Humble Pie n Mash — Restaurant in Whitby

A bit of a mixed review I'm afraid, after over 10 years of purely positive experiences.

Has their been a change in ownership or management? After 10+ years of visiting this is the first time we've been slightly disappointed with what we got for our money, and the selection on the menu.

Price increase: This was expected, but it seems to be disproportionately high, seems like quite a leap since 1-2 years ago when we last came. I used to recommend this place as excellent value and a great budget alternative to fish and chips. Now if you buy a pie meal and a drink, you're paying pretty much the same as quite a few fish and chip shop meal deals in the area (fish, chips, peas, bread and butter, pot of tea), so it's now just an alternative, not a cheaper one. The cynic in me wonders if matching chip shop deal prices was intentional, as they know they'll still get custom from people wanting a change from fish and chips. However it's still good to have an alternative.

Smaller selection of pies is the most disappointing thing of all, particularly as the ones removed were all of the different, more interesting ones! Sausage and black pudding, haggis and neeps, corned beef, lamb, all gone. Supposedly they sometimes do them as specials, but when we asked, they said there were no specials that day. I can cope with the price rise, but removing the most interesting pies? A baffling decision. They do a vegan pie now though which is great for those who want it.

Portions seem smaller, not sure if pies are the same? I've seen comments about them being bought in now, but I've seen comments saying that's not true. Maybe they are smaller? We used to leave this place unable to consider even sharing a dessert, or fitting a pint in at the pub. Not the case this time.

Positives: Service was excellent, from a friendly, tall young man working that day. Steak in the pie was soft and tasty, even though pie seemed smaller or with less filling. Peas, mash and gravy all as good as ever, and the jam roly-poly we shared was nice.

Summary: Still good overall. Disappointed in reduced choice of pies, the best ones (in my opinion) aren't on the regular menu now. The price rise was expected, but not up to the same price as a fish and chips meal deal, as it was always a good few pounds cheaper than those. I wonder if they realised that they will still keep their custom because it is still a good alternative to fish and chips, just not a cheaper one now.

Suggestions: Please, do a special or two from the old menu every day, even if just a limited number! They were different and interesting, removing these has removed value from the experience of eating here in my opinion.

I will still visit again and recommend to people, but I've had to change my expectations and manage those of the people I recommend the shop to, due to the changes made in the last 1-2 years that have made a trip here sadly a little less special. Still good enough for a 4 star...

Well, what a wasted journey we had! We came because they offered vegan meal deals… except they don’t! The mash has butter in it which is obviously not vegan, when asked if it was, the staff member said there’s butter in it, will that be ok? I mean seriously, how is that even nearly ok? Shame we didn’t read the reviews before travelling here really, there are some truly terrifying comments the owner made to answer previous customers questions such as, is the gravy vegan, (it states they serve vegan gravy on the menu) his reply, I think so but I’m not 100% certain 😧 And why put butter in the mash? A touch of salt and pepper is all it needs! And what about lactose intolerant customers, they can’t have the mash either! With our query he said “I can do you extra peas” Bellend! We came for pie and mash, that’s your whole business model and you can’t even manage to have the mash done so all your potential customers can eat it! And you don’t do soya milk… again, you are offering vegan options, but really you aren’t are you! We got there for opening time to be told he was waiting on staff, who eventually turned out to be his brother and was over 10 mins late. The chap stood there was looked like he’d just rolled out of bed in the previous days clothes and his fly was down, he just looked dirty and scruffy. What an absolute joke of a shop!!! I’m sceptical that the “home made pies” are anything but. If they are, I probably dodged a bullet today, because I certainly wouldn’t eat anything the specimen stood before us had made! You clearly don’t care or cater for your customers needs so why advertise you are vegan friendly when you clearly are not! My advice, close shop because you clearly...

As a couple, we had been highly recommended to try this place. When we arrived, luckily there was no queue and we found a seat straight away. We had been warned that it gets very busy, so to expect to have to wait.

The server was extremely friendly and very attentive. Considering she was the only one greeting, taking orders and serving, she did an amazing job. We could not fault the service at all. I can't say that there was an atmosphere as such, but an enjoyable visit.

We ordered a pie each, one with mash and one without. One with mushy peas, one with garden peas. When they came, they both had mushy peas. It was no issue to have the plate taken away and changed, immediately being brought back to us.

However, we can't say we were overly enamoured with the pies, or the mash. The mash was flavourless. Could have done with a little bit of seasoning, and being more creamy. It was bland and tasted quite starchy and watery. The steak & ale pie was also very bland. It consisted of only steak, gravy and pastry. We would have thought there would have been some mushroom or onion, or both in with it. The sausage and black pudding pie, also very bland. There was just a wedge of sausage meat, with 3 tiny specks of black pudding in it. Considering the pies are made with locally sourced products, we felt they were almost like frozen pies that had been heated up.

Although the review probably feels like it's all negative, that is not the point I am trying to make. Just a few hints for the business to maybe improve on.

We are pleased we have finally managed to visit. And would go again...