Any discussion of what British food is — or at least was — must have at its heart the pie and mash shop (or “eel and pie house” as they were originally known).
It’s an opinion shared by the MP for Basildon and Billericay, Richard Holden, who is leading a recent charge in Parliament to obtain Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) status for pie and mash, akin to Welsh lamb or Stilton blue cheese.
Holden claims that it was the “original fast food” and in many ways, that assertion is spot on. At one time in Victorian London, some 600 pie hawkers would walk about flogging meat-filled pies alongside a variety of hot sauces and gravies. However, as meat prices rose in the 1840s, these “piemen” substituted beef for the lowest grade meat possible (horse, in some instances) and padded out the pies with oats to a fairly unsuspecting public. This drastically lowered standards and caused uproar; but then, they only cost a penny.
The piemen are crucial to the history of the eel and pie house. After just a few years, East End shops cottoned on and began directly employing these hucksters to work in newly built restaurants, providing a sit down meal of larger, better quality meat or eel pies — later supplemented by jellied eels on the side — for the same price, with parsley sauce (liquor) and mashed potatoes.
Eels, pie and mash, as we know it, was born and the piemen operating on their own slowly dwindled out.
Debate rages about the longest-serving pie and mash shop. While the Henry Blanchard shop in east London was first founded in 1844, the longest continual serving shop was either Arments of Walworth (registered in 1881, but only purchased by the Arments family in 1914) or M Manze of Southwark Park Road, founded in 1892. In any case, we’re talking well over a century of tradition.
Things haven’t changed much since those days, apart from the quantity of these once beloved establishments. Where once there were hundreds across town, now there are just 34 pie and mash shops left in London, for the most part in the East End and in the south, with a further smattering in places like Clacton and just outside London in Stanford-le-Hope.
Housing and development crises in London have, as we know, precipitated a decline in traditional restaurants like this, not to mention taste — when was the last time you ate jellied eels? But they should be saved and savoured, revered for their shared history and celebrated for their commitment to value and tradition.
For a meat-filled pie, soft mash and a punchy parsley sauce — and to be very well-fed for about £12 — here’s where to go.
Manze’s
Manze’s in Deptford has been a classic pie shop for more than 110 years. Sadly, the shop is set to close in March 2025 when owner George Mascall hangs up his apron, so a nod to the cultural heritage of this once essential trade is a must before it's consigned to the history books. Expect the flakiest pastry, the best liquor and the butteriest mash. Add spicy vinegar and enjoy.
204 Deptford High Street, SE8 3PR, manzepieandmash.com
Arments
The current owners are fourth generation pie and mash vendors, with Arments having served the Walworth and Camberwell community for almost 115 years. This is a spot for warming chilli vinegar and hot sarsaparilla to go along with these wholesome, hearty pies. Arments take these pies exceptionally seriously, so much so that they use two different pastry recipes for their creations: one for the base (to ensure a soft-not-soggy bottom) and one for the top, designed for extra crisp golden flaky wonders.
7 Westmoreland Road, SE17 2AX, armentspieandmash.com
G Kelly
Kelly is one of those names (like Cooke, Arments and Manze) which is synonymous with pies in London. Open since 1915, Kelly’s was founded by Robert Samuel Kelly and later, his four children would each go on to open their own pie shops during the Twentieth century. George (one of Samuel’s sons) went on to inherit this particular shop in 1939, with his brother-in-law purchasing the business in the Fifties. These things are best kept in the family.
526 Roman Road, Old Ford, E3 5ES, gkelly.london
F Cooke’s
The enduring pie shops are invariably the ones with the best heritage, the longevity down to a combination of value and deliciousness. F Cooke’s has now spread as far as Chelmsford and at one time the wider family had half-a-dozen shops under their name. Now the business has settled and the Hoxton outpost has been serving N1 for the best part of 40 years, a track record any restaurateur would give their left arm for.
150 Hoxton Street, N1 6SH, fcookepieandmash.co.uk
Maureen’s
As always, the pies here are freshly prepared at the crack of dawn each day to ensure only the highest quality meat pies are served. Such high labour intensity for what is a relatively low sale price must be a contributing factor in why great pie and mash shops are few and far between; in any case, Maureen’s is a classic. Maureen’s differentiates from other pie shops with the additions of hot stewed eels and of salt beef beigels, a selection which has served the shop well for more than 60 years.
6 Market Square, E14 6AH, maureenspieandmash.co.uk
M Manze
The Manze’s pie and mash lineage shares a history with the Cooke family. M Manze was established in the early 1900s by Michele Manze, a native of Ravello, who married Ada Poole, daughter of London’s most successful pie and mash shop entrepreneur, Robert Cooke (of F Cooke, above).
M Manze still bears the family name above the Tower Bridge shop and while the Deptford outpost (listed above) was once associated, its separation in the latter Twentieth century is indicative of the intertwined yet fractured family legacies that mark the history of pie and mash shops across town.
87 Tower Bridge Road, SE1 4TW, manze.co.uk
