Little Miss Bento

Australia’s Pie Face has finally arrived in Singapore.

Pie Face has just opened its very first outlet in Singapore at 313@Somerset earlier this month. Fast expanding in Singapore, their newest outlet at Bugis Village has also just opened its doors on 23 Nov.

Established in 2003, this Sydney-based bakery café is best known for baking its warm and delicious pies from scratch. They are also the largest pie chain in Australia with about 75 stores across the country.

Encased within the flaky crust are different types of freshly prepared fillings created by the chain’s chief pie baker – Mr Francois Galland.

Other than the usual favorites such as Chunky Steak Pie and Chicken & Mushroom Pie, other mainstay flavours include Thai Chicken Curry; and  Tandoori Vegetable. Also check out first-ever flavors launched exclusively at the Singapore store – Chicken & Peppercorn pie and Creamy Vegetables pie.

Have a sweet tooth? No worries, they also have sweet offerings including mini lemon pie and mini butterscotch pie.

These savoury pies come in both regular and mini sizes. The mini pies are priced starting from $3.00 each, while the regular pies are priced starting from $4.90 each.

Kawaii factor? Different playful facial expressions are featured on the pastry crusts, representing the different fillings of the pies – cute!

The chain serves these pies in one of two ways: in a cardboard sleeve, so customers can eat them while on the go or as “stacks” for those dining in. Stacks are pies topped with smash (mashed potatoes or peas) and gravy.

At the media tasting session, we tried out the signature savoury pies, the sweet offerings as well as their sausage rolls and other pastries.

What is my take? (note that I have never been to Australia, so my experience is a first hand tasting of Pie Face here in Singapore), here are my recommendations:

Thai Chicken Curry Pie (regular $4,90, mini $3.00) *on the left in photos above

Among the savory pies, I liked the Thai Chicken Curry Pie. A lovely Asian flavour with chicken meat, carrots, onions, garlic and coconut milk. The curry flavour was also distinct but not too overwhelming. I also appreciate that Pie Face offers two sizes for their pies to suit the different appetites.

Almond stick and Cheese stick $1.90 each

Interestingly, my favourite items from the tasting menu were these. The almond and cheese sticks. Puff pastries, one sweet and the other savory. While the cheese stick was a tad oily, overall it was fragrant and the cheese provided a nice crunch. The almond stick was enjoyable too, asweet nutty filling paired with the puff pastry.

It is also very affordable at only $1.90 each.

Is that it? you might ask… 

Well, probably due to the sheer number of bakes they had to bring out during the back to back media tasting, many of the pies including the sweet offerings and sausage rolls were underbaked, with uneven browning of the pastries, often with a light and underbaked inner/middle section.

Judging by the number of fans here in Singapore who are followers of the well known Pie Face from Australia, this store will probably do pretty well at the start and will still have time to work on their baking inconsistencies.

And the sweet pies, were… simply sweet, little too sweet for me.

Overall, their menu is not out of reach with rather reasonable price range. Stick to those recommended as well as the savory pies and it should be pretty safe :)

Pie Face Singapore

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313@Somerset outlet

Address: 313 Somerset B3-10 Singapore 238935
Opening Hours: 10am-10pm

Bugis Village outlet

Address: 249 Victoria St Singapore 188034
Opening Hours: 10am-10pm