One of the places that we had been walking past around the Central Business District for quite a while is Pies & Pints — no doubt one of the more recent additions to the neighbourhood would be Pies & Pints. Opened for quite number of months by now at 50 Robinson Road, Pies and Pints does seem to have garnered quite a loyal following especially within the expat community — one can observe that the establishment is well-patronised by Caucasians during weekday lunch hours. Pies & Pints occupies a hole-in-the-wall space right beside a stationery shop there; this also means that the there are no dine-in seatings available within the shop unit — that being said, one can still find a decently-sized dining area located outside of the shop that consists of both wall-facing bar seats and high tables and high chairs that would work well for groups of up to four (4) pax. Pies available for the day varies according to what they decide to make and stock up during the given day that one drops by; that being said, the pies are broadly classified under categories such as Beef Pies, Chicken Pies, Pork Pies and Vegetarian and Vegan. There are also Desserts of the Day that is being offered at Pies and Pints, and non-alcoholic beverages available includes milkshakes which they dub as Thick Shakes.

Pies do seem to be aplenty all around the island especially given how some cafes seem to offer them as part of their savoury selection of food; that being said, the pies sold at specialty cafes tend to be more of the supplied sort than being baked in-house; this makes Pies & Pints stand out considering how their pies are baked fresh in-house on a daily basis. Amongst the various flavours of pies that are available when we made our visit to Pies & Pjnts on a weekday afternoon, we found the Beef Wasabi Pie to be the one that caught our attention the most. Pies & Pints does serve their pies as-is, or one can also opt to have them with a side which includes Mash & Gravy, as well as Mushy Peas — we went with the latter for our order. All savoury pies are heated up upon order before being served to the patrons; it is interesting to also note how Pies & Pints serve up their pies with actual dining ware rather than disposable ones despite how it operates. Digging into the pie, we were quite impressed by how the pie wasn’t too greasy; the pastry also being more crusty than it is flaky possibly since these are seemingly more like Scottish Pies from the way they are are made — gives a firmer bite overall. Inside, the pie features pretty large chunks of fibrous beef that comes with brown sauce; all savoury without being anywhere gamey — all whilst also carrying a texture that is tender and easy to chew apart. The wasabi here doesn’t seem to be intending to carry that numbing kick that one would associate to the same when having sashimi or sushi, though one thing that we could taste was the light hint of earthiness of wasabi underlying initially when one chews into the beef. The mushy peas that we had opted for are indeed mushy as per what is promised in its namesake, and bearing quite a “green” taste that one would usually associate with peas without being particularly salted — quite a clean alternative to the Mash & Gravy.

Other items that we had tried during our visit to Pies & Pints included their Blueberry Cheesecake; one of two of the items that was available as the Desserts of the Day when we made our visit to Pies & Pints (the other item was a Chocolate and Peanut Butter Brownie). It is interesting to note that the Desserts of the Day are priced at a flat rate of $8.50 irregardless of the item; this also makes the Desserts of the Day seem a little pricey against that of the pies since all pies are retailed at $10.90 flat at Pies & Pints irregardless of flavour. The Blueberry Cheesecake comes in a decently-sized wedge that those with larger appetites should be able to finish even after having a pie — coming with blueberry jam over the top, the Blueberry Cheesecake here felt like a typical New York-style cheesecake coming complete with a graham cracker crust for a rich and creamy tang with a fruity sweetness that comes along with it. Pies & Pints is one of those establishments around the Central Business District that comes with an interesting niche; one that is definitely unique enough that sets them apart from most of the other F&B operators in the area. Whilst the items that we had tried — in particular the Beef Wasabi Pie with Mushy Peas were something that was not totally to our fancy, we have an inkling that this was probably something due to the preferences of our taste buds and not necessarily in terms of the execution; this is after all considering we aren’t too big of a fan of peas anyway. Looking forward to return to give other items like the Chicken Thai Green Curry Pie and the Spinach Ricotta Pie a try (this time with Mash & Gravy, of course!), as well as other Desserts of the Day which they may offer from time to time that hopefully catches our attention as well!