Sad Face at Pie Face

I'm always up for trying restaurants that feature food from other countries. And when it's cheap, so much the better.

That's why I was excited to try Pie Face, the U.S. storefront of the Australian savory pie chain. The restaurant is near Times Square, which made it a convenient spot to stop at after a visit to Central Park.

Pie Face, however, wasn't all that it was cracked up to be.

• Strike 1: No seating. Didn't expect that.

• Strike 2: Several of the flavors were sold out.

• Strike 3: It just wasn't that tasty.

Paul said his steak pie was good but messy. The pies are meant to be finger foods, but a good chunk of his filling came out into its cardboard container as he was eating it. And they didn't pack forks in our bag.

I chose two mini pies -- a tandoori vegetable that wasn't bad, and a mince beef that was. Admittedly, I think I was turned off more by the look than the taste -- the appearance reminded me of uncooked hamburger. Paul finished it.

Cute ...

... but not very good.

Needless to say, we were both still hungry after this escapade, so we walked to nearby Junior's and got an order of onion rings and a slice of chocolate mousse cheesecake to go and found a place to sit in Bryant Park. Much more satisfying.