The Proper Crimp: A Pie-and-Cawl Route Across Ynys Môn

November is cawl weather on Ynys Môn. The sky sits low, the hedges are bare and the sea has that grey-green look that makes a bowl of lamb broth feel less like lunch and more like central heating. It is also pie weather, which is a different thing entirely. A good Welsh pie is not a pasty with ideas above its station. It is a sturdy, crimped, hand-held meal that should leave a little grease on the wrapper and a great deal of satisfaction behind.

This is a route for people who are staying at the Black Lion, or who wish they were. It starts on the island’s eastern side, takes in a butcher, a bakery and a bowl of cawl, adds a short walk to justify the second pie, and finishes back at our bar. It is not a crawl. It is a short, opinionated list with standards.

First rule: buy cold pies before you are hungry

Start at a proper butcher’s counter in Llangefni or Menai Bridge. Not a supermarket chiller cabinet. A counter where someone can tell you what is in the pie, when it was baked and whether the pastry is shortcrust or hot water crust. Lamb and leek is the classic to look for, though beef and onion or pork and apple will do nicely. Buy one cold pie for later. Do not eat it in the car park at nine in the morning. That is a mistake you will only make once.

The cold pie is the insurance policy. It goes in the glovebox with a bottle of water, or back to the Black Lion for a late-night snack after the bar has stopped serving. If the butcher cannot tell you when the pie was made, walk. If the pastry looks pale and flaccid, walk. If the filling is described only as ‘assorted meat’, walk faster.

The hot pie stop: Beaumaris or Menai Bridge

A hot pie at eleven in the morning is a holiday move, and this is a holiday route. Head for a bakery counter in Beaumaris or Menai Bridge where the tray of pies looks depleted. A depleted tray is a good sign. It means other people have already made the decision for you.

Order a plain beef or lamb pie. Not one loaded with cheese, chilli or whatever else is fashionable this month. Look for a proper crimp, a shortcrust that holds its shape and a filling that does not erupt like a small volcano on the first bite. If the pie arrives in a ceramic dish with a pastry lid, that is a stew with a hat on. Fine, but not what we are doing today. Eat it standing up, or on a bench with a view of the Menai Strait if the weather is behaving. This is the first proper course of the day.

Cawl is a lunch, not a side

Drive west. Cawl should be lamb or bacon, root vegetables, leek and perhaps a little barley. It should be served with bread and cheese, and it should taste like it has been made by someone who knows what a cold afternoon feels like. A cafe near Newborough or Aberffraw is the sort of place to aim for. Order a bowl, not a cup. Add the cheese. Do not add chips. Cawl is not a side dish and it is not a soup of the day. If the menu says ‘cawl-style soup’, keep driving.

Good cawl often improves overnight, which is one reason it suits a pub with rooms. A bowl at lunch is a warm base for the afternoon. A bowl at the Black Lion in the evening is a different pleasure altogether. Either way, the bread matters. So does the cheese. A mean wedge of cheddar and a slice of buttered brown bread will tell you more about a kitchen than any chalkboard slogan.

The walk that earns the second pie

After cawl, walk. Not a marathon. Forty minutes to an hour is enough. Newborough forest and beach, the dunes at Aberffraw or the coast path near Rhosneigr all do the job. The point is not to burn off calories. The point is to make room, clear your head and remember that Anglesey is not just a series of car parks. Check the tide before you commit to a beach leg. In November, the light goes early and the sand goes soft.

This is also the part of the day where the Black Lion starts to feel like the correct destination rather than just a convenient one. A pub with rooms at the end of a savoury route is not a gimmick. It is logistics. You do not have to choose between the pint and the drive home. You do not have to leave the pie trail early. You can have the second pie, the pint and the bed.

Why the Black Lion gets the last bite

Back at the Black Lion, order the pie. A proper one, with pastry all the way round and a filling that holds together under a fork. Ask for pickle. Have a pint of something local if you are staying, or a low-alcohol option if you are not. Sit near the fire if the night is clear and cold. This is the finish line because a pub with rooms is the right end to a day built on pastry and broth. The bed is part of the route. So is breakfast.

The route at a glance

• Morning: butcher’s counter in Llangefni or Menai Bridge for a cold pie to take away.
• Late morning: hot pie and coffee in Beaumaris or Menai Bridge.
• Lunch: cawl with bread and cheese near Newborough or Aberffraw.
• Afternoon: short coastal walk, tide checked, boots on.
• Evening: pie, pint and a room at the Black Lion.

Do it in one day if you are organised. Split it over two if you are not. Book the room before you set off, because the best part of any pie trail is not having to drive home afterwards.