Pimlico Fresh – pie envy

12:30pm – The bloke opposite me is eating lunch at his desk. It smells amazing. We’re quick to gather around to smell and admire his steak and mushroom pie with roasted vegetables, and are tempted, envious and tormented in equal measure. All concentration and productivity has drifted away with the steam from his pie.

12:50pm – Now the girl next to me is eating lunch. Unable to resist the smell of freshly made hot pie, she’s just returned from Pimlico Fresh with a chicken, ham and tarragon pie. It’s a beautiful thing to gaze on.

1:00pm – I’m in Pimlico Fresh on Wilton Road. They seem to be doing a roaring trade but that’s hardly surprising if, for every early customer they served this lunchtime, they got two more through sheer pie envy.

Pimlico Fresh – rustic cafe on Wilton Road

There’s a chiller of fresh and unusually concocted fruit smoothies and drinks to the side of the main counter which displays a selection of salads and mighty fine looking cakes, meringues and desserts.

Mighty fine looking carrot cake

It’s only a small café and all the seats are taken – a few breakfast-bar stools in the window, and most seating around chunky wooden dining tables arranged under a blackboard containing today’s chalked menu.

Today’s menu

There’s plenty to choose from including home-made lasagne @ £7.50 or pumpkin tortellini @ £6.95 but there’s really only one option for me. It has to be pie. You can get a pie on its own for £4.50 or with salad for £6.95.

Chicken, ham + tarragon pie

The chicken, ham and tarragon pie contains potato too and with the lovely crusty pastry is a meal in itself.

Steak and mushroom pie

I choose a steak and mushroom pie with a Greek salad which turns out to be my main meal of the day, it’s such a generous portion and so very filling! The pie is moist due to the gravy which you can see in the photo and goes well with the thick, flaky pastry crust.

The only downside is it takes ages to eat my way through it all, and then I’m absolutely stuffed. If you can call that a downside…

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On another occasion, I had a jacket potato with cheese and baked beans @ £6.95. I was slightly disgruntled at having to wait 15 minutes while it was prepared (to take away) and almost £7 for a baked potato seemed quite expensive too.

Jacket spud with home-baked beans + cheese

But it was worth the wait: the baked beans were really tomato-ey. They weren’t tinned baked beans but had been freshly cooked in tomato sauce with celery (really wholesome and tasty).

And if you want a healthy booster, there’s a range of smoothies @ £4.00, from carrot, orange, ginger and echinacea to strawberry, bananas and orange juice, or Chegworth Valley juices (pear, apple, etc) @ £2.50 a bottle.

Smoothies @ £4.00

Cafe info:
~ Lardbutty rating: 3 / 5
~ Type: British
~ Address: 86 Wilton Road, London
~ Postcode: SW1V 1DE
~ Tel: 020 7932 0030
~ Twitter: @pimlicofresh
~ Nearest station: Victoria
~ Location: Pimlico Fresh map

RELATED LINKS
Nearby dining:
~ Seafresh fish and chip shop + restaurant
~ Taquitos Mexican Grill