Venue: Topping St Bakery, 56 Topping St, Blackpool FY1 3AQ
Date: 24th February 2018
Pie: Meat & Potato
Pie Temperature: Piping Hot!
Rating: 9.3
Like so many things in Blackpool these days, due to the economic climate and the massive amount of street and roadworks that are taking place at the North Pier end of the town, the Topping St Bakery could do with a lick of paint on the outside. But, step in and it’s a whole different world as you are bombarded by the wondrous aroma of freshly baked bread, cakes and pies. This is a bit of an Artisan Bakery in in term of bread although they don’t advertise themselves as such so the prices are reasonable and not outlandish like the Artisan establishments tend to be. The bakery is owned by Mark and Debbie who relocated their Norbreck Bakery in Cleveleys to the town in 2011 and have built a reputation for top quality pies, cakes and bread. There was a steady stream of people into the bakery while I was there, so it’s a popular place with the locals which is always a good sign. I have to admit I was tempted into buying an Ancient Grain loaf and a Spelt & Honey loaf to take home to enjoy, but it was just 10am, I’d had an early start, had to missed breakfast, so I was in need of a pie.
At that time of the morning the only pies that were out of the oven were the Meat & Potato, so that made my choice for me. The pie was a good size and came in the usual tin foil container. The pie was a lovely even Gold in colour and the crimping at the top edge of the pastry was uniform and pleasing to the eye. The pie stood up well when removed out of the tin foil indicating a good uniform thickness, there were no cracks and as such none of the filling had started to leak out. As I was on the road I didn’t have any utensils (maybe I should invest in some…. there’s a thought) so it was a case of lifting the pie out of the tin foil and taking a bite. It was piping hot and as I bit through the pastry and pulled a mouthful of filling onto my tongue I started to quickly play that game, you know the one, the one where you try to juggle hot food in your mouth, sucking in cold, blowing out super-heated air, making a sort of “haw-ha-hoo-ha-haw-hoo” sound as you dance around on the spot. A passer-by seemed quite amused. Anyway, when I’d managed to cool down the meat and potato filling down a little I found it too be a fantastic tasting mincemeat and potato mix with a rich beef gravy seasoned to perfection. The pastry was light and melted in the mouth, just because it was great pastry, not because the filling was soooo hot and the combination of the two together was delicious.
If you are ever in Blackpool and near the North Pier, go seek out Topping St Bakery, they are only a couple of minutes walk from the sea front and if their Meat & Potato pie is anything to go by, the others are likely to be gems too. Oh, and don’t forget to take a few extra pennies for some of the bread, it really was delicious and both loaves were gone within the day when I took them back home to the family in the afternoon. No, I didn’t eat them all myself……. I didn’t get chance!
HF.
