Interesting experience, this one. It might take a little while to explain so bear with me.

I’d like to draw your attention to the published filling contents: Chicken, stuffing, bacon, sage sauce, cranberry, and red onion.

Normally if you imagine those ingredients in a single serving (NOT as the filling between two slabs of pastry) you’re thinking of a Christmas dinner or a lavish Sunday roast. Two different kinds of meat, different trimmings, sauce. It’s basically a pleasant experience. I mean, somewhere at the back of your mind you’re questioning the lack of potatos/parsnips/veg/swede/other starch, but you’re essentially imagining a feast for the senses. Just imagine what that combination would smell like coming from your kitchen. Mmm.

But even with all that the flavour of this pastry is simply meat and cranberry. In all honesty they could have taken out the bacon, sage sauce, and red onion because you just can’t taste it. All I got from this one was the taste of “meat”, stuffing, and something sweet. That and pastry.

What’s difficult to explain is that none of that really matters. The chicken/stuffing/cranberry taste is really nice. The proteiny taste is well complimented by the cranberry and the snack itself is very filling. While I still think there’s way too much stuff in it I think it’s probably the best pastry Greggs are currently selling.

One more thing. A while ago I wondered about what exactly the difference would be between a Greggs “bake” and a Greggs “lattice”. I didn’t really know what could distinguish the two because there was never a clear definition. It therefore falls to me to make my own distinction. The Steak Bake is by definition the archetypical “bake” (alpha-bake, if you will). The Chilli Steak Lattice can be our alpha-lattice.

I hereby declare the difference between a “lattice” and a “bake” to be the level of complexity in the pastry decorations. A bake has no complex arrangements. It is what it is. A lattice has a more elaborate pattern. It’s the only difference. It is for this reason that I consider the Festive Bake more of a lattice. I really think Greggs missed a trick here. We all think we know what to expect from a bake. Imagine the droves of hungry snackers eager to see what delights are on offer from a lattice.

Verdict: Damn fine.