Pieminister Sheffield: Restaurant popular with YouTuber Ariel Viera passes the pie test - review

It had to be somewhere that does what we call in Sheffield ‘proper pies’.

After researching online, and having a wander around the city centre, I settled on Pieminister.

The place has got rave reviews on Google with an average rating of 4.5 stars based on nearly 700 reviews so I had to see what all the fuss was about.

Pieminister enjoys a central location nestled between the bars, cafes and restaurants on the bustling Division Street.

On a bit of a mission to try and prove not all good pies have to contain meat, I went for the Heidi, which contains goats’ cheese, sweet potato and spinach.

The first test of any good pie is how much filling does it contain.

There’s nothing more disappointing when you’ve ordered a pie than to dig your fork in and find there’s a cavernous gap underneath the pastry where the filling should be.

Thankfully the Heidi passed the pie filling test with flying colours and the goats’ cheese, sweet potato and spinach was filled to the brim.

It was a decent sized portion, the pastry was crusty but not too flaky, the gravy was thick and a fitting compliment.

The only gripe – and admittedly I am nit-picking here – is that they didn’t have Henderson’s Relish readily available on the table.

Pictures of the Sheffield-made Hendo’s are proudly displayed on Pieminister’s website so it seems a bit of a missed opportunity to promote local produce by not having bottles out on the table.

Funnily enough an American travel writer caused a storm earlier this month when he visited the venue for a review and wrongly referred to Henderson’s Relish as Worcestershire sauce.

YouTuber Ariel Viera also caused a stir by referring to city folk as ‘Sheffieldians’.

Ariel, who documents his adventures on YouTube and TikTok, announced: "I have no idea what is in Sheffield, frankly no one talks about it. I can barely find videos about it."

Eager to find out for himself, he made a trip to South Yorkshire and hilariously documented his entire experience.

During a video filmed at Pieminister, Ariel made a huge no-no – dubbing Hendo’s with the W-word.

After dousing his pie and mash in gravy, he is then filmed reaching for the famed orange-labelled bottle and tells the camera: "In America, we call this Worcestershire sauce.”

But viewers were quick to point out his criminal mistake.

One fan wrote: "From Sheffield here, never ever compare our beloved Henderson's relish to Wostershire (sic) sauce. It's like a crime."

Another went so far as to say: "You can't call Hendersons the W word while in Sheffield," before warning there could "be violence."

While violence is never the way, any good Sheffielder will know a splash of Hendo’s can be the difference between a good and a great pie.