Sweeney and Todd’s Christmas pie goes back on the menu

What marks the start of Christmas for you? Maybe it’s seeing the festive lights go up in town centres. Or the sound of the Salvation Army playing carols in the streets. Or perhaps it’s a Christmas pie from Reading institution Sweeney and Todd?

The Christmas pie went on the menu in early November, giving people an opportunity to enjoy a full-on Christmas dinner, encased in pastry. More on that in a moment.

For those who don’t know about Sweeney and Todd, a quick back story.

Situated in Castle Street and minutes from The Hexagon and St Mary’s Butts, Sweeney and Todd is a pie shop next to a barbers, just like in the infamous story of Sweeny Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street.

Thankfully, the pies at Sweeney and Todd are more attuned to Reading’s palate than the cut throat hacks of Ye Olde London Town, so no human flesh here. Not a sentence I ever thought I’d write, but there you go.

There are two parts to Sweeneys. The front deli counter is where you can buy pies and other pastry-based savoury treats to takeaway or take home. If you’re on the go, cans of soft drink are also available.

Walk past that and up the steps and you enter the dining area complete with Tudor beams and newly upholstered chairs.

It is snug and cosy with booths and tables, and such is the demand that you might be waiting for a table if you haven’t reserved one in advance.

Why is there a demand for a pie? Well, there’s the theatricality of the place: the pies are treated with reverence by the team. And while there’s a printed menu, what is available depends on what they’ve made that day.

Your server – quite often the owners, Craig or June Hayward – will read out the list and you have to play a memory game as to which ones you’d like. With patience and grace, they will read again and guide you to the pie that suits your mood.

The whole routine is sheer poetry and would not look out of place at the Dreading Poetry Slam at Rising Sun Arts Centre. It would win, especially if the team brought samples with them.

The pies at Sweeney and Todd

Sweeney & Todd’s pies are so good they can be enjoyed by themselves, but it is possible to add extras to them. Their chips are made on site, and they are usually fluffy, light and delicious. Their Cauliflower Cheese (£3.50) is similarly delightful.

On our visit, we tried the Christmas pie (all pies £9.50 eat in, cheaper to takeaway): a pastry packed with chunks of turkey, ham, sausage and stuffing with some cranberry sauce alongside it, with a gravy sauce to keep it moist.

It was heavenly and had all the hallmarks of a festive feast without any of the hassle of carving.

The Beef, Black Pudding and Pancetta pie was as described and similarly delicious.

Our final choice was the Steak and Kidney, where the gravy oozed out on to the plate before being mopped up by the light, flaky pastry.

Frankly, all three were delicious.

There is more than pie at Sweeney and Todd

If pies aren’t your thing, Sweeney’s offers farmhouse lunches served with French bread, pickles and salad, from £9 for a Sausage Roll to £10 for Ham, Beef, Pork, or Turkey, among others.

Starters include quiches at £6 each, and there is a soup of the day for £4.

There is a dessert menu, and it is traditional British fayre such as Bread and Butter Pudding, Treacle Sponge, Apple Crumble, and Spotted Dick. Again, the selection will vary according to when you visit and if it has sold out.

We’ve always been too full to try them, so sadly can’t comment. But if they are like the pies, they will be terrific.

To drink, we could have had a pint from the bar, we could have tapped into the wine menu (red, white or rose, prices from £4.50 to £6.65 a glass) or even a port (£3 a glass of Churchill’s Reserve), but instead we were delighted to see Irn Bru on the menu. The cans of the Scottish delicacy were gratefully drunk, no idea if they are still made from girders.

Sweeney & Todd’s has proudly shared on social media that it has just received a full house from the Scores on the Doors scheme for food hygiene: that means five out of five – maximum marks for every aspect of its food handling.

That is impressive and testament to the way in which the Hayward family care about the business, their customers and their pies.

Recently, Adam Hills was at The Hexagon where he asked Reading people where he should go for a meal after his show. Sweeney’s was the answer … and to be honest, if you have a friend visiting and don’t take them, you are depriving them of one of our greatest treasures.

It’s a Reading-based independent business, it sells some of the best pies you’ll find anywhere, and as dining out goes it is terrific value for money.

Afterwards, you can get your hair cut next door.

What more could you ask for?

Sweeney & Todd
10 Castle Street
Reading RG1 7RD
0118 958 6466
www.sweeneyandtodd.co.uk