The Pie Tin, Newtown, Sydney - Inner West

After much deliberating on where to go on The Big Anniversary Weekend, we decided (- or rather I fired a lot of suggestions to Mr. A hoping one would stick - ) to head to sunny Newtown for lunch. Mr. A hadn't been to Newtown since the train station renovations back in 2012 and we had never gone there together, and I had very good memories of the previous visit to the Pie Tin, so off we went. 

The Pie Tin is a short 5-10 min walk from Newtown Station, off the main road on Brown St. At the front we encountered two colourful bikes with baskets and streamers straight out of Instagram. I had been to the Pie Tin once before with some work friends and fell in love with their dessert cakes (which unfortunately we could not sample this time around - more on that later). Inside it was crowded with an energetic youthful atmosphere with a large communal table and some private tables surrounding it, as well as a bar area near the big coffee machine; a savoury pie display, a dessert pie display. Since Mr. A doesn't like to wait in lines we checked to make sure there were empty chairs before we went in. 

The dessert pie counter. Grab a tissue to wipe your drool.

The decor is rustic and industrial with heavy tables; raw brick walls accented by Typo-esque decorations, including an artwork of some Napoleon type guy with a pie hitting his face. (Apologies if that is completely incorrect and it is an actual piece of art - I have no knowledge on art at all. I thought it was nice and quirky  though.)  

There is no table service here - you go up to the counter, look at the pies available for the day, and order one. Pies range from $5.80 to 7.80 with meals (Pie + 2 sides or chips) from $11 to 13. If you want to peruse the menu beforehand it is both available on the website as well as on cards on the table. Water, cutlery and tomato/bbq sauce are all available on the side wall. There were no cups displayed (presumably because everyone had used them all) so we had to ask. A short word on drinks; they have basically everything available, coffee to tea, juice to bubbly. The menu gives suggestions of drinks to pair with the pies, which I thought was a nice touch. 

Ordering a pie is instant; they pull from the display and serve this to you on an industrial metal plate. We were both pleasantly surprised for the fast service and yet equally dismayed, for our seats were snatched up in the short time we ordered our food. (Word of advice: if you see spare seats, grab them before you order).

For meals, staff provide a similar metal pie tin (ha!) with a number on the bottom (rather interesting way of presenting meal numbers) and call out your number when it is ready, which allows you time to find a seat. Seat-finding was not bad given our 2pm visit as a small group left a few minutes after we received our meal, and turnover seemed rather quick (despite side-eyeing a group in the corner who were just knitting. Is this a Newtown thing?) 

The size of the pie vs the pie meal.

I ordered the sweet roasted duck with seasonal vegetables and Mr. A ordered the mac & cheese with roasted pumpkin pies. 

Sweet roasted duck with seasonal vegetables

Mac+cheese roasted pumpkin pie

My roasted duck was fabulous. Juicy and sweet on the inside with tender duck meat and crispy crust. I loved the crust. It was thick and crispy without being tough and chewy and the base was sturdy and not soggy given the heavy filling. This makes the pie structurally sound for both picking up and eating or digging out of with a fork, like a bowl. (There must be a quiz online about pie eating characteristics and personality traits?) 

The pie is on the large side (approx 15cm diameter, 4-5cm tall) so I am quite glad I did not get any sides even though they looked delicious. The polenta chips I saw on someone else's table!! If only I could steal a taste without being undignified. The sides range from different salad sides to potato or sweet potato mash and the sides are piled high. I would recommend couples have one pie and one meal and share the sides unless you're both pretty hungry because a lot of plates get returned with a lot of sides untouched. 

Mr. A was equally enjoying his mac and cheese pie, which was a bit different but equally yum. I had a taste and had to sneak my fork back in there for seconds. The pumpkin taste melds with the cheese really well. All in all it was a very hearty meal for the both of us which left us very satisfied. 

Unfortunately this meant we did not have stomach for a slice of dessert pie so we might just have to come back another time. From memory on my last visit a slab of malteser pie knocked out the four or five people sharing the same scrumptious piece so it was close to impossible on a full stomach between two small eaters, even if there is a separate stomach for dessert, as they say! 

Malteser Pie (from my previous visit).

You can order a whole sweet pie as well (ring up on the day to see what is available or ring in advance to get them to make it.) Whole pies cost $39-49. There was also wedding pies available (!!). 

As a last note, The Pie Tin is passionate for pie, and we will be back again. 

The Pie Tin

Mon-Wed 10am-8pm

Thur-Sat 10am-10pm

Sun 10am-6pm 

10a Brown St (Off King St, Newtown) 

9519 7880