PJ's Pies — Attraction in South Island

I've been obsessed with butter chicken pies since a lovely South African couple I met on tour told me about them. So naturally that's the one I got from PJ's. And it was the best one I had!

The crust was buttery and flaky. The chicken was juicy. And the curry sauce had depth and was so flavorful. The toasted cumin seeds on top was a nice touch. It was so filling, too! I wish I had the opportunity to try more pies because the butter chicken one exceeded my expectations. According to their website, they use the water from the alpine spring in Hanmer Springs. That's probably why their pies are so good!

Because PJ's operates out of a small building (I think they renovated a park ranger station), there's only outdoor seating which consists of bench tables. Since it's cabinet food, service is quick. And the prices are very reasonable. My butter chicken pie was around $8-$9nzd. With the exchange rate, it was a little less than $5usd.

I've only been here once, but I highly recommend getting a pie here even if you've eaten elsewhere. You...

I was very skeptical, not anticipating much from this tiny corner pie shack in a touristy alpine town. I ordered two of their best sellers to takeway: the BBQ brisket ($9.10)and the butter chicken ($8.70).

Gosh was I in for a surprise... Their BBQ brisket was tender and saucy, and their butter chicken blew me away at the authenticity of their flavour profile - this was by far my favourite and I didn't even want to order until she said it's one of their top sellers. And the pastry, omg, so amazing flaky and crispy, not at all soggy even though we took them home to eat. And their price point is insane and such amazing value for money. We dined at some seriously good hatted restaurants over at Blenheim like Arbour and Harvest, but I am so impressed with these pies.. Just outstanding. I wish we could have tried more flavours but we're only here for 24hrs. And now the butter chicken at PJ's Pies will be haunting my pie dreams forever...

We love pies and we always try to find them where ever we travel! If you pies and out for abit of a tummy filler then give this place a go. Pies are a bit small but the pastry is nice and flaky with abit of thickness to it. We tried the Pork Belly and Apple which had chunks of most pork inside. It was topped with the aerated crispy skin and the crunch was just right. Flavour was really good, but not enough of the apple, which I didn't mind.

We also got Smoked Snapper (Daily Special) and tasted real nice too. Our son loved the small mince beef and cheese pies. Got 2! Sausage roll was ok, bit dry, needs abit more fat. Coffee was also ok, but loved that they gave a small piece of chocolate brownie.

Pies so good we came back next morning for breakfast before we left the town. The chicken and cranberry is also a winner...