This is a new blog about Pie and Mash, but also Full Englishes and Fish and Chips. I will be writing about my visits to cheap and cheerful cafes and restaurants.

I lived in east London between 1993 and 1999, and bizarrely I never went to a Pie and Mash shop! This is despite living in Wanstead for 4 years where there is one on the high street. Perhaps I’m compensating for missed opportunities.

Ah but: Aren’t you the bloke that has been going on about low-carb diets for over 10 years? Why would you be starting a new blog on Pie and Mash? Well, there are several reasons.

1. Reconnect with the basic pleasures of life

Pie and Mash is a cheap and nutritious meal. The pies are simply minced beef and the mash is only the potato. Most Pie and Mash shops sell stewed or jellied eels as well. The liquor is made with the juice from the stewed eels. Very little goes to waste.

Usually there is vinegar and chilli vinegar on the table. Pepper is a favourite addition. That is it. I suspect the vinegar cut through the fatty taste of cheaper pies in the “good old days”.

Going out to fancy restaurants is nice, but it is not how ordinary people live. Rising living costs mean people are not going out as much. The cheap working people’s cafe is a retreat from all this. You can get Pie and Mash with a cup of tea for around £10 in some places.

2. Cheat Day

I don’t usually each starchy or sugary carbs during the week. But at the moment, my diet allows my one day off a week. Provided I don’t go too crazy, I can eat anything I want to. It’s the day where Fish and Chips, Burgers, Pie and Mash, or anything messy may be eaten.

3. Something to do

More often than not I find myself on my own on Saturday lunch time. I’m out and about, shopping or I’ve just been to the gym. Well, what to do then? Pop out for Pie and Mash for around a tenner. Maybe I will have Fish and Chips in the evening too. I won’t have to cook either way.

4. Cataloguing

I’m not the only one. There is a dude I know that catalogues every croissant he eats. Also I knew a fellow who catalogued every beer he drank after a certain age. He was upset about the ones he hadn’t catalogued before. Why not write every experience up?

We will score our experiences using a simple system: Excellent, Good or Awful. These are the metrics:

  • Authenticity - was the food made on site? For example, some shops buy their pies from other places.
  • Taste -the most important factor of all.
  • Size - e.g. were the pies smaller than other places, was the fish actually medium, etc
  • Presentation - the first bite is with the eye, but unless it is awful we are not too bothered

For Pie and Mash, I will:

  • Order double pie and double mash with liquor.
  • Order a cup of tea.
  • Turn the pies over and add chilli vinegar to one.
  • Not bother with eels or other additions.

The first shop will be G. Kellys in Bethnal Green. This was the first place I ate Pie and Mash. And it won’t be the last!