I was reminded of Pie in the Sky by a NQN reader Maria who also has her own great food blog Foodie Wanderings. She spoke of a Pie in the Sky near her in Melbourne which made me recall the one in Sydney, well the outskirts of Sydney, in Cowan. With a gorgeous view, we had driven past it on our way back from the Hunter Valley and various other excursions, always meaning to go in but never quite making it there.
This weekend, we thought we’d take a drive to Cowan for a change of scenery and a sample of some pie and view. It’s a day where the sun interchanges with rain and we hope that when we get there that we’ll have some sun.
We’re in luck today and whilst it’s not gloriously sunny, it’s still pleasant enough outside to sit outdoors and enjoy the view. There is a front kiosk as well as an inside area where you can order more substantial meals (pies with chips, Devonshire teas). There are 18 savoury pie flavours on offer today ranging from Steak & Kidney, Beef, bacon & Cheese, Curried Beef, Chicken & Asparagus, Chicken & Corn, Chicken Satay, Lamb & Pea and Lamb, Chili and Garlic as well as sausage rolls. They appear to be out of vegetable pies although their flyer does include them. The pies are all $4.50 and the sausage rolls $2.30. I choose a Lamb, Honey & Rosemary pie as well as a Beef Burgundy pie.
Behind the counter are fruit pies (all $2.20) in Apple, Apricot, Blueberry and Peach flavours as well as a new flavour, Apple & Rhubarb. I choose a Peach pie and a Blueberry pie.
Lamb, Honey & Rosemary pie $4.50
We bring our precious haul to an outdoor table, and after some careful photo taking in which one of the young staff inquires “Wow, you like the pies that much?” to our photo taking and when we explain he seems pleased and says “Cool thanks!”. I try the Lamb, Honey and Rosemary first. Inside are chunks of tender lamb and a sweetish sauce courtesy of the honey which is not overdone, just right. The Rosemary flavour isn’t particularly strong but the filling is delicious and the pie welcomingly warm.
Beef Burgundy pie $4.50
The Beef Burgundy pie is next and it’s rich and hearty with a deep dark brown and burgundy sauce. The beef is in thick soft chunks and the burgundy wine gives it an extra richness. The base of the pastry for this is very soft, indeed the filling has gone all the way through to the bottom. It’s a change from the harder bases that one can get in pies.
I discover that my husband and I like the exact same part of the pie best-the part of the puff pastry lid where the filling meets the pastry, you know the layer of pastry that is still white and thin but plastered with sauce and deliciously pliable whilst the layers above it are golden. We need a name for this delicious part and we wonder if there is one for this layer.
It’s time for the fruit pies, the small rounds of sugar topped sweetness. The pastry here is thicker sweet shortcrust and it reminds me of pies I had when I was young. There isn’t a great deal of filling in these but the blueberry is particularly good, it’s not too sweet but there is no tartness to the berries at all. Ideal if you don’t like your fruit pies too sweet. The peach pie is a bit of a disappointment for me, it seems like it is made out of tinned peaches which doesn’t bother my husband but I would prefer fresh peaches.
We brush off our pie crumbs and look around-we’ve been too busy eating and attending to our pies to notice our surrounding-yes when I’m around food I tend to get tunnel vision. The view is lovely and the place has filled up with all sorts of motorcycle riders as well as the Rural Bush Fire Service workers enjoying a coffee, pie and the intermittent warmth from the sunshine.
Pie In the Sky
1296 Pacific Hwy, Cowan NSW 2081
Tel: +61 (02) 9985 7018
Fax: + 61 (02) 9985 7018
Open 7 days
Monday to Friday 9am-5pm
Saturday to Sunday 8am-5pm
Visa and Mastercard accepted
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21 Comments | Add your own
Hi! Syntech from Vogue here – my first comment on your blog
Just gonna say – My favourite part of the pie is that yummy soft bit of pastry too. So delicious! A name? Underlid? Lid Layer One? Hehee ;-D
My favourite part of a pie is the whole lot of it, though I do understand the soft bit being nice.
I always try to stop though unfortunately rarely manage to stop when we’re driving past Pie in the Sky!
Hi Esz- So nice to see a Voguette here!
I’m so glad you knew which part I meant. I was worried people would be saying “What on earth is she on about?”. LOL I love those names, underlid sounds very catchy. Shall we officially bless it the underlid? 
Hi Cappucino-Yes there’s no bit of pie that I wouldn’t eat unless it was badly done. It’s a bit far away but now that I’ve had one, I will definitely stop when I’m in the area
i LOVE the name of the shop…just great! their pies look fabulous too…
another underlid fan here!
if you LOVE pies check out PiEcon where it’s all about the pie!
Hi airy fairy-Isn’t the name so cute and fitting as they have such a great view!
Hi grocer-so glad to meet another underlid fan! Excellent, thankyou so much for the link, it looks great!
We love that part of the pie you mentioned too.. DOH! I thought I was the only one!
I’ve always thought of it as the “Pie Skin” (Though it’d be subdermal.. which doesn’t sound too appetising does it)?
Yum, Yum, Yum.. I think I would have loved that lamb pie and I think my hubby would have gone the lamb, garlic and chilli. I’m a fan of a good steak adn kidney too. Do you like pie floaters (in pea soup)?
This ‘Pie in the Sky’ seems to be in the same kind of picturesque setting as Mt Dandenongs ‘Pie in the Sky’. However our local one is a big, split-level restaurant .. with bad service.. and unimpressive, overpriced pies…which I’ve probably mentioned already.
I probably would have been tempted to take a sausage roll home too (to see what it was like)… yes.. I do overdo it sometimes O_o –and have to have it all.
Hi Maria-Hehe perhaps there’s a whole society of underlid lovers out there? Hmm I can see how it’s “skin” like though but I think you’re right, the idea of eating skin is perhaps not as appetising
They definitely had a good selection of lamb pies. I do love pie floaters, only if the mash is fresh. I know its powdered but there’s nothing worse than old, dry powdered mash. Do you like pie floaters?
Perhaps it’s a chain? This one isn’t huge but thankfully doesn’t suffer bad service, it’s pretty friendly service and the pies aren’t overpriced. So hmmm on second thoughts, perhaps it isn’t a franchise after all.
I actually wanted to take some things home but I knew we’d be out all afternoon so I stopped myself. And that was a good excuse to revisit really
I think I read about Pie in the Sky in a book (Kathryn Fox) then read about it in the newspaper just recently and Google’d it and came across your blog entry. I’m hoping to pop up to Sydney in July and try these pies. How far is it from the Sydney CBD?
Hi BellaSIgnorina-I think there are a few shops, did they say in the book whether they are related? It’s about 38kms from the city and about an hour’s drive. There isn’t an awful lot of other things out that way though!
Come to think of it.. I can remember you writing about hating fake mash?
Anyway.. I do like pie floaters..but the soup can’t be too processed and salty. Pies themselves can be salty.. and a floater can make it a “salt fest”. I’m not anti salt either.. I should buy shares in Maldon actually
Hi Maria-Yes I am one that loathes powdered mash. But I realise that most pie shops won’t use real mash
Hehe so you’re a Maldon girl! I’m trying to cut down on salt gradually actually. However since I have a cold at the moment, I am oversalting things as I can’t taste them as well… :S
The only other thing I can remember in the book is some retreat kinda place. It’s very environmentally friendly…ecolodge of some sort. I’ll have to flick through the book again. I remember in a previous book they went to Questacon in Canberra, which sounded interesting so I went there in Feb last year. I like exploring new places when in Sydney, instead of sticking to the CBD like we always do.
Hi BellaSIgnorina-I admit I don’t know Cowan very well. Perhaps there are a whole lot of things to do there that I am completely unaware of! It’s always nice to go for a bit of a drive, it almost felt like a mini holiday for us.
Hi,
Great review! I was searching pie in the sky on the web, and your site is the best I’ve found. It not only has descriptions of the pie selections, but pictures too! I’m going there for lunch today
That beef burgundy looks delicious, will definitely try it.
Hi Johnny-Oh great, how did you find it? It’s such a scenic place to have a pie
As I local of the area, I can tell you there is not a lot else in Cowan. Unless you like bush walking.
But Pie in the Sky is a winner. We had lunch there today. I had the vegetable pie. It’s my favourite.
Hi JK-Hubby loves geo caching so he took it as a chance to do some there
Ah I wish I had tried the vegetable pie!
I visited the Pie in the sky for the first time to day and was very impressed with the pies and the service will be going back there again.:)
could easily give the Berry pie shop in Berry a run for their money
Hi Mick-Great to hear! I only wish it was closer to me as it’s pie weather
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