Get proper British pies at a new bayside bakery (plus three more great pie shops to try)

Take one idyllic upbringing. Add butter. Lovingly spoon in secret ingredients. Bake until done. Open the doors and serve some of the best pies in town. That’s the basic backstory behind Norman’s Proppa Pies, a new bayside bakery owned by Dave Pannell and Brad Balbi, the pair behind St Kilda coffee-to-spritz-to-nightcap institution Sorsi e Morsi, just around the corner.

It’s Pannell’s childhood being channelled. When he was a kid in the English Midlands, young Dave’s best friend was his grandfather, Norman. A navy chef who would make pies for weekend caravanning trips, Norman’s shepherd’s pies (with lamb mince) and cottage pies (with beef) were specialties, both topped with mashed potato, and often inscribed with sentimental messages. For his part, Balbi grew up in bakeries in Far North Queensland, and was roped into pie duties on weekends. When the pair started thinking about a second St Kilda operation, a pie shop seemed perfect, especially because there’s nothing similar nearby.

Their pies are a perfect amalgam of pastry and filling, comforting but interesting, sophisticated yet hearty. Everything is house-made, including two types of pastry. The shortcrust for the base starts with boiling water, butter and vinegar, then the liquid is worked into the flour, making for a smooth, sturdy dough. The puff pastry tops are extravagantly layered and buttery rich, the pastry crisp to the bite but without shattering so dramatically that you wear more than you eat.

Beef is the bedrock, with brisket slow-braised in beef stock with 13 herbs and spices, including a secret ingredient I guessed but will refrain from sharing so I live to pie another day. The tender, lively stew is slurried with flour and tumbled into bases, ready for joy. The beefy base is also mixed with fresh jalapenos and Stilton to make a funky, spicy blue cheese and chilli pie, and a pub-style creamy green peppercorn sauce amps up another beef option. Cue pie rapture.

There’s also an excellent butter chicken number, made with whole roast chickens (the bones go into the beef stock) plus a vegetarian cauliflower pie with three-cheese sauce. Sausage rolls are serious business so it’s good there are two: a pork version that leans British, and an Aussie-style beef one. Each is a terrific balance of fat and fab.

Norman took his shepherd’s pie recipe to the grave but surely he’d be proud of this one: Lamb mince is cooked for hours with mushrooms, rosemary and bay leaves, spooned into its pastry casing, and topped with a swirl of buttery mash. To be traditional, add mushy peas and gravy. The sweet range includes a rhubarb and strawberry pie, and chocolate cream pie, an English indulgence which features custard mixed with melted chocolate to form a silky filling.

We now know about Norman but what about “proppa”? The Northern English rehash of “proper” is Geordie slang for “brilliant”. To lean even more to Blighty, Pannell and Balbi are planning to open select nights to serve the “pie and pea supper”, an alternative to the post-pub spice bag.

A couple of caveats: One time I came for a potato-topped pie and it had dried out considerably in the warmer. Ask for a freshie. You also need to consider how well-placed you are to enjoy a pie with gravy, and especially with mushy peas. This is not a one-hand car situation, it’s a full-on dining project. Until bench seats are installed here, a home dining table with cutlery is ideal. Maybe that’s how it should be, anyway. So much work goes into these pies, it’s only proper they’re eaten with a little ceremony.

Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.