In form, these are identical to the Chicken Balti Pies, which were based on this product.
The first smell I got upon cutting open one of these pies fresh from the oven was onion, followed by beer. This was not a felicitous start, as I hate onions and don't drink beer. Fortunately, the prominence of those smells was not matched in flavor, as I could barely taste either component.
The contents are much like any beef pot pie, other than the ale. There are no surprises here; what you see is what you get.
Will I buy it again?
No. My consumption of beef is down around once a month. That's not a self-imposed strict limitation or anything, just the practical result of making a bunch of grocery-store and restaurant decisions differently than I did a few years ago. If I were going to treat myself to one beef-based product from Trader Joe's, it would be the Shepherd's Pie, not this. In fact, even though I wasn't a big fan of the Chicken Balti Pies, if I had to buy and eat either those or these steak and ale pies, I'd go with the balti--first because they were at least modestly interesting and different from standard American fare, and second because chicken is less problematic than beef on a whole lot of parameters.
That has to qualify as one of the Worst Food Pictures of all time. Looks like the pie just barfed itself.
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