Pie-rates of the Sweeney & Todd
Johnny Depp and Reading’s Sweeney & Todd pie restaurant on Castle Street. what’s the connection? Give up? Ok, Johnny Depp is to star in a Tim Burton movie of the Sweeney Todd story, upon which the restaurant theme is based. Mr Depp has also played a pirate, and a pirate is what I saw when I went to Sweeney’s on Tuesday night. Read on.
Sweeney & Todd’s is a rather special place. Indeed, a local institution. The variety of home-made pies boggles the mind and they are inexpensively priced. A charming little bar offers a number of different cask ales.
Sitting with three others, I munched my way through a pie containing guinea fowl and something else (I knew I should have brought pen and paper), with new potatoes, though I could have had steak and oyster, hare and cherry, or goose and gooseberry, for example. The pie was a little small for my liking (my friend sensibly ordered two), but was pretty good.
A girl ordering drinks at the bar diverted my attention. There was something a little strange about her. I looked closer. Ah yes, she was a bearded lady. Or to be exact, a bearded girl.
As she walked by the table with her tray of drinks, I did the right thing and asked if I could take her picture. Yes, she said, with a smile. Beard Girl then revealed why she had facial hair (which, by the way, wasn’t real, but a pretend goatee stuck to her chin Captain Pugwash-style). She was a pirate, she explained, named Isabel. She leant closer to me. Want to hear a pirate joke? I nodded with excitement. Where do pirates do their shopping? Somewhat unimaginatively I suggested the pirates’ supermarket. Wisely, Isabel ignored my answer and said “Aaarr-gos”.
Oh, by the way, Sweeney & Todd’s is located next to Castle Street Barber Shop.