M. Manze Pie and Mash: Eat Like a Victorian 

Very glad to hear that! I've only known the place for 10 or 15 years but it's certainly the same as it was the first time I went, and I get the sense it never really changes.

Thanks Andrew! Amazingly they do have a veggie pie! I think it's soya mince inside. Hard to describe the flavour of sarsaparilla - perhaps a tiny bit like cola (but it's not sparkling) or drinks like Dr. Pepper or Vimto...? It's sweet and fruity but doesn't taste like any specific fruit I know. I think it's more common in northern England, where apparently you can buy it in supermarkets, but here in London I only ever see it in pie and mash shops.

It's like rootbeer. Also safrole which is in sarsparilla is an ingredient in mdma

Thanks Paul! I've never tried jellied eels so I wouldn't know but I assume it's a bit of an acquired taste!

Thanks Dave! Yes Goddards is my other favourite for pie and mash, and I often pop in there when I'm in Greenwich.

I think this will probably be a one-off - I wouldn't want to put off people who subscribed to a pubs channel with too many videos which don't actually feature any pubs! ...but I thought this was worthy of at least a short video because there is actually quite a lot in common with many of the Victorian pubs I've featured on the channel.

Thanks Simon! I think I will mainly stick to the pubs in future videos but It seemed there was enough common ground here (particularly with a lot of London's late Victorian pubs) to be worthy of at least a short video. I think it's a great place and I really like the food, but I know some people have strong feelings about pies! At least one friend I took once was really unimpressed. I think the classic recipe for this style of pie is a shortcrust lid and a suet pastry underside but I think there might be more nuance to it than that at Manze's - the lid looks almost like flaky pastry. The pastry does have a slightly unusual texture, almost slightly chewy. I like that - especially once it has soaked up a bit of liquor and/or chilli vinegar but I can understand some people might have different expectations of what a pie crust should be like...

Yes the good old pastry debate. I'm all about the filling personally.

I have no idea how to pronounce it! I have to admit I had never heard of it before coming to Manze's for the first time (15 years ago?), and have only ever seen it in pie and mash shops.

@@TweedyPubs It has a few silent letters in it - imagine it spelt like ‘Sasparella’. The original drink was flat and often served in temperance bars, but there is also a carbonated version which I remember well from my childhood in the 1970s.

I didn't draw attention to it in the video, but I had the vegetarian pie, and in fact they've been doing it since I've known this place, at least a decade. A surprising number of London's pie and mash shops do a vegetarian version - others where I've found them include Goddards in Greenwich and Arments in Walworth. As for how many of these places are left, I would imagine somewhere in the region of 20 or perhaps 30 at most...? It's certainly not a huge number, and they tend to be in slightly out-of-the-way locations: it's a good 15 minute walk from the nearest tube station to this place. This was a bit of an impromptu video, we just went there for lunch as it's an old favourite and we were at an event in roughly that part of town in the morning. So it was just filmed on my phone, and then I did a voiceover back at home later on. I've always found it a bit harder to do it that way, it comes less naturally to me than recording the talky bits actually at the location. So I suppose partly I wanted an excuse to practice that. I'd still prefer to stick to my usual way of doing things with the GoPro etc if I'm actually planning the whole thing in advance, but it's nice to know I can still just about make it work if I happen across an interesting location and all I have with me is my phone.

@@TweedyPubs that’s more than I would have thought - really good to hear. I find survivals like this very appealing. It’s the combination of an evocative atmosphere from days gone by, with the idea that a business has carried on through the decades, whilst the world outside has changed beyond recognition. I must be an old romantic, or something!

@@WC21UKProductionsLtd It's still run by members of the Manze family - I think they're on the 4th generation now. I am very much of the same mind as you here, I find that continuity very reassuring, and is all too easily lost!

I think they use soya mince for the veggie pie, so the overall effect looks very similar to the beef version, although I suspect there's a bit less flavour to it by comparison. Plenty of other flavours to make up for that though - that "liquor" and chilli vinegar. I think that's one of the things I love so much about this place, that the experience of it as a vegetarian is so close to the real thing. Too often I've been to a beautiful old pub for a Sunday roast and the vegetarian option is something like a mushroom risotto, or even once I remembered a tagine with cous cous. There's a time and a place for both of those things but not in a pub on a Sunday!

Yes I think in America pies mostly have sweet fillings don't they (apple pie, pumpkin pie etc)...?

Chicken Pot Pie

@@TweedyPubs Pie, mash, liquor (with or without mushy peas) isn’t something you’ll likely find in America. Pot pie is common, which is a chicken or beef stew baked inside pie crust. You can also find a wide variety of hand pies, including Cornish pasties. Though I daresay that Argentine empanadas and even Jamaican beef patties are more common than pasties, depending on the region in America.

No I am fairly sure it's still open. At least one of the other locations (Deptford?) has recently announced it will close, but this one on Tower Bridge Road is still going.

I quite agree! There's something very special about the continuity here, other than one or two old restaurants in London like Rules, I can't think of anywhere else in London where you could eat the same food in the same interior as a hundred or more years ago... and I would guess a high end restaurant like Rules has probably changed its menu a fair bit over the years to move with the times, whereas these pie and mash shops stayed the same.

Yes a vital part of London’s history 👍

No that wasn't me, although I do think I've heard of it!

Amazingly yes they offer a vegetarian version!