A Tale of Four Pot Pies

A Tale of Four Pot Pies- a culinary 4 way duel comparing offerings from the following establishments:

- Chicken Pot Pie - St. Paul Grill, St. Paul, Minnesota
- Turkey Pot Pie - Ike's at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport
- Chicken Pot Pie - Bailey's Restaurant, Davis Islands/Tampa, Florida
- Chicken Pot Pie - The Moon Under Water, St. Petersburg, Florida

I love comfort food.  Blame decades of advertising that equate food with love, but the combination of fats, carbs and childhood memories really does provide a wave of calm over me during the most stressful times.  And at the top of my list of comfort food is a good pot pie.  Flaky buttery crust, rich gravy, large pieces of chicken and a variety of vegetables.  It's like a hug from the inside!

I must be craving hugs because over the course of the past several months, I have been sampling a variety of pot pies and I thought I would share my pot pie findings with my blog readers. 

Pot Pie #1:  One of my favorite restaurants in St. Paul, Minnesota is the St. Paul Grill in the charming St. Paul Hotel.  Their food is rich, comfort-food based but also gourmet.  Their cream of wild rice soup is so good, I literally purr when eating it. 

But this is not "A Tale of Four Cream of Wild Rice Soups" - so let's get to the POT PIE.  Here is a picture of the St. Paul Grill's chicken pot pie:

St. Paul Grill's Chicken Pot Pie has a doughy crust versus a flaky pie crust.  It is chewy and dense.  If you're a dough-style crust lover, you will like this chicken pot pie as the crust to pie filling ratio is pretty much 50-50.  The crust covers a shallow bowl with an incredibly creamy gravy, very fresh tasting chicken and a mix of a few vegetables.  The presentation is lovely, but be warned this dish is incredibly rich.  Even though there's not a ton of chicken, vegetables and gravy - the extremely rich gravy challenges the heartiest of appetites!

If you are feeling regal and want to go overboard on the decadence, then order the St. Paul Grill's signature hash browns as well.  A giant disc of grated potatoes with an incredibly crispy outside, a warm fluffy inside and chock full of onions and bacon.  It is a sinfully delicious dish and goes well with many of the St. Paul Grill's entrees.

Pot Pie #2:  If after sampling the St. Paul Grill's pot pie, you're in the mood for more pot pie.  Head over to the Minneapolis - St. Paul airport, but you better buy a plane ticket as well because Ike's Restaurant at the MSP airport is behind the TSA security lines.  Ike's specializes in gargantuan portions.  The best I have been able to accomplish on their Turkey Pot Pie is eating about half of it and that was when I was ravenously hungry.  The crust is more flaky pie like than the St. Paul Grill, but there's at least 4 times as much meat, vegetables and gravy.  If you're in the mood for turkey pot pie, bring some friends to help you eat it.  Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of Ike's Turkey Pot Pie- so instead I am including a picture of my favorite drink from Ike's: the Weekender Bloody Mary.  If you like a heavily garnished Bloody Mary, check out this one from Ike's.  There are so many garnishes, it feels like you're eating a heavy snack.  And in proper Midwestern tradition, it comes with a beer chaser.  When I ask for a beer chaser in Florida, I get a confused look back.

And yes - that is a cheese cube that is large enough to keep a family of country mice happy for a month!  Beef jerky stick, shrimp, pickled onion, pickle, celery, pepperoncini, 2 types of olives, a lime wedge -- and a horseradish studded spicy Bloody Mary.  It is my ritual that whenever I leave Minneapolis, I go to Ike's and have the Weekender Bloody Mary.  It has never steered me wrong!

Pot Pie #3:  When a new gourmet-style comfort food restaurant opened up in my neighborhood, I was a-feared.  Scared.  Frightened.  Being a comfort food lover, if the new restaurant was good I would have to fight off desires for comfort food nightly!  And even worse the restaurant has curbside take out service.  I'm talking about Bailey's Restaurant on Davis Islands in Tampa, Florida.  The only restaurant on the island that offers curbside service.  Bailey's has a new menu every week, so when I saw that chicken pot pie was on the menu one week I could not resist.

Of the four pot pies I am reviewing in this blog post, Bailey's by far had the best tasting meat and had the largest chunks.  It tasted like large wedges of slow-roasted chicken straight from Grandma's oven.  And Bailey's pot pie went beyond the typical - carrots, onions, celery, potatoes vegetable medley.  There were huge butter beans peeking out from the very buttery crust.  The gravy was thin, which I prefer.  It highlighted the meat and vegetables without overpowering them.  The crust was decent - but almost something I'd find on a cobbler.  I prefer a bit of a lighter crust when it's pie crust-style. 

When I ordered my meal, I was given a free starter of homemade pita and black bean dip.  Who doesn't love a freebie?  The pita was a bit too greasy for my tastes, but the black bean dip was heavenly.  A tip for Bailey's Restaurant: you need to offer a small refrigerator case of dips and sauces next to your host stand.  I'd definitely buy your black bean dip to take home.  My chicken pot pie came with a choice of two sides, which I appreciate since most restaurants do not offer sides with their pot pies.  I ordered the mashed potatoes and the green beans.  The mashed potatoes were incredibly heavy on the cream and butter.  I prefer a bit more texture and body to my mashed potatoes.  The green beans were amazing.  Reminded me of the fresh canned beans by Grandmother would serve us.  In terms of rustic homestyle goodness, Bailey's definitely wins the Pot Pie challenge. 

Pot Pie #4:  You know the saying - save the best for last?  Well in this case, I saved the worst for last.  This chicken pot pie was my biggest disappointment.  The Moon Under Water in St. Petersburg, Florida is one of my favorite British pubs in the Tampa Bay area.  It has a great location - near North Straub Park and the Gulf of Mexico.  It is a great place to watch sports or to people watch.  And it has amazing Indian food.  However the British food definitely leaves something to be desired!  I was so excited when the chicken pot pie arrived.  My server came with a giant pillow of puff pastry, cracked it open tableside and poured a steamy filling of chicken and vegetables in front of me.  I love anything done tableside.  It is that extra bit of flair that seems to be missing from most of our day-to-day dining experiences.

And check out the picture below- doesn't it look lovely?  Who can say "no" to a big pillow of puff pastry?  I want to lay my head on it and take a nap!  But sadly, sadly, sadly - The Moon Under Water pot pie proves that looks can be deceiving.  The puff pastry was tasteless - angry, crunchy stale air, but not as tasteless as the chicken pot pie filling.  The gravy tasted like glue.  No flavor whatsoever.  The chicken tasted canned.  I had to check my taste buds, because there was no flavor at all to this meal.  It tasted like I was eating an old bucket of wallpaper paste.  Do yourself a favor and order the Indian food offerings instead.  You'll be much happier.

Sadly, my favorite pot pie cannot be narrowed down to just one pot pie.  I prefer the crust on Ike's Turkey Pot Pie or the St. Paul Grill's Chicken Pot Pie.  I prefer the portion size of the St. Paul Grill's when it comes to the pot pie filling.  I prefer the great tasting chicken, thin gravy and wide range of vegetables in Bailey's chicken pot pie.  So my search for the perfect pot pie continues.  Do you have any suggestions for me to try?

9/28/2011 UPDATE:  Blog readers, I am all about enriching your experience - so when I recently flew to Minnesota, I went back to Ike's Restaurant at the airport just to get a picture of the ridiculously huge Turkey Pot Pie for your viewing pleasure ... here it is: