It looks like an apple pie from the outside, but the filling is one we’ve never seen at the Golden Arches before. 

It’s been six years since we last saw a savoury pie on the menu at McDonald’s in Japan, so when the new limited-time Beef Stew Pie appeared at branches nationwide on 8 December, we immediately stopped by and purchased a couple for a taste test.

From the outside, the pies look similar to McDonald’s apple pies, but these come with the words “Beef Stew Pie” written across them in orange. The ads for the new menu item come with the tagline, “Pie wa Ai da“, or in English: “Pie is Love” , and so each package comes with one of five love-related phrases, seen in white-coloured script on the box.

▼ Both the packages we received came with the same phrase: “Love is overflowing. Pie is love.”

Breaking into the pack through its perforated centre, we were able to view the pie in all its golden, crispy glory.

Fearing the filling would be piping hot, as most McDonald’s pies famously are, we cautiously split it in two and found it was packed to the brim with an enticingly fragrant beef stew.

Thankfully, the filling wasn’t as hot as we expected, and after letting it cool down for a few moments, we took our first bite. As we crunched through the crispy pastry, the warm filling poured itself out onto the taste buds, covering them in a rich, meaty flavour.

According to McDonald’s, the stew inside this pie is made by slow-cooking beef with vegetables like carrots and potatoes, and adding Fond de Veau, a French veal stock, for richness and depth.

The veal stock worked extremely well to give the pie an extra layer of flavour and a surprising, restaurant-like quality. The filling had clearly been well thought-out, with attention to detail ensuring a good balance of flavours. The pastry casing, however, still had a bit of an apple-pie-like feel to it, which played with our mind the whole way through, but as it wasn’t sweet, it provided a nice complement to the gooey, savoury centre.

There’s no skimping on the filling, because opening the second pie revealed it was evenly filled right across the pastry.

These pies definitely hit the spot for us on a cold evening, and because they’re on the menu right from opening at breakfast-time and throughout the rest of the day, you can easily get your pie fix whenever you need it.

They’re only available until the end of January, though, so you’ll want to get in before then to find out if the phrase “pie is love” hits a soft spot for you too. At 180 yen (US$1.59) a pop, they’re a great way to warm up and fill your stomach between meals, and a lot easier than trying to make your own Maccas pie at home in the kitchen!

Images: ©SoraNews24
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