executive impact

Bake my day

72 Comments
By Chris Betros

Last September, when Nick George made his first trip back home to the UK in 11 years, he realized what was lacking in Japan – pies. He recalls seeing pies everywhere – at train stations, in pubs, at football grounds, on the seafront, stalls, at fairgrounds, in cafés, and high-street shops. Fast forward to April this year. George and a partner started a catering business, supplying pies, pasties, savory goods and condiments.

George bakes his goodies in a small facility not too far from Omori Station in Tokyo. His Japanese-American partner does the delivering. Business is starting to grow thanks to word of mouth among the British community in Tokyo.

Japan Today editor Chris Betros hears more about the business while sampling a freshly baked Cornish pasty, with egg salad, tomato and cucumber.

Where did your love of food come from?

When I used to live and work in Sydney in the early 1990s, I was amazed at the diversity and quality of food there and became friends with two restaurateurs. They educated me in what was right and what wasn’t in food.

What brought you to Japan?

That’s a long story. I had a business disaster in Australia and for a while I was actually homeless in the UK. Fortunately, my younger brother (who is a cordon bleu chef, by the way) helped me. Then out of the blue, a friend in Hong Kong got me a job there. I saw a lot of exotic foods I had never seen before and I started practicing baking. My friends were my guinea pigs and I was really enjoying cooking. In 1995, I first came to Japan and worked as an advertising creative director, but I still kept my interest in baking. I had a stint in Dubai in 1996 before returning to Japan in 1998. For a few years, I did freelance advertising work for a couple of agencies.

How did you come up with the idea to go into the baking business?

Last September, I went back to Britain for my first visit in 11 years. Everywhere I went, there were pies. I thought they were pretty good and that there might be a market for them in Japan, especially since British food had a reputation for not being very good. That’s changed now, thanks to celebrity chefs.

In October, I started making pies and giving them to friends. I got lots of positive feedback and in November and December, all my friends wanted pies for their companies’ Christmas parties and this time they were willing to pay me. Some wanted to give them to Japanese friends to prove that British food was not rubbish. In February, I started thinking about making a business of it and in March, we got some seed money.

How’s business been since you started?

In April, our first large catering event was to provide 200 pies to the British embassy spring barbecue party. Suddenly, I had gone from delivering six pies to friends to catering for 200 people. We had to bake them at a pub in Yokohama because I didn’t have the oven capacity that I do now. All the food was eaten in 90 minutes. People were flocking to us. About 40% of the guests were Japanese and initially they were hesitant, especially with the Scotch mutton pies, but once word got out, the pies disappeared. It was like an invisible vacuum cleaner making them go.

A lot of our business cards were taken, and from this, word of mouth started to spread. The following week I got pie orders coming in from a brokerage company for a Wednesday lunch, then another order for Friday. Since then, we have done many office lunch deliveries, a very large order for Citigroup, plus we catered the VIP party for the launch of the Lotus Evora sports car last month.

We have been invited back to help cater the British embassy summer barbecue, and will be providing packed lunches for the October Tokyo to Yokohama Lotus rally, and that will be 400 individual lunches. It’s amazing. I haven’t needed to advertise.

What are your most popular items?

The range of products includes Cornish pasty, English pork pies, Tandoori chicken pies with fresh coriander which everyone seems to love, Thai green chicken curry pies, Scotch egg pies, lamb and mint pasty, herbed pork and apple pasties. I also make my own pastry and only ever use fresh herbs, never dried herbs.

Is it hard to find fresh ingredients?

It is easier now than it used to be. Over the last four or five years, Japanese supermarkets have gone European with better quality cheeses, bread and condiments. Some herbs are still difficult to find, such as fresh sage, but I know all the supermarkets and can find it. The only frustration is that I can’t buy everything at one place.

How can customers place orders?

I take orders online. Your order may be delivered the following day but usually I require two days’ notice. My partner does all the delivering; he used to be a garbage truck driver and he knows all the roads.

Why is your bakery in Omori and not somewhere in central Tokyo?

Because I live nearby. Often, I don’t finish until midnight and then I am up at 5 or 6 a.m., so I need to have the bakery near where I live. Also, there is a good supermarket only five minutes’ walk away.

Where do you see the business going from here?

Ideally I would like to have a shop and a bakery in somewhere like Jiyugaoka, but I have to take it one step at a time. I also want to sell to supermarkets and third parties, so we would need vacuum packing facilities for that. But who knows? Two months ago, I didn’t think I would be doing this well.

For further information, or to place orders, visit http://www.thepieguy.biz/2101.html

© Japan Today

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72 Comments
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nice article, a good meat pie is hard to beat.

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Good for him! Sometimes success strikes out of the blue.

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My partner does all the delivering; he used to be a garbage truck driver and he knows all the roads.

Absolutely brilliant. Great info for the ex-pat community. Thanks JT.

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Hmm, I need place an order.

Got hooked on british pies down in South Africa.

Now if I can find a guy doing PROPER Samoosa not the stuff that is called and served here as Samoosa. Pity, an Indian friend of mine left to go back home as his wife supplied me with them.

But the Pies are a must to order.

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They were hesitant, especially with the Scotch mutton pies, but once word got out, the pies disappeared.

Got to love the locals. I remember going to a BBQ up at the Australian embassy only to see the locals get out their shopping bags and try and pilfer the meat before it was cooked.

Anyway best of luck to Nick George. My only request would be that he try and produce some pies like I used to have as a little boy in Australia. I still remember being dragged along to rugby games on cold Saturday afternoons, with us kids being bribed by our grandfather with the offer of "pies and coca-cola" on the way home. I even remember the day that I burnt my hands on a hot meat pie (about 5 years old). I remember crying and laughing at the same time because one of our dogs was desperately trying to like the gravy off my painful (and slightly swollen) hands.

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British food is still not good. Celebrity chefs from the UK cook mostly cook other countries' food. See Jamie Oliver's obsession with Italian food.

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I think this guy's humbleness is to be praised. Business wise, it sounds like he had a bit of a hard time in the past and now he's getting up again. Go for it dude!

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British food is the worlds best and that includes our pies. You need a bit of meat and stodge to beef you up a bit if you`re a bloke. The pies handmade by this fella are usually better than the ones in packets.

Cornish pasty sounds like his best one, i reckon steak and kidney would be a good one or maybe meat and potato. Strewth, me mouth is watering thinking about it.

And for those who knock English grub, it is now going back to traditional foods and freshly grown produce, all them additives and colourings muck is going out of fashion.

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"what was lacking in Japan - pies"

He's got to be kidding. Pies are everywhere in Japan, in the cake/pastry shops, in the supermarkets, in the conbinis, and in Anna Miller's!

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Sarge

He doesn't mean those pies in Anna Miller's. Do you know what a Cornish pasty or a meat pie is?

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I have tried these pies, and they are ace!

The Tandoori ones with the lime pickles are soooo good.

I would like to say, give this guys stuff a try. You will definitely like it!

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I am really happy for this guy. He is so right. The savory stuff and the pies is what is missing in Jland. This is a good market.

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Meat pie! Good grief, meat does not belong in a pie! Apples, cherries, blueberries, sugar, flour and shortening belong in pies! But not meat!

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Glad to see some vegetarian options. Thanks a bunch!

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My partner does all the delivering; he used to be a garbage truck driver and he knows all the roads.

I hope he's not using the same truck to deliver the pies.

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all the best to this guy!! can`t wait to try some pies.

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Sarge, It is English tradition to put meat or fruit into pies. In the old days in Cornwall they had a massive pasty for the workers in the tin mines that had meat in one half and middl section of pastry and on the other side fruit (most pobable apple. They have nice dinner and pudding in one go.

The best meat pies are the ones from pie and mash shops with liquer, but i don`t know if this man makes those types. Cornish pasties are the best, especially with chips and heated up in the oven not microwave.

Becasue this fella uses natural stuff his pies will taste nice like the ones you used to get in butchers and bakers in the old days.

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I am wondering does he make an apple pie?

Moderator: He does.

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Nice story and always good to hear about people not giving up when things go bad.

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Cool... Checked his site out. No phone no. and only by email... interesting. Plenty of hefty pasty white bald guys in Central Tokyo that will eat it up, mostly Aussies and UKs I assume. I cant see the Japanese catching onto this as they like to go out for lunch and do the sempai/kohei thing. Good luck Nick.

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I know Nick from his freelance days, and second the comments wishing him well. He deserves any success this venture brings him.

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nice story and mmmm i would love to have now a small meat pie.

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Sarge at 10:33 PM JST - 28th June

<Meat pie! Good grief, meat does not belong in a pie! Apples, cherries, blueberries, sugar, flour and shortening belong in pies! But not meat!>

You have simply never lived in a civilised pie country. But don’t worry re-education is possible, and enjoyable. Lots of meat pies.

I can only wish the man lots of luck, food is always a difficult business to make work and the Japanese are so crazy about their own food.

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I will send him an e-mail to ask about ordering details, delivery, payment, etc). Not sure if he will deliver to the west of Tokyo.

BTW, my order will include some mango-chutney and some HP sauce. Yummy.

Agree with other posters? Where are the Steak and Kidley Pies and the Meat and Tatters one?

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Would like to re-iterate; I ordered off this guy a month or so ago, and the stuff he delivered was amazing.

Really SOLID pies, if you get my drift. The Tandoori was my favourite, but the standard pork pie he does (not sure of the name) was superb too.

The crust he achieves is unreal!

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I retract my earlier comment, assuming that British meat pies are anything at all like beef pot pies. Well, are they???

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What's a "Beef Pot Pie"?

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Sarge at 08:30 PM JST - 29th June

Sorry but we seem to be losing something in the translation. I have no idea what a beef pot pie is, but I get the general impression it is one of those pies that only has crust on the top while the contents sit inside a pot. If so then sorry, that’s not we are dealing with here. This is a pastry case the same as you would think of using for apple pies, content goes in there with a pastry lid and then baked. Sounds simple but a good pie of this kind is a work of art and that means you never (never) buy one of these wrapt in cellophane, those mass produced things are a crime against piedom. By the way, as much as I hate to admit this, the British do make the best pies, meat and fruit. Granted they can’t compete with the Irish when it comes to sausages. Germans for beer, French for cheese, Austrians for deadly chocolate cake. Sorry all the Spanish can offer is beautiful women.

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Had a look on the website, the pastry looks delicious but the fillings are all meat meat meat and more meat. A couple of veggie options would be nice.

Sarge, a pot pie is basically a thick stew with a crust on top. It can be either pastry or dumplings.

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Europeans are carnivores mostly.

But maybe he will make some "Mince Pies" for the festive season.

Mince Pies are nice and you can eat them too.

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Thanks for the kind words of encouragement i have received here for my new business. As i bake to order, i can accommodate most requests if there is enough quantity, for example last Sunday i baked and delivered six steak and kidneys to a specific order, and that isn't on my regular menu. I do make apple pies to special order, i use a lemon zested pastry for that, and a bulk order of those was made on a special order for chilled takyubin delivery to Okayama city in April. They were very popular, but i don't make a habit of making apple pies. We use the post office chilled takyubin service to deliver all over Japan, they are the cheapest option, they are also excellent. I shipped four deliveries to regional and Tokyo metropolitan customers of Madeira wine trifles via this service, the trifles all arrived in perfect condition. Gastronomically most of the world eats "pies" in some form, if you regard them as simply a protein filling inside a carbohydrate case. Gyoza are pies, piroshki are pies, niikkuman too, and basically sandwiches and burgers are open "pies". The pies i make are of a type familiar to anyone from the UK and Ireland, also Australia and New Zealand. They are not the fluffy little confections you would find in a Japanese bakery, but pretty much a meal in themselves.

All orders are taken via email for the simple reason it allows me to keep track of everything, and buy fresh produce accordingly.

Thanks again for your kind words. cheers now,

Best regards, Nick/The Pie Guy http://www.thepieguy.biz

Pies! spread the word (and the mustard).

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oh, and the vegetarian option; sorry there's no point. my pastry is made with beef lard.

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the vegetarian option; sorry there's no point. my pastry is made with beef lard.

Hey George, please don't say there's 'no point' to a vegetarian option! I make a wicked shortcrust using butter...I'm sure someone with your skills could come up with something even better.

Vegetarian mushroom pie. Go on, George!

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well, could do, but butter is rather more expensive than the lard. it is not simply a matter of demand, it is the pricing too.but...... i could give it a go, and thanks for the encouragement. as a rough guess, what per centage of vegetarians do NOT eat fish, because we have a supplier of very good trout in Tochigi.

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ngeorge, do you mean the savoury fish pastries? They are yummy. I have tasted some Fish buns from Sri lanka. they are triangular in shape. And the dough is like the soft bread dough. If you make those, will be glad to order some and freeze them for later.

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Oops, it's Nick, not George....sorry 'bout that!

butter is rather more expensive than the lard

Tell me about it! The price shot up a while back when all dairy products went up, and never came down again. Butter and cheese became luxury items overnight. Financial constraints are good for the waistline (or so I tell myself).

I think a lot of 'religious' vegetarians and people who turned vegetarian for the sake of their health probably do eat fish and seafood, but not those of us who have scaly/finny friends. I used to love the taste of trout, but no more.....

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ngeorge.

You will son have an order for me in your mail-box.

If we use chiled takyubin, how do we pay? COD?

THx.

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takyubin or personal delivery, it is always COD. Post office takyubin is very convenient for us as the payment goes into our P.O account the following day.

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THX, Order already send.

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Hi All.

Placed my order for a few pies, they will arrive on Saturday. Will give feedback on taste, etc.

So far service was great and smooth, wish their site was a bit better setup. I could improve that easily. Make the menu into a form where you can enter your order/details and send it via a click.

Anyhuh, if people in Tokyo west(Musashino and surrounds) are interested in getting some Steak and Kidney or other Pies let me know. Steak and Kidney got a higher minimum order that is too much for my 2-person household.

I can take receipt of the Pies and than send them onwards or arrange a pickup.

Let me know.

P.S.: I got a google account I hardly use.

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what per centage of vegetarians do NOT eat fish,

100%.

Actually, reading this article has made me try and make some sort of vegan pastry myself without all the trans-fat crap and lard you see in the Japanese supermarkets. I found some recipes on the internet. My motto is - if you can't find it in the shops, try doing it yourself. I've done vegan shepherd's pie, roasts, pizzas, even tiramisu.

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Pies! Pies!!! Gimme PIES!!!!! I miss them SOOOOO badly!

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Yikes! I'm a long ways from Yokohama. I guess apple pie from Micky D's'll have to do.

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Oh, I meant Omori.

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dreamland; He delivers.

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Ok, bit peeved right now.

Just got an e-mail that my delivery WON'T arrive today. Appliance failure happens to all of us. Know it well from my workdays in IT.

My peeve is that the delivery was supposed to happen today(no time given) and I get the notice midday, meaning I sat half a day at home waiting. Also a new delivcery date was set one-week ahead without consulting me if it suits me, etc.

Still looking forward to the pies as me and my son been dying to eat decent pies for days now.

Granted Nick said delivery charge won't apply due to the delay. No real problems for me but good and timely communication is a must in every business.

Sorry, Nick, just ranting.

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Nick, can you do chilled takyubin service (cold pies) to Osaka (meat)? Would love a Sunday delivery for a bunch of pies for reheat- with definitely an order over 5000... Email order, set time, COD, reheat, devour ne?

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my2sense, we do chilled takyubin with the post office, which is an excellent service (they are also the cheapest). Just mail me your order to contact@thepieguy.biz and we will go from there.

We have used this service before for deliveries to Tochigi and Okayama city for example, so Osaka is no problem at all.

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awesome.... will be in touch.

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Ha!

I live close to the shop and picked up 2 Cornish Pasties today. First time I tried them and I though that they were very good and I can give the taste a big thumbs up.

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Cleo and Nick

Having lived in the UK I got to love what can be done in the name of a pie. Sorry Nick, not a potential customer because I make my own and I don’t use either butter or animal fats. I use margarine, no, not that stuff in the tubs, but block margarine which is not that easy to fine but can be found, just don’t assume all those blocks in the supermarkets are butter, they can sometimes be margarine. My prime veggie pie is cheese and onion and usually I need to fight people off with a stick to even get a little of my own pie. My Japanese wife refuses to learn to make pies (or any of my other weird and wonderful dishes) but then eats everything in sight, so I suspect that it is isn’t that the Japanese avoid strange foreign foods I think it might be they just want somebody else to do the cooking.

Nick, I like what you are doing and can understand the joy of making something special and getting paid for it. Best wishes.

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cptmendoza:

I'm intrigued. Where did you buy your margarine? There's not a single one I like in the supermarkets. The only one I was willing to buy was available in a vegetarian restaurant somewhere near Shinjuku. Same here - my other half eats all the veggie stuff I make (haven't tried pies yet, but will do), but cannot be half-arsed to make them.

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Well its great to see how someone went from the streets basically to something as big as this has become,NOT EVERYONE MAKES SUCH GREAT COMEBACKS, JUST GOES TO SHOW THERE IS A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL.. I wish him the best and may many many orders keep him in buisness, if I were in japan i would def, try them out!!!

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I can get 'margarine for cakes' in my local supermarket, and while it's good for creaming it has a low melting point and doesn't do very well in pastry, which is why I use butter. The expense makes it a bit of a special-occasion luxury, but then so do the calories.

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Pukey2

My Japanese is a little tacky or some such word to that effect and I am still at war with the Kanji memory battle, little by little. I will however ask the cake and pie eater of the family to get me some details and get back to you. When it comes to shopping she is the expert.

Cleo,

My mum once told me that the art of pastry is added to by the temperature of a the bakers hands, how true this is I don’t know, but if true then I seem to have been born lucky. What might help is not blind baking the base, putting the filling in and the top on and then baking for a little less time. What might also help is folding the dough to four or eight as you would if making puff pastry. Margarine that contains salt is always the better too. And yes it does make great meat pies, even if you can’t eat them.

“The expense makes it a bit of a special-occasion luxury, but then so do the calories.”

If things work out well you will never get a chance at getting any calories, good pies are always magic, they just disappear seemingly all by themselves, or so I am told.

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cptmendoza - Your mum is right, everything in pastry-making has to be kept cool so that the fat doesn't melt before it goes in the oven. The cake margarine I can get has too low a melting point - take it out of the fridge, and almost immediately it's soft enough for creaming to make cakes, which is no good for pastry. And hey, I love the taste of butter!

great meat pies

An oxymoron.....for me, anyways. :-)

good pies are always magic, they just disappear seemingly all by themselves

Yeah, they disappear into my tummy....I'm not going to spend all that time in the kitchen and then let someone else get all the goodies! I love pies and all things pastry (so long as it's veggie).

I do a pretty wicked creamed cauli pie, and at Christmas we have a mushroom, chestnut and stuffing pie with boiled eggs. Wicked, wicked, wicked.

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Ok guys and gals.

Just cancelled my order with Nick. It got delayed as per post above(not sure why by a whole week(his choice).

I asked for a new delivery date(via 2 emails and gave alternate dates as the date he chose don't suit me) 48hrs later no response.(gave time due to weekend).

Sorry I cannot recommend him based on my experience.

This is solely based on my experience and not a reflection on how others have faired.

Just sharing my experience.

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I do support small and upcoming businesses but at the same time I expect a certain level of service/communication.

As I have seen too many businesses fail due to being over-extended, poor communication, etc.

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I've had some of Nick's Cornish pasties. They were really good. I'll try the Scotch mutton ones next.

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I have no doubt his pasties are nice me and my son would love a try but we are not close to his shop.

Not slamming him at all, don't get me wrong. But reluctant to place another online order.

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Zenny, you sense that there is some sort of a problem that Nick is facing. It is a start-up business. Is it very hard for you to be more understanding towards this? You of all people know very well that soemthings are just beyond are control. Think about it. Nothing like giving a person another chance.

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Zenny11, i had hoped our communication via mail would have stayed private, it was a serious issue to close down the bakery ten minutes before a bake order was completed. The pro oven i use is a forty capacity USA made model, which requires a transformer to connect to the Japanese grid. It always gets hot to the touch, but had never given off fumes before. It was immediately disconnected and the bakery was aired out. At the time of emailing you i didn't know what the problem was with the transformer, whether it could be fixed, or whether i could find a replacement domestically, or if i would have to airfreight one from the US, that's why i speculated on a week. It was fixed by an electrical engineer and machinist friend, and the socket was cleaned later that day, and now works fine. Sunday was a rest day, and i was attending to pending orders after this morning's shop. I have a bake on tomorrow pre-booked, and now my Wednesday has a few bake hours free, so i was about to mail you and suggest a Thursday delivery for your order. I have apologized for the inconvenience, and also offered free delivery for the rescheduled order. Back in April when i cut myself, i had to cancel the regular weekly order to a brokerage company in Toranomon. They take Friday lunch orders from me, and have been doing since the first week of April. They are a demanding customer, often ordering items i don't have on my menu like steak and ale pie which i of course will provide on demand, but they fully understood the situation as kitchens are inherently dangerous places, and were very considerate for my welfare. I would have appreciated your consideration regarding the privacy of our communication, and the situation i found myself in.

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Put my order in for 9 pies on a recommendation. I give Nick my best for a takyubin order and I will post feedback. From what I hear- its worth the wait.....a few hrs or a few days.

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Ok- here is my feedback and 2 cents. Yamato showed up in Osaka with the takkyubin order. Warmed up pies in 1500 watt oven and served (I recommend 10 mins and 20 for a 700 watt). Excellent crust and homemade to perfection. Tandori was spicy nice and the Thai one had a nice kick too. You can tell Nick is an expert with a pie and its been awhile since I had some good UK grub. Goes good with a beer too. I give 9 stars outta 10 and I recommend an overnight order to anywhere in Japan... big box cost me 1000 yen. Give The Pie Guy a whirl for a weekend off from cooking and hanging at home. Grab a bottle of HP too.

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I agree with negeorge thart Zenny is out of order. My grandson Patrick is in Japan now and he is going to buy some of your pies shortly. Don`t worry about some silly boy slating you, other people aren't daft enough to listen to him.

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"mushroom, chestnut and stuffing pie with boiled eggs. Wicked, wicked, wicked."

I'll bet it is.

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Just a quick note to say that I also had my order delayed, but unlike mr perfectionist zenny I do understand that the world does not revolve around me and shiit happens to the best of us. Nick contacted me right away, explained the reason for the delay and offered free delivery the following week. Having recieved and consumed said order I am very satisfied with his service and will order again. Zenny is missing out but then, who needs customers like that. Keep up the good work Nick.

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Oooooh, mutton! The magic word.

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I'll have to keep this place in mind next time I pass through.

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Nick puts awesome pies on my table, 500kms away, for a family party on final World Cup match- my Osaka kitchen table. This man knows what he is doing. You gotta give it a try- worth it and my wife was skeptical, but the Pie Guy don't mess about. Seriously, it was worth it! I recommend a Scotch, Thai and Tandori pie- with a bottle of HP and Coleman's mustard (it is worth the 600yen, a small jar). I am a critic, and picky but this is no joke- Nick's pies are worth it and if you have a proper address, its easy, simply email an order... they will show up at your door. Give Nick a chance, be patient with email- the man is busy but it shows. -- Nick- get the kid's menu going-lol, I love spicy, but my 3 yr old makes faces! Cheers!

my2sense

*hi, a quick mass update, hope you are interested.

OK, it has been wayyyyyy busy the last few weeks. We catered again, by invitation, the British embassy summer barbecue last Saturday July 17th. And it was a fantastic result. Back in April when we catered the embassy spring barbecue, we offered over 200 pie slices which were all eaten within ninety minutes. Last Saturday we had 280 pie and pasty slices, consumed completely in exactly sixty minutes, not a scrap left! I estimated that about two thirds of the guests who tried my pies were Japanese (the Brits had some, then tucked into the free Scotch and wine a bit quicker).

This morning it was confirmed that The Pie Guy will be moving into bigger premises, specifically a 100sq meter pro kitchen very close to Nishi Oi station. The move will take place next week. Under their license we can sell our baked goods via third parties, supermarkets for example. So, hopefully, fingers crossed and all that, we can get a supermarket chain interested in stocking the pies and pasties.

If you are in the Yokohama area in the evening, drop by that most excellent of British pubs, The Tavern. http://www.the-tavern.com They have my Cornish pasties on their menu, the last three in the fridge got eaten last night (i was there), so am baking up another batch for delivery for tomorrow afternoon. The Tavern also has some of my pie and pasty menu as their daily specials, which would be nice if you tried one or two but i have say that The Tavern has the best fish and chips i have ever had. Their Sunday lunch all you can eat roast carvery is quite splendid too.

cheers now,

Best regards, Nick/The Pie Guy http://www.thepieguy.biz

Pies! spread the word (and the mustard).*

*

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@Cleo and other vegans.

Did a check during my months shopping trip. We got a local shop(Hanamasa) that sells "Cake Margarine" by the 1kg tub.

Guess that would be ideal for baking pies and other stuff the vegetarian way. Bought a tub and the melting point of the margarine is very high.

I know they got shops mostly in Tokyo as they cater for restaurants and their package sizes are kinda big(like 1kg of Tartare sauce in a plastic bottle). Also they sell mostly meats (US, Canadian, Japanese and even NZ Mutton, etc).

I have found a more local source for british pies now, home-made by a british friends wife. She supplies the local british community now.

Anyway give the Cake-Margarine a try.

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Bought Nicks pies last week. much better than i could have thought. The Tandoori chicken pie was pure quality. Wonderfull eaten cold and large enough to fill most people for lunch with a beer ot soft drink.

Cornish pasties were properly made, deep filled with lots of meat. Brilliant eaten hot with home made chips or cold with medium or strong cheese.

The lamb and mint pies were equally good, we ate hot with sautedd potatoes and mange tout and i would imagine would be equally tasty aten cold with condiments.

Finally the Scotch Pies were amazing. Atr wit mash and steamed carrots and peas. The pastry complimented the fillong to perfection.

I would recommend to everyone and i`ve also converted 2 Japanese to pies containing meat.

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