Red Neds Gourmet Pies, Nelson Bay NSW

I concur!

The movie on Red Neds' website says that people go to Nelson Bay for two very good reasons. I only need one. And it's as iconic as the idyllic holiday destination itself.

Red Neds is named as homage to Ned Kelly who also shares the same surname as our master pieman, Barry Kelly. This is probably the only pie shop so far in Australia that I'm willing to drive 3 hours for on a whim because, simply put, his pies kicks ass. And I'm not the only one to think so judging by the swagger of media articles and awards that are proudly displayed on one wall.

The Captain and I spent our New Year up the coast and luckily for us, Reds Neds are opened 7 days a week and on public holidays. As always, I was greeted with a dizzying array of pies and pie floaters in all meats and flavours - prawns, oysters, chicken, beef, lamb, kangaroo, sometimes ostrich and today's special of crocodile - it's a smorgasbord and not at all indicative of their full range. If you want to see their full menu, hit their website and gasp at the sheer number of pies that they make and that's not even including the unlisted specials.

The amazing Oyster Mornay that I tried 6 years ago is sadly no longer there and with this much variety, it's perfectly understandable that The Captain and I took ages to decide! As I always do, we ordered two pies each and one dessert pie and sat down at the counter for the demolition.

I always opt for a seafood and today it's a Garlic prawn pie with a dill and shallot sauce. Sadly the creamy filling broke free from its pastry cage so it was one delicate operation to eat this as cleanly as I could. I love the combo of dill and shallots so naturally, I just had to (discreetly) lick the remaining filling off the paper bag!

The Captain, always ready to eat the weird and wonderful, goes for Crocodile with baby spinach, mushrooms and white wine sauce. I love the chicken-fish texture of crocodile meat and it was absolutely delish in the creamy sauce.

Round 2 and I headed for the ultra manly Drunken Beer Steak pie. The thick, meaty interior was laced with the telltale bitterness of Tooheys Extra Dry and I just wanted a cold pint to accompany it! It's the perfect pub pie.

Be careful, the filling is piping hot!

The Captain's Smoked Chicken and Camembert is always a popular choice and I could understand why. There is a subtle smokiness from the Camembert rind and lucky for me, it's doesn't taste overly cheesy. We both burnt our tongues on the cheese filling as we tucked in a little too eagerly!

Our dessert was an Apple and Rhubarb Pie but there are other slices, tarts and sweet pastries to appease most people. I was disappointed that they had no custard tarts this time round but my disappointment was long forgotten when I bit into the biscuitty pastry and the filling, that was thick with apples and spice.

I desperately wanted a round 3, as I was eyeing the Teriyaki Kangaroo and Japanese Wagyu Beef, but my stomach begged me to stop. If you can't bear to go home without more of their pies, takeaway boxes are your saviours but they would also create special take-home pies (with cooking instructions) for you to freeze and bake at your own leisure.

This was my first visit in 6-7 years. But I suspect that The Captain (a happy first-timer) isn't going to let me wait as long for the next one!