Storme, Jenni and Gracie try to guess the pie (and which is the best!).
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There are few things more Kiwi than a good old mince and cheese pie - but a friendly conversation on the topic can quickly become a heated debate when it comes to deciding which pie trumps the rest.
In this week's Trial and Error Fast Food Five, we listened to your hungry calls and set off to find the best mince and cheese pie Auckland has to offer.
We went to five popular pie spots, all of which offer a mince and cheese option at a range of prices.
The requirements were that the pies had to come from a pie warmer, be an "on-the-go pie" and of course - they had to be classic mince and cheese.
Our panel gave their personal opinions on a range of marking criteria and, to make things fair, each pie's origin was kept unknown until the scoring was done.
Pastry: 2.5/5 Filling: 2/5 Gravy/meat ratio: 1.5/5 Cheese quality and quantity: 3/5 Wow factor: 1.5/5 Price: $4.90 from Night 'n Day
Little & Friday
Mince and cheese pie from Little & Friday. Photo / Little & Friday Instagram
It was quickly clear to our panel that this was not exactly an on-the-go pie - though the impressive design did earn it some extra "wow factor" points.
Storme was "shook" by the price of the tasty, but expensive, Little & Friday pie.
Gracie felt the quality of the pastry and filling made the pie taste like it cost about "seven hundred million dollars". As it turned out, she wasn't too far off. Kind of.
All in all, the Big Ben was coined a pie fit for purpose and certainly kept our panel happy.
Pastry: 2.5/5 Filling: 3/5 Gravy/meat ratio: 3/5 Cheese quality and quantity: 2.5/5 Wow factor: 1/5 Price: $2 (from a dairy)
The Fridge
Mince and cheese from The Fridge. Photo / The Fridge Instagram
The pie from Kingsland cafe The Fridge had a certain rustic quality which the panelists weren't sure about right off the bat. However, it didn't take long for them to be singing this pie's praises.
It's stretchy cheese and top quality filling left all our panelists' hearts and bellies feeling content.
Gracie called this pie "delish" while Jenni was left a little lost for words. She did manage: "Ooh - I like this pie" though.
At the end of our rigorous pie taste test, Big Ben and Mrs Mac's gained honourable mentions and top marks for portability.
Storme pledged allegiance to Mrs Mac's, however his decision was vetoed by Gracie and Jenni who gave what could potentially be New Zealand's most coveted title to The Fridge in Kingsland.
