Flaming Galah Aussie Pie Shop, Norwich

After hearing rave reviews both online, and from friends who had ventured out to find the infamous 'Flaming Galah Aussie Pie Shop' in Norwich I knew I had to try it myself. So one wet and windy day I did just that and made my way down Ber Street to see what all the fuss was about.
The shop itself is not, as the name may suggest, owned by an Australian, but instead run by a man who spent 4 years out in Australia and fell in love with their pie culture. Upon returning to the UK he knew he needed to share his tales and recipes with the Norfolk folk, and boy, I'm glad he did!

Exterior along Ber Street

As you can tell from the above picture, if it wasn't for the bright blue paint, you could easily miss this little gem, but seen as I had my eyes peeled I recognised the classic Australian road sign and went straight in to be greeted with a friendly welcome. The inside is obviously some kind of old takeaway place, with high counter and heated display cabinets showing all the pies. The few bench seats which were available were all taken - a testament to the popularity of this eatery, but thankfully a lady moved so I could enjoy my pie seated too, now it was just down to deciding which pie I wanted.

The menu was excellent, with both breakfast options (at £3, or £3.50 with a hot drink) and 'all day' pies, each with brilliantly inventive names such as 'The Bondi' (seafood chowder pie) and the aptly named 'Flaming Galah' (a spicy Penang curry filling). With the main pies you can opt for the 'Bonza deal' which includes the pie, a big scoop of creamy mash, mushy peas and gravy, which all comes to £4.95 - an absolute bargain seen as I was really stuffed after mine!

The Special - Roo Stroganoff

I opted for the bonza deal with one of their daily specials - 'The Roo Stroganoff' - slow cooked kangaroo meat, sautéed with onion and mushroom in a creamy sour cream, paprika, red wine and parsley sauce. I cannot tell you how impressed I was. The gravy had great depth of flavour and the mash was just creamy enough to provide a great contrast to the sweet peas and the salty crisp pastry. The pastry itself was perfectly crisp and cooked excellently throughout - something I imagine after watching my fair share of 'Great British Bake Off' isn't the easiest thing to do, but the star of the show without doubt, and rightfully so, was the filling.

One of many huge roo pieces

I have had a few excellent stroganoffs in my time - mostly cooked by an actual Australian, and I have to say this was up there with the best of them without doubt. The meat was cooked to absolute perfection - completely fell apart in your mouth, and as you can see the chunks were extremely generous too, you felt you were really getting your monies worth - something you can never be too sure of with a pie! The sauce itself was also lovely, with a hint of smokiness from the paprika, and just enough red wine and cream to balance all of the flavours out.

I really highly recommend Flaming Galahs Pie Shop, judging it by the standard of food when I visited, the excellent value for money  and friendliness of the staff; I really am surprised people aren't queuing out of their door dawn 'til dusk for their pie fix. From what I know of the Aussie slang a 'flaming galah' - means a bit of a lovable fool, I'd have to agree with the lovable part, but their recipe for success certainly isn't foolish in my book!