Lands End Pasty Company can be found in Dinkytown, down an alley below an awning that reads “Dinkydale.” If that sentence doesn’t make sense to you, it’s located near the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis. But you still need to find that awning before you can get these pasties.

The shop opened in 2014 after the owner got the idea from visiting his friend in Cornwall and enjoying the many variations. A few pasties later and Lands End was established, bringing the Cornish trend to Minnesota. Outside of the traditional pasty, they also have a few varieties with steak and blue cheese, and chicken, mushroom and bacon being local favorites. To help the Gophers on their way to class, they update their flavors daily on Facebook and Twitter.

For the pasty in review, I heated it in my oven since they were out of traditionals at the time visited (someone before me ordered a boat load).

Their pasties look Cornish with the crimping almost perfect. However, the main problem I found throughout this pasty was that it lacked salt. I wanted a little more flavor everywhere, whether in the crust or the insides. The crust had a nice flake, yet tasted just like a piecrust and lacked lard.

The pasty probably passed the meat-veggie ratio test, but I had a lot of bites that were simply rutabaga and potato. Sure, I love rutabaga in pasties, but I’d rather get an extra bite of steak.

Traditional

Steak and Blue Cheese

If they threw a few more pinches of salt into the mix, I think it’d be close. Until then, this was a good pasty, but lacked that added punch to help me enjoy it a little more. Either way, I now think every college should have a local pasty shop.

Taste: 3 (out of 5)
Crust: 3.5 (out of 5)
Pasty Presentation: 3.5 (out of 5)
The Shop: 3 (out of 3)
Would I come back for Pasties?: 1.5 (out of 2)

Total Pasty Rating: 14.5 (of 20 points)

(Reviewed Spring 2019)