Pukka "all steak" Pie.

Description: The packaging says "no hydrogenerated fat, our best baked all steak pie" along with "Pukka pies are made from wholesome ingredients carefully selected from quality suppliers. Healthy eating and regular exercise are actively endorsed and promoted by the company" Chunks of steak in a rich gravy in a light puff pastry case. www.pukkapies.co.uk.

Cost: £1.55 a pie.

Cooking: 50 minutes number 4

Verdict: I think everyone knows Pukka Pies, but I had never tried one. Plenty of people had recommended them to me knowing that I'm an expert on pies (including Mrs Pie Review), so I was keen to try one out for myself. So, with Christmas approaching I thought id give myself a special "treat" and test this pie in the season of good will.

As always I'm very sceptical of pies and the false advertising associated with them so with such a highly publicised brand like Pukka pies i was keen to put them to the test.

The box has plenty of spiel on it, including a recommendation that you should exercise regularly! Which made me chuckle as I loaded the pie into the oven and settled down with a Christmas pint.

The pie looked nice and stodgy and in the oven it went. I was a bit wary of gas mark 4 as before pies hadn't really cooked properly at that number. But my fears were unfounded. 50 minutes later and the pie was ready. On the plate with mash & peas and it looked nice. Cut it open and to cut a long story short, wow. Pie was as described. Nice thick gravy, very tasty and plenty of it. Nice lumps of steak. Tasted like a slow cooked bit of stewing steak which had been cooked for 3 hours on a low heat.. lovely, tasty and very nice.

The crust and pastry was nice, stodgy and filling. All in all, I couldn't believe it. A pie which finally lived up to the hype. It was certainly a Christmas treat for me.

I thought long and hard about what rating to give this pie, and its a tough one. This has to be one of the best pies Ive ever had. If god himself made a pie, it could well be this one. So, is it a 10 out of 10 pie?... hmmm.... the Waitrose Roast Chicken pie was equally good, and 10 out 10 surely has to be the best pie in the world and maybe something which is un-achievable, but this came pretty close.  It was a tough decision, but in the end, its a 9 out of 10 for me. If I had to fault it, maybe the pie would have tasted better with shortcrust pastry rather then puff. But either way, this is the best steak pie I've had to date and im so pleased a pie finally hit the mark.

Top marks for Pukka!!!!! And Merry Christmas!!!

Calorie wise its 534 calories per pie which is pretty reasonable.

Rating? 9 out of 10.

Iceland 12 Party Mini Pies Chicken & Steak

Description: Chicken in a creamy sauce encased in shortcrust pastry. And, Steak in rich gravy encased in a shortcrust pastry.

Cost: Party pack of 12 (6 Chicken and 6 Steak) come in at £2 or they are on a "3 for £5 " deal also.

Cooking: Number 7 for 20minutes

Verdict: Saw these in Iceland whilst buying some Weight Watcher meals for the missus and couldn't resist them. £2 seems cheap enough. You get 12 pies in the box, 6 Chicken and 6 Steak. Ive had mixed results with the Iceland pies, but for £2 figured it was worth a gamble.

As always the picture on the front shows pies which look like they have been crafted by Gods fair hands himself. Full to the brim of tasty chicken or steak.

In the oven they go, and 20mins later the tasty looking golden treats are ready to be eaten.

Steak one first... and wow.. seriously tasty. The chicken one was very tasty too. Hmmm... they  are only bite sized, so i`ll have another... and another.. and another... hold on.. id better check the insides to see what they are like before I hoover them all up.

Sure enough, the steak one really had no steak in it at all.. maybe a couple of bits of mince and that was it. The chicken one wasn't far behind... just chicken gravy with a spec of chicken in it.

But wow... they are very tasty and quite filling too! God knows what they put in them, but id definitely be buying these again. Ideal party food even if there isnt much meat in them.

Calorie wise, a single chicken pie comes in at 66 calories and a single steak pie is a bit more at 78 calories.

Rating? 6.5 out of 10.

Morrisons Shortcrust Steak & Kidney Pie

Description: Diced British beef and kidney in a rich gravy encased in shortcrust pastry.

Cost: Single 200g pie normally costs £1.39, but this was reduced to 69p which made it very appealing to a tight git like me.

Cooking: Number 4 for 25 minutes

Verdict: The picture on the box showed an awesome looking steak and kidney pie, packed full of lumps of steak with a lovely shortcrust pastry. It really did make my mouth water just looking at it.

In the oven it goes on number 4. I was a bit apprehensive about number 4 because its quite low, but that's what the instructions say...

25mins later, out it comes and the middle is still a little cold. I knew it... should have used number 5 or 6 I think.

So whats the pie like? Well, being the expert I am, i am used to being disappointed with the actual pie compared to the one on the box. Its a bit like going into McDonalds and you know the burger they will give you looks nothing like the one on the poster!

Cutting the pie open and the crust was perfect. Nice, tasty, stodgy, very impressive. Inside the pie I struggled to find any meat at all. So much for lumps of steak. I found 3 small pieces of steak hiding in this pie and they were not great - bit grizzly. The kidney and gravy wasn't great either. In all fairness I felt robbed, even though this pie only cost me 69p. I really feel sorry for anyone who forked out the full £1.39 for this lager shandy of a pie.

Definitely wont be buying this one again.

Calorie wise, a single 200g pie is 592 calories.

Rating? 2.5 out of 10.