Best Mince Pie in Wimbledon
Our handpicked judges taste test eight festive pastries to select the best mince pie in Wimbledon
We love a mince pie in the Time & Leisure office. Our team are dedicated to sampling a wide variety every year, in search of the ultimate Christmas treat. This year, we brought together a distinguished panel of judges to join us in tasting the fine array of mince pies available at the best cafes and bakeries in Wimbledon Town Centre.
The mince pie entries
We partnered with our friends at Love Wimbledon who organised a festive selection of mince pies from around the town centre. Centre Court shopping centre laid out a sumptuous Christmas feast for the judging to take place at Queens Rd Market. The judges chose their favourite hot beverage of choice and got down to the serious business of taste testing.
Soggy Bottoms
Channelling their inner Prue Leith, the judges gave points for the different categories. Marks were given for appearance, pastry, filling flavour, the ratio of filling to pastry, X factor and, in the words of Bake Off presenter Mary Berry, whether it had a ‘soggy bottom’. We’re pleased to report, none suffered from soggy bottoms.
The Judges
The Love Wimbledon team and Time & Leisure joined forces with Centre Court Shopping Centre and invited special guest judge Nick Parr from New Wimbledon Theatre and Brendan Dean from Ashworth Solicitors. The judges commented on the quality and artistry of the mince pies, festively displayed for the tasting. There was a huge variety of Christmas flavours, pastry texture and presentation – stars proved very popular and added to the hand crafted look.
And the winners are….
The Best Mince Pie in Wimbledon
Best overall: Costa with special mentions to Leon and Patisserie Valerie
Runners-up Leon and Patisserie Valerie
Best pastry to filling ratio: Pret A Manger
Best appearance: Elys restaurant
Best gluten-free: Health Zone
Entries:
Costa, Digbys, Elys, Health Zone, Leon, Luma Café, Patisserie Valerie, Pret A Manger
Thank all the businesses for their tasty submissions and the judges who took part. Please Note: this is not an exhaustive list of where you can buy mince pies in Wimbledon Town Centre.