My favourite London mince pies in 2024

Operation mincemeat

This is the hardest article I’ve ever had to write for Braise.

I mean that in quite a direct, physical sense. Over the course of 16 days I have eaten mince pies from 19 separate bakeries, totalling 23 pies once you factor in repeats. At this point I’m more mincemeat than man, and I’m doing my best not to think about what all that pastry is doing for my arteries.

This is important work though, and somebody’s got to do it. After the Boxing Day sandwich, mince pies are the best of the UK’s festive foods, a December staple of almost every bakery in the country, but not all pies are created equal.

This comes down, in part, to the looseness of the form. There’s a set size, give or take, and a rough agreement to use shortcrust pastry - though exceptions abound. The only constant to the mincemeat itself is currants. There’ll be other fruit too, but not predictably - this year I’ve found citrus, cherries, quince, and more across the pies I’ve eaten. A few have added nuts, an unexpected extra texture, and all come spiced, though to differing degrees. Booze is a given, but which liquor is not. The only traditional element I haven’t found in a pie this year is the slightly archaic inclusion of actual meat - Lyle’s is the only place in London I know of that still offers a carnivorous take, and if they made pies this year then I missed them.

From the 19 different takes on the pie I ate over the last two weeks, I’ve whittled my way down to a list of five. I won’t pretend I tested these in controlled settings, though. Some made up breakfast, others afternoon snacks or late-night desserts. Most were eaten alone, some in tandem. I went home for a few, ate others in the bakeries, one I wolfed down in the street outside before the oven warmth could fade. I aimed to eat them hungry, but you try eating three mince pies in a day and let me know your appetite by the time the third rolls around.

Still, unscientific as I may have been, these are the pies that stood out from the sea of shortcrust, the ones that won’t disappoint, that are worth covering yourself in crumbs for. They’re also not entirely the ones I expected to find in the final running. As always, after the list you’ll find the pies I tried that didn’t make the cut, plus the ones I couldn’t quite find the time for - that’s what next year is for.