The very best in London (although Manze's Tower Bridge Rd comes a close second). Decor is not great but the proof of the pudding is in the eating so to speak. At lunchtimes the place can get rammed but the queue moves fast and the staff are freindly. I'm told the ovens they use are around 60yrs old, and the family had a shop near Bow church before moving to Leytonstone in the Seventies and have been in the business for over 100yrs now. I cannot believe how they keep the price so low. Cheapest in London by far, especially compared with the likes of Robins etc, who are charging steak and chips prices for what is supposed to be a poor mans meal. perhaps that is why this shop has survived when so many in East London have closed down. A very homebaked appearance but the recipe is so old and everything is made in house. If you are there soon after opening you can hear the staff making the last of the days pies just behind the partition wall. It is also one of the few Pie shops that keep live eels on the premises(most buy them cut up from the fish market). I know all this because i'm a nosey so and so.
A truly great experience. Still take my 83yr old mum there on a Saturday lunchtime for a treat (round trip or 28 miles) and even my eldest boy makes the pilgrimage from Shenfield with his mates in the car a couple of times a month. Tasty, filling, cheap and above all satisfying. Eel and Pie House Leytonstone. The best of the best. Alan A.
Ps. If you have small kids, ask the owner Peter if they can see the live eels. If he hasn't already cut them up for the day then he nearly always obliges. read more