Pioneer Pies — Local services in Upper Harbour

Extraordinary pie & service!!! I was initially looking for a substitution of a birthday cake, since my fiance is not a fan of sweets. The idea of having a juicy meat pie sounds superb and the hunt for an authentic and hearty meat pies began.

It was quite challenging for me to look up for places selling great pies in Auckland, since I live in Singapore at the moment. I really wanted the pie to be tasty! I looked up online for several places selling pies, read the reviews and my eyes hooked on Pioneer Pies.

I approached these guys on Instagram and the owner, Carla, was very lovely and helpful!! She patiently assisting me in choosing the pies and organizing the delivery as well. She even helped me decorate and write a birthday card as well! :')

My fiance LOVES the pies SO SO MUCH! He repeatedly said how good were the pies every time he ate them, especially the steak and red wine pie :) His housemate said so, too. Pioneer Pie's store is quite a distance from my fiance's place, but they're planning to go there to have another bite of the delicious pie. IT MUST BE that good. I cannot wait to visit Auckland and have a taste of it myself!

All in all, I am totally in awe with their service and the taste, not to say the least. Thank youuu once again, Carla, for responding to all my queries and organizing the whole thing. Very...

Updated review:

The owner explained the situation regarding the bad experience I had in the afternoon. We went back last weekend, and it was a much more pleasant and welcoming experience. The pies were delicious, and they seemed to taste even better because of the friendly staff who served us. I went there yesterday (Saturday, around 3:15 PM). We recently moved to the area and wanted to try them out after seeing some good reviews online, thinking we might go there regularly. While I was looking at the display cabinet and deciding what to order, it took me more than five seconds, and the person serving me told me to hurry up because they were close to closing time. I apologised and asked what time they closed, and they said 4 PM.

The staff member had no patience whatsoever! His manner was very business-like and rushed, almost as if he was trying to get us out the door—for no clear reason. When we asked for the receipt, he pretended not to understand and simply said the transaction was successful. It felt like he didn’t want to bother changing the receipt roll.

I won’t be going back there because the service...

Both my husband and I can't eat gluten, and he can't eat dairy either, so when I heard about this award winning pie shop with a decent range of gluten free items, we made a detour in our travels specifically to relive our pie-munching days. A gluten free meat pie used to be a rarity, but it seems that savy pie makers are onto the fact that they are losing customers to acquired gluten intolerance.

Anyhow, onto the pies.

Size - good (full sized, unlike some other gluten free pies I've had, which were about 2/3 the size of their cheaper, gluten-filled counterparts).

Filling levels - full.

Flavour - Husband was very happy with his mince pie filling, but I felt that the gravy in my steak pie could have been a bit more more savoury. Not bad though, and some subtle flavours in there and the steak seemed decent quality.

Pastry - good but not the best pastry I've had on a gluten free pie. It's a little grainy and brittle. Hubbies pie exploded out it's arse and he ended up licking mince out of the paper bag.

Price - ouchy. But the shop insists it only uses top quality ingredients, and I suppose that doesn't come...