To celebrate British Pie Week, we scoured the internet and spoke to people for their suggestions on the city's best piemaker. And one name kept cropping up - Dougie's Pies.
The reviews are unequivocal - from 119 people who have sampled Dougie's masterpieces, they've all given him the full five stars.
Comments such as "Steak and sausage pies are the best I’ve ever tasted!", "Best steak pie I've ever had" and "Best steak pie I’ve had in a long time" are commonplace on the Dougie's Pies Facebook page.
The man behind Dougie's is Alan McDonald, nicknamed Dougie at school, who produces pies lovingly baked at home with the help of his wife Mhairi Macdonald.
And for just £4, including delivery, you can get 'Scotland's best steak pie' dropped off by the talented and passionate pie duo right at your front door.
We caught up with Alan to find out how Dougie's was born, and to find out the secret behind the country's best pies.
Alan, who worked as a chef in the canteen at the Daily Record for 23 years until 2017, told Glasgow Live how it all began: “A woman called Cecilia said ‘can you make me a steak pie for 12 people? I’ve tried loads of butchers, there’s never any meat, there’s never any gravy and the puff pastry is always terrible’.
“The word went round the Record that I was making her this steak pie. Before I knew we had half the building asking me to make them steak pies. I was doing that for 10-15 years for New Year, getting all these orders in.
“When they were shutting the kitchen down, my boss said to me ‘why don’t you try your pies full time?’ And I thought ‘aye, why not?’ and I’ve been doing it ever since.
And as Alan explained, given the demand for Dougie's pies alongside his other hugely popular homemade bakes, he's making hundreds of meals every week.
He said: “I do steak pies, lasagna - including a spicy lasagna, which people alway ask about - and cottage pies - and I’m maybe doing 200 - 250 a week, all my own, with the help of my wife!"
But what's the secret behind the 'best steak pie in Scotland' and why do so many people now refuse to get their pies elsewhere?
Alan said: “One of the guys in the Daily Record used to say I made the best steak pie in Scotland, so when I was starting out I used to tell people that! He used to rave about them.
“People often ask how I get the meat so tender and a lot of them say it’s the best steak pie they’ve had for years. People say they’ve not eaten a good steak pie for they don’t know how long.
“But it’s quite simple really - lots of meat, lots of gravy and I don’t cook the puff pastry! You can’t reheat puff pastry, it just dries out. There’s only four ingredients in the whole thing."
As well as all the baking, Alan and Mhairi do all the deliveries themselves, across much of Glasgow. So, how can people sign up for a tasty steak pie to look forward to on a Sunday night?
Alan explained: “I found out a couple of years ago that Coatbridge is half an hour away from everywhere! It’s bizarre!
“We deliver them, from Coatbridge out towards Edinburgh to Chapelhall, then down to the likes of Clydebank and Pollok.
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“You can order online at our website https://www.dougiespies.co.uk/ and then I’ll just message and ask when suits you for me to pop out. Me and my wife do the deliveries ourselves!
“I cook Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and then spend Friday, Saturday, Sundays doing my deliveries. Or if it’s local I can get out earlier in the week.
“It’s free delivery, so all in for the individual pie it’s £4. I could eat an individual pie on my own, but there’s a lot of older people who share it between the two of them.
“Everything we do now is frozen because it’s easier to transport. And they cook fine from frozen which I’ve found throughout the years from selling them to people.”
“The cost at the butchers and petrol is going up, but bills are going up for everyone at the moment, so they’ll still be £4 and it will still be free delivery.”
And of the best things about Dougie's Pies? They can fill up the fussiest of kids too.
Alan added: “A lot of people’s wee ones love them! A customer said his child recently started primary school and as a ‘getting to know you’ questionnaire they got asked for their favourite food and they wrote ‘Dougie’s Pies!’
“The customer's a gran who says the only thing her grandkids eat are my steak pies!”
For more on Dougie's Pies and to order a delivery, you can visit the website here.
