’t let the size fool you. it is a hearty meaty meal.

this is not whataussiemeat pies are like, at all. these are horrible. they don't have what the menu says, in fact i only had a choice of a few pies, and it seems like the pies were cooked in the morn and left to sit under a heat lamp all day. the pie crust is bland and stale (would be better from the frozen section from a grocery) and the meat had no flavor. save yourself the money and just make hamburger helper, at least that way you know what you're getting and not-lied to.