Pie Sweet Pie
Corniche Road, next to Jeddah Literary Club
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Pie Sweet Pie - Jeddahfood
A couple of days ago I was heading north to meet my friends by the Corniche. That’s when I remembered about the Facebook post of Jeddahfood.com mentioning Pie Sweet Pie. I stopped by quickly to give it a try.
Its exactly at the location as described, before Starvin and next to Domino’s. It’s on the corner of the building and a big window front makes it even more welcoming. On the outside there are couple of tables and inside runs a long counter by the window with high chairs and a couple of small tables, exactly like a cafe.
The display counter had a few pies on view and another buffet like table was stocked up with different loaves of bread. The big menu on the wall revealed that they not only have pies but also bread, buns, bagels and other kind of cakes. Since the name of the place focus on pies I thought i should try those.
I wanted to order a savory pie, but was told that I would have to wait some time, because they were not yet prepared and I should instead try some of those on display. The cashier ran me through those available, the Pecan Pie, Apple Pie, Banana-Macademia Pie and also a more local ‘Dates’ Pie. Those were, according to him, the best selling ones, and that’s why they only had them on offer.I found it a bit strange that his suggestive selling technique, only left me with four options out of a very extensive menu, but there was little I could do, so I ordered one Apple Pie and the Banana-Macadamia Pie. For my drink I went for the fresh Orange Juice.
I asked about the other items on the menu, such as the KitKat Bread and Bagels and once again I was told, that those should be ordered in advance or the day before, so you could pick them up fresh!? The Cashier also mentioned that 95% of customers pre-order and drop by for take out, and not many actually chose to eat their Pie inside. I would have loved to get some Bagels back home, but based on his explanation, I was only going to be trying the two pies I ordered.
The Pies were re-heated back in the kitchen and when they were brought them to my table I noticed that the doily paper under the pie was now completely stuck to the bottom and was not easy to remove. I had to be careful not to accidentally eat some of the paper. The Apple pie tasted, despite the paper, quite good. Big apple chunks caramelized with sugar and cinnamon in a closed pie, the banana pie was more soggy and not really pie like. Maybe because of the re-heating the dough soaked up the mashed banana juice. The orange juice was fresh and ok.
Two pies and a drink for SR 25, not bad but also not really what I expected. Guess I have to call and pre-order before I go next time. This place might be good if you order bread for the next day, but then again, dont most people want to go somewhere and choose from a displayed variety of freshly baked buns etc? I feel undecided if I should return or not.
Toonsla won 500 SAR Worth of Vertigo Restaurant vouchers for this review for being the first person to review Pie Sweet Pie. Ayaa1977 came in a close second with his review in the comments below, so he also walks away with 300 SAR Worth of vouchers. Stay tuned for more contests soon! Winners will be contacted via email.
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best pie ever
I stopped by there last week, and was happy to see a pie place in Jeddah. Having lived in the US, I am fond of pies, when they are done properly, of course. And their motto is “We do pie right”, so I was like, that’s perfect for me!
I got one chocolate pie, one creme brulee pie, and one raspberry pie.
I am sorry to say that I am utterly disappointed with their pies. The chocolate and creme brulee are open pies, and the raspberry had a pastry cover as well and the filling wasn’t visible. I asked the gentleman if it was made with fresh raspberries, and he said yes, and that the raspberries were cooked. I only got it because he said it was made with cooked FRESH raspberries. Well, turns out, it was full of thick dry-ish jam, and there is no way cooked fresh raspberries would turn into a jam like that in the 15-20 minutes it would take to bake those small pies, unless jam is what went inside them in the first place.
As for the open-faced pies, the thickness of the bottom of the crust was greater than the thickness of the filling. Seriously, when have you ever seen that in a pie? And the filling itself? Chocolate filling was good. Creme brulee filling was in 2 layers; the top layer was the creme brulee layer, which is what is visible when you get the pie, but underneath was a thin chocolatey layer… since when does chocolate belong in something labeled “creme brulee xyz”?
Needless to say, I will not be going there again.
Very disappointing! First of all, I had to walk through tables full of men before I could approach the ordering counter. There was not much of a selection and the salty items have to be pre-ordered 2-3 days in advance. Not very convenient. The taste was nothing that was wow not even a taste that would make me go back. Sweet and Savoury (on Sari Street)is much better.
After seeing Pie Sweet Pie in Jeddah’s Destination magazine, I knew I just had to go there. Upon arriving with my 3 daughters, it didn’t take us long to see that they have no family section and in order to see and decide what you want, you have to walk through the already seated men. Once I found my way to the counter, the display case showed only 7 different types of tarts. Of course, I had to buy 1 of each. The pastry crust was fantastic, it belongs in a bakery in Paris. It was that good. The best flavors were Pecan pie, Chocolate/Caramel pie, Banana (which my girls said tasted just like the “matabak” at Crunch Square) and Nutella chocolate for the chocoholic. The Oreo cheesecake, Chocolate swirl cheesecake were “ok” and 1 more that I can’t remember so it must not have been too great. According to the menu it shows lots of other flavors, when I asked the cashier about the other flavors, he said…”we are changing alot of our flavors”. I asked about the salted pies and he said…”they have to be ordered in advance”. WHAT?! He tried to explain something about refrigeration, but I didn’t really hear what he was saying as I was lost in my own disappointment. They did have a few cupcakes but their appearance didn’t attract me enough to ask about them. All in all, I don’t think I would go there again as it is now. It needs a family section and a better/wider selection of both sweet and salty.
Reading about the opening of “Pie Sweet Pie” on Jeddahfood’s facebook page, really roused my curiosity, so Thursday night I headed toward Corniche Road to see it up close, and see what is it all about. I was expecting a pie store, but I found it to be much more. The shop itself is small and tidy, just beside “Jeddah Literary Club” and Dominoes Pizza, and since it is a small shop, you might just miss it if you are not looking for it.
The shop has a few tables inside, and more in the outside, but there is no space for families to dine in. The shop’s only clerk, at the time we were there, was serving another customer, so we took our time reading the menu and examining the shop. The menu was quite extensive to our surprise, and had a variety of different sections: Sweet and Savory Pies, Breads, Bars, Cookies, Cupcakes, Sandwiches, Chocolate, Finger food, etc. They also serve breakfast, coffee and other drinks.
I was baffled because as far as I can tell, nothing in the display mounts to what the menu promises, so when the shop clerk was done serving the other customer, I showered him with my questions. He was a super nice fellow, and he answered my questions gladly. He said that although they don’t have all the items ready made, if a customer has a specific item that he or she wants, they can call ahead and ask for it, and they will then prepare it.
They require no minimum quantity, so for example, if you want a piece of key lime pie, just one piece, call ahead and you will find it ready by the time you are there, that was really neat, and I think I am gonna take them up on their promise soon. They also have a few exotic merchandise of strange looking bottles of hot sauce, which as a big fan of hot sauces, I could hardly resist buying some to try. The clerk then showed me a few pictures of their finger food and other catering items, and they also looked good, so good, I wished I was entertaing guests soon so I could have bought some. The prices also seemed reasonable for this (I think around 150 SR a kilo). Actually their prices for almost everything were competitive, a pie for example is 7 Riyals a piece, compared to (8-16 SR) in a place like Munch. The cookies and the mini cupcakes are 4 SR a piece and 40 for a dozen, and the cupcakes are 5 a piece and 50 a dozen.
When it came to sampling their products, I picked a piece of pecan pie, apple pie, their signature cookie, Mars cookie, Twix cookie, and Snickers cookie. They also had cheesecake pie, chocolate pie, macadamia and banana pie, and all sorts of different kind of cookies and cupcakes on display, which I simply could not sample in just one sitting.
Upon returning home I tried the various items I had selected, I absolutely loved their signature cookie, which was full of cinnamon and loaded with chocolate chunks and nuts, this one I give an “A” if I have to grade it. The other cookies were nice, but the pieces of the sweets inside them were sparse and they were a little more salty than they needed to be, so they each get a “C”.
As for the pies, I didn’t care much for the apple pie, the crust was a little on the chewy side and less biscuity than I like, and the filling was not all that great, so I am gonna give it a “C-”. I did enjoy the pecan pie, I only regret that I didn’t heat it in the oven a little before eating it. The peace pie gets a “B+”.
In conclusion, “Pie Sweet Pie” shows so much promise, and it needs to find where its strength lies and focus on that instead of stretching themselves thin on too many areas, I realize that is not a fair criticism since I tried only two types of what they offer, but that is just a first impression that I will gladly follow up on, as soon as I become familiar with more of their other items.The shop slogan is “We do Pie Right”, and I truly and sincerely wish they are not just saying that, but only time would tell..