Just a little PSA here. Been on the road for work for the last few days and had occasion to stop at a 7-11 (there are none near me), so I grabbed a cheese and bacon traveller pie, with very low expectations. It was surprisingly good for a mass produced, packaged, hot box pie. The pastry was nice and held together well, and the filling seemed to have all the flavours and textures I’d expect.
Later in my trip I stopped there again and tried a smoky bbq beef pie and again was pleasantly surprised. Pastry might be a little thick for some, but it was enjoyable, and the filling had real chunks of meat in it.
So if you’re like me and you’d normally avoid trying a 7-11 pie in a plastic bag just on principle, maybe reassess if you’re in a pinch, you might be surprised.
My qualifications - going back not that many years I travelled constantly for work, and have had far more than my fair share of servo pies. Mostly I’ll avoid them, though I don’t mind a villi’s. The only ones I refuse to eat no matter how hungry I am is four n twenty. They’re absolute trash. I’d rate the 7-11 pies near the top of the pack for frozen, bagged, reheated pies.
Their meat free mock sausage rolls on the other hand are decidedly average - unless the one I had a while back was a real outlier they’re pretty dry and bland. I decided my old stalwart for the occasional times I buy servo food - the spinach and feta roll - was a noticeably superior option.
I do enjoy a good spinach and feta roll. I’ll keep it in mind for next time!