Hannah's Pies, Ultimo (supplier to Harry's Cafe de Wheels)

The meat pie is an Australian institution. Hot, meaty and holdable in one hand (the other's for your stubbie), the meat pie is the brickie's breakfast, the football fan's belly warmer, and the best lunch a bloke could hope for.

In Sydney, the most famous pie vendor is Harry's Cafe de Wheels. Open until 4am on Saturday and Sunday mornings, this little pie cart on the wharf has refuelled many a bleary-eyed seedy-feeling patron. Originally opened in 1938, the pie cart became the hippest feed in town when it was famously visited by celebrities Frank Sinatra, Robert Mitchum and Marlene Dietrich. Even Colonel Sanders couldn't resist its pies (three of them in a row apparently) and the clever folk at Harry's Cafe made sure they took photographic proof of all its famous fans.

But Harry's pies all come from Hannah's Pies, its factory in the inner city suburb of Ultimo. Located across the road from the Powerhouse Museum, it does a brisk trade with tourists, school kids, uni students and hungry office workers.








Powerhouse Hot Dog

Hot dogs were apparently added to the menu in the 1970s, primarily to meet demands from visiting American sailors. At the top of the line is the Powerhouse Hot Dog, one of the most carb-filled hot dogs I think I've ever seen. First the hot dog bun is smeared with a heavy scoop of mashed potato, dolloped with a trough-load of chilli con carne beans and mince, garnished with onions, topped with a hot dog and then drizzled with a melted cheese sauce and a final red squiggle of tomato sauce. Wow.


Meat pie with sauce, custard tart and sausage roll with sauce

I was told that the meat pie was tasty, the sausage roll was meaty, and the custard tart was just like the good ol' days: a crisp baked crust, a pale custard within and dusted with the finest sprinkling of nutmeg.


Curry Tiger
Curry meat pie with mashed potato, mushy peas and gravy

I opt for the curry tiger instead, a monolith of carbohydrate-fuelled goodness. A curry pie is layered on top with a thick mattress of mashed potato, a pillow of mushy peas and filled with a lake of gravy.


Curry pie, unadorned

As an alternate mouthful eater (and uncontrollable photographing foodblogger) I knock off the pea and mash clothing to reveal a naked curry pie underneath.


Meaty

To the snickers of my fellow lunchers, I lift the lid to reveal the innards of my humble meat pie: there are chunks of real beef inside, cooked slowly so the meat is tender and the fibres fall away easily. The curry is quite spicy too.

All in all, top nosh. The pastry bottom was a little gluey in areas, but the top was flaky, the filling was meaty, and the mash, peas and gravy... ooh.... winter comfort food doesn't get any better than this.



Hannah's Pies
562 Harris Street, Ultimo, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9211 2506

Harry's Cafe de Wheels – Woolloomooloo
Cowper Wharf Road, Woolloomooloo, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9357 3074

Harry's Cafe de Wheels – Haymarket
Hay Street, Haymarket, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9281 6292

Related GrabYourFork posts:
Harry's Cafe de Wheels Haymarket
Harry's Cafe de Wheels, Woolloomooloo