How Eel Pie Became A Vintage British Favorite Then Suddenly Disappeared

While fish and chips remain a quintessentially British meal, eel pie was once the country's go-to fast food dish. Eel is still common fish used in sushi, but eel pie is almost unheard of. In its classic form, the pie included bite sized chunks of freshwater eel cooked with sherry, parsley, nutmeg, cream, and hard boiled eggs (some recipes called for mushroom). The mixture was baked in puff pastry and served alongside mashed potatoes and a sauce made from the water used to boil the eel. It may sound odd to modern diners, but the flavor has been described as rich and meaty.

Eel pies have been popular since at least the 16th century, especially in London, and even King Henry VIII is said to have indulged in them. For centuries, this slimy, snake-like fish thrived in the Thames River, which runs through the British capital. London grew rapidly during the 1800s, and eel pie became a common street food as eels were a cheap, abundant source of protein. By the mid-19th century, brick-and-mortar pie and mash shops that sold the delicacy proliferated and began to replace street vendors, eventually numbering around 300 in London alone. Only about 40 pie and mash shops remain and as of November 2025, none serve eel pie.

Though the rise of eel pie took centuries, its decline was swift. Minced beef began replacing eel as the preferred pie filling, and while many pie shops continued to serve stewed or jellied eel as a side dish, eel pie was already falling out of favor by the 1930s. As early as 1936, British food writer Ambrose Heath lamented the dearth of restaurants specializing in this traditional dish. "Eel-pie shops are few and far between and jellied eels are almost a rarity," he griped in The Guardian newspaper.

And it's only gotten worse. While changing tastes played a role in the dish's disappearance, there's also been a massive decline of eels in the Thames and other English rivers. Since the 1970s, eel populations are down 90%, mostly due to overfishing, pollution, and habitat destruction. London pie and mash shops that serve eel now must look further afield to source the fish, with some restaurants now getting their fish from Northern Ireland. If you have an adventurous palate and you find yourself in London wondering what to eat, you can't get eel pie, but you can seek out one of the remaining pie and mash shops that offer a side of jellied eel.