Autumn well and truly had its grip as we touched down in Custom House, located in the easternmost fringes of the Docklands. Despite the blustery weather, we reached our destination, with comparative ease.

Barry’s is located on a quiet side street, that sports an accountancy firm, beautician academy, Lithuanian grocers and even a branch of Greggs. However, the eager contingent of six pie-trotters only had one thing on their mind on this trip...

This shop has only been open for just over a year at the time of writing, and is the latest one to open up in inner London.

As we queued up for our scran, I quickly noticed from the intriguing looking menu (left) that it seemed to go up along the Fibonacci sequence with every increasing portion.

Due to the lack of eels on the menu, Karen Ramos inadvertedly beefed up her overall average by going for two pies instead of one. 

Harry Limby shows off his competitive edge with a pie-watering 3&3. Blowing away through the competition, he reached the top of the league table by the meal’s end.

Nick Evans eschewed mash for a portion of chips with his pies & liquor. This curious culinary combination seems to be a local delicacy in these parts, with the likes of B.J.’s in nearby Plaistow also offering this option.

Since moving away from Ruislip a few years back, Ray Goldstone is now a resident of East Dean, a village located near the Birling Gap just beyond the Seven Sisters in East Sussex. A similar looking cliff-face lay before him as he contended with the topography of mash.

As I plundered through my meal, I observed a note of familiarity with the pies. We soon discovered that the owner Terry Wooster gets his pies from Noted in Leytonstone, however he was taught by owners Les Shields and Alfie Hak how to make his own liquor and mash.

Meanwhile, the club’s webmaster Terry Moore was hoovering up his usual double double.

During the meal, we had the pleasure of chatting with Bobby, a care nurse who was having some lunch before starting her working day. Apparently, it turns out, she happens to be the Aunt of the owner’s partner Kelly, who can be glimpsed in the background.

Your recorder poses for another pie portrait (left), looking eager to get back to the task at hand, quickly devouring the pies before the appetite closes in.

Man of Kent, and long-term resident of Tunbridge Wells, Andy Saunders shows off for the camera by helping himself to a short measure of Jack Daniels. Don’t be duped by such tomfoolery, it turned out to be a reconditioned bottle of Chilli Vinegar.

From looking at the wide array of Chilli Vinegar decanters made from reconditioned spirit bottles such as Smirnoff, Jack Daniels, Gordon’s, Captain Morgan and Jamesons to name a few, you could be mistaken into thinking you had just walked into a Bottle Shop.

Since the pies came from Noted, the denizens of the club eagerly took the opportunity to rack up the points with these ‘competition level’ pies.

Although the shop looked rather spartan by pie & mash shop standards, framed photographs of continental scenes adorning the walls gave it a bistro-like feel.

The shop normally sells the likes of Bread Pudding and Cheesecake for dessert, courtesy of Annie’s Cakes. Unfortunately, Annie was in hospital at the time, so we had to settle on Apple Pie with custard instead.

The choice of dessert was warmly received by those of us who partook it. Karen was particularly glowing about the quality of custard, since it was smooth and without lumps. It later turned out that Terry uses the combination of Birds Custard Powder and hot milk, which he whisks by hand to create this glorious concoction.

Our host and proprietor Terry, made us feel at home with his genial hospitality, despite his initial nervousness about our visit. He named the shop after his late Uncle Barry who used to run an Ice Cream vending business in the local area for many years. Originally a teacher, Terry later got involved in the family business, which he still runs to this day. In order to support the high costs of running the shop, Terry still operates the Ice Cream Van daily.

Originally the shop employed a staff of six, but due to a decline in trade he had to let them go. Today, he is assisted by his partner Kelly, whom between work commitments at London City Airport, works at the shop on a part time basis.

Since opening, the shop has gradually grown a steady clientele of regular customers, ranging from local tradesmen, nurses, construction workers and police officers. 

After dessert, Terry was eager to show me round the shop’s kitchen. He showed off various appliances including an electric mincer which he repurposed as a ricer in order to create his exceedingly smooth mash.

He also showed me his small pie oven, it sits next to a larger model that was donated by Noted, which he hopes to use one day when trade picks up.

As well as his cooking range, where he creates the liquor, through the combination of parsley, potato water, batter mixture and green food colourant.

Upon exiting the shop, Terry sportingly joined us for our customary group shot.

Before heading for home, we searched for the nearest pub, which happened to be the Fox Connaught, a tall imposing grade II listed building dating from 1881. Unfortunately, cask was unavailable that day, so we settled on keg instead.

MG