Whilst the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace or Big Ben might top the list of places to visit in London for some, former Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones seems to have only one thing on his to-do list when he’s back in the capital: pie and mash.
The dish has endured in London for generations, with the straightforward classic satisfying both Londoners and tourists for well over a century. It seems Jones can’t get the traditional English stuff in glitzy LA, where he spends most of his time, and so a cherry-picked selection of London’s finest pie shops is where he chooses to spend his time.
A quick glance at Jones’s Instagram reveals his love for this essential eating, usually posting a number of pie emojis to indicate how many he’s tackled with each pilgrimage. Below we’ve listed his preferred pie-slingers.
A Cooke’s
Jones’s favourite in Shepherds Bush sadly closed in 2015, but still delivers pies to the local community. Established back in 1899, the west-London stalwart continued to serve Jones the classic combinations of meat pies, mash and liquor until the end. It was here that he famously described his misspent youth, filling his belly on pie and mash as a schoolboy, noting: “fish and chips wasn’t our thing”.
Order online at cookespieandmash.com
M Manze Tower Bridge
Not to be confused with Manze’s Deptford, M Manze on Tower Bridge road seems to be a firm Steve Jones favourite, with the guitarist frequenting the pie and mash shop at least a dozen or so times in the past year. Opened in 1891, M Manze claims the title of the oldest ever eel and pie shop in London, opened by Robert Cooke and taken over by daughter Michele Manze. Over the decades, the family name survived the blitz, the Peckham riots, fraud legal battles and gentrification, with owners Emma and Tom now owning this fourth-generation family business.
87 Tower Bridge Road, SE1 4TW, manze.co.uk
Arments
Longstanding battles between Millwall fans rage online, not about the latest signings or the manager’s performance, but of the best local pie and mash. Arments is ever in the mix and the 115-year history has caught Steve Jones’s eye of late too, posting about the shop during his most recent London trip. The shop transcends a simple restaurant and has become something of a community hub. Arments enjoys a sterling reputation, both locally and nationally, with folks from Kent to Manchester making the pilgrimage to Walworth for a taste.
