The Pie in the Sky café at Cowan is a great destination for lunch or an easy stop over on the way home on the F3/M1 freeway.
At the end of the Old Pacific Highway heading north from Hornsby it is on the far side of Cowan. Frequented by motorbike riders, car enthusiasts and people out for drive, this is a place that sells pies, pies and more pies. The bikers and car enthusiasts love this place because it is at the top of a series of sweeping bends down in to Brooklyn; a great drive/ride before or after a pie.
It all started back in 1968, when the F3 opened. The site used to be a Mobil petrol station, but it quickly fell in to disrepair as the cars no longer passed through Cowan.
The site was sold and converted in to a pie shop. It was not initially successful, so it was resold to the Ransom family and the son of the initial owner found a formula for success and has never looked back.
The Pie in the Sky café is in a spectacular position looking down through a valley of the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park towards Cowan waters in Brooklyn. The place itself is not pretty. It is old fashioned. Now, I don’t mean some sort of “cool” retro look. I mean old, but in a good way. The place is clean and tidy and not trying to be anything other than a pie shop. I like it.
And I like some of the cheeky signs on the wall. Old fashioned and funny.
This place is simplicity and so is its menu; Pies, Pies and more Pies. Beef pies, Beef bacon and cheese pies, Chicken honey mustard pies, Thai chicken pies, Lamb pies, Lamb & peas pies, Red hot curry pies, the list goes on.
Pies are served two ways; In a bag for $6.00 or on a plate with chips, peas and gravy for $14.00. There are many options, if you are sitting down; Mash potato, salad, sausage rolls and pasties. But really, people are here for the pies.
I chose the beef, cheese and bacon pie. It arrived quickly and was nice and hot. The chips were well cooked and crisp. The pie was covered in a good layer of cheese and bacon on the crust, which looked good and was nice and tasty. The meat inside consisted of good chunks of beef, with cheese and bacon inside as well. The pastry was flaky and the experience was simple and good.
I walked in to Pie in the Sky on a cold, wet, weekday lunchtime and there were about a dozen people sitting eating. While I ate there was a constant stream of people coming and going. Not busy, just steady. The staff were young and friendly.
This is a good spot for simple lunch. It’s a nice trip out to Cowan from any direction and a decent pie at the end of your journey makes it well worth the trip.
Pie in the Sky
1296 Pacific Highway
Cowan, NSW 2081
Tel: (02) 9985 7018
Web: http://www.pieintheskycowan.com.au/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Pieintheskycowan
