The king of New Zealand pie makers, Tauranga's Patrick Lam, has won his sixth Bakels New Zealand Supreme Pie Award.

The accolade for Lam's roast pork and creamy mushroom pie means Lam has won more supreme awards than any other competitor nationwide in the competition's 22-year history.

The win was announced at a gala dinner in Auckland tonight .

Lam owns Patrick's Pies Cafe and Bakery in Bethlehem and Gold Star Bakery on Old Taupo Rd in Rotorua and has regularly featured in the awards since winning his first supreme best pie title in 2003 for a mince and cheese entry.

He won the supreme award again in 2004 and 2009, with his creamy bacon, mushroom and cheese pie. In 2010 and 2016, his bacon and egg pie took out the top award.

As well as winning the supreme award, Lam's roast pork and creamy mushroom pie also won the gourmet meat category.

Lam said he was blown away when his name was read out as the supreme award winner for the sixth time.

"I feel so exciting and happy because the roast pork mushroom had a silver last year and this year we have a gold and win a supreme award," he said.

Mushroom isn't a common ingredient in pie, but Lam said it works really well with other ingredients like cheese, bacon or pork.

Pie's from Lam's store go from anywhere between $4.80 and $5.20.

Lam received a cheque for $7500 and a trophy, plus $1000 for each of the three gold awards he won in the bacon and egg, gourmet meat, and chicken and vegetable sections.

NZ Bakels managing director Brent Kersel said Lam had made pie-making history.

"It's a huge achievement. In the 22 years of the Bakels New Zealand Pie Awards, Patrick has won the most supreme awards, and he deserves every single one of them.

"As the 2018 Supreme Pie Award winner, there's a lot that I can say about Patrick. Dedication, consistency, passion. He has come back year after year, and he just keeps on getting better and better.

"He doesn't do it just to win the awards. If you go into his business you'll see the number of people who come into his shop for the quality of his pies," Kersel said.

Lam's supreme pie went up against 5491 other pies at judging in Auckland on July 26 and had to beat 275 other gourmet meat category entries through rigorous quality-control tests before even being tasted.

Lam was unaware he had won the award when this story went to print tonight and was unable to comment.

Other Bay winners were Geemun Chao from Baker Bobs Bakery Cafe, who won gold in the mince and cheese section, and Kerry Orchard from Tauranga's Gourmet Foods Ltd, who won bronze in the commercial/wholesale category.

Taste testing the best pie in New Zealand

Bay of Plenty Times reporters took the opportunity to taste the winning pie earlier today to see just how good the best pie in New Zealand really is, writes Kiri Gillespie.

There's usually no shortage of reporters wanting to taste food, and sure enough, we got three willing - John Cousins, Peter Williams and myself.

Our colleague who went to Patrick's Pies Cafe in Bethlehem to collect them had to wait for a new batch to be baked because the store had already sold out -- and the news hadn't even been announced yet.

Soon enough, the soft, savoury smell of pie pastry wafted through the newsroom and flakes of golden pastry soon fell onto plates as the three of us began the serious job of finding out why this pie was such a winner.

Immediately, the dense filling of tender roast pork encased by creamy mushrooms, cheese and a smattering of caramelised onions within pastry showed this pie meant business. The filling was generous hunks of meat and slices of mushrooms winking at you. (Did I mention I really like mushrooms?)

Then you notice the flavour. Firstly, the tender pork complemented by a strong creamy mushroom taste. After a few seconds, you notice the sweetness of caramelised onions knitting the pie's flavour together right there on your palate.

This is, in my view, a pie to take your time with and really enjoy. (Did I mention I really like pies?)

Cousins said the pie had great consistency, genuinely large chunks of meat "and I thought it was a good combination of flavours".

"It's definitely not a scoffing pie; it's a gourmet pie," he said.

Cousins said the pie, albeit a savoury pie, had a sweet undertone.

Williams remarked on the light pastry and generous filling. He also said the pie had a good flavour

We rated the pie a solid 9.5, 9 and 9.5 out of 10.

We probably ate the pie in just as many seconds. It was delicious.

FULL LIST OF WINNERS:

MINCE & GRAVY:

Gold Award: Lee Ing - Fast & Fresh Bakery Taupō 
Silver Award: Bunarith Sao- Dairy Flat Bakery Ltd - Dairy Flat
Bronze Award: Patrick Lam- Patrick Pies Cafe and Bakery- Tauranga 
Highly Commended: Shuly Ngann -Le Royal Bakery- Auckland

STEAK (DICED) & GRAVY:
Gold Award: Vong Hean- Mairangi Bay Bakery- Auckland
Silver Award: Sopanharith Chea- Angkor Wat Kiwi Bakery & Café Shop- Waipukurau 
Bronze Award: Patrick Lam- Patrick Pies Cafe and Bakery- Tauranga 
Highly Commended: Kim Hour Chheur - Angkor Wat Kiwi Bakery- Napier

CHICKEN & VEGETABLE:
Gold Award: Patrick Lam- Patrick Pies Cafe and Bakery- Tauranga 
Silver Award: Michael Gray- Nada Bakery- Wellington
Bronze Award: Jason Hay- Richoux Patisserie Takapuna -Takapuna
Highly Commended: Jason Danielson- The Wholesale Bakery- Wanaka

GOURMET FRUIT:

Gold Award: (Frangipan custard strawberry apple peaches) - John Thomsen -Copenhagen Bakery- Christchurch 
Silver Award: (Peach and Passion Fruit) -Thomas Thomas- New World Kapiti-Paraparaumu 
Bronze Award: (Strawberry Blueberry and Apple) - Ratanak Nov- Corner Bakery- Auckland 
Highly Commended: (Spiced Apple & Blackberry)- Buntha Meng- Wild Grain Bakery-Silverdale

GOURMET MEAT:
Gold Award: (Roast Pork & creamy mushroom) - Patrick Lam- Patrick Pies Cafe and Bakery- Tauranga 
Silver Award: (Braised peppered lamb shanks with kumara mash) -Vong Hean -Mairangi Bay Bakery- Auckland 
Bronze Award:- (Butter Chicken) -Mab Chheur- Angkor Wat Kiwi Bakery & Cafe-Napier 
Highly Commended: (Steak, bacon & cheese)- Lee Ing- Fast and Fresh Bakery- Taupō

VEGETARIAN:
Gold Award: (White sauce, spinach, mushroom, corn & feta) - Savancham Nap (Nap) LyTarget Bakehouse & Cafe- Pukekohe 
Silver Award: (Broccoli, capsicum with a creamy sauce) - Mab Chheur- Angkor Wat Kiwi Bakery & Cafe- Napier 
Bronze Award: (Stir-fried vegetable with a cream sauce)- Patrick Lam- Patrick Pies Cafe and Bakery- Tauranga 
Highly Commended: (Carrot, spinach, onion, peas, sweetcorn, mash potato, creamy mushroom) - Jason Hay- Richoux Patisserie Takapuna -Takapuna

BACON & EGG:
Gold Award: Patrick Lam- Patrick Pies Cafe and Bakery- Tauranga 
Silver Award: Jason Hay- Richoux Patisserie Takapuna -Takapuna
Bronze Award: Bunarith Sao- Dairy Flat Bakery Ltd - Dairy Flat
Highly Commended: Sokdy Heng -Pak n Save Wairau Rd- Auckland

MINCE & CHEESE:
Gold Award: Geemun Chao- Baker Bobs Bakery Cafe- Tauranga 
Silver Award: Vichheka Lieng- Blagdon Bakery Ltd- New Plymouth 
Bronze Award: Cheth Bun- Eurobake Espresso Ltd- Kumeu 
Highly Commended: Shuly Ngann- Le Royal Bakery- Auckland

STEAK & CHEESE:
Gold Award: Buntha Meng- Wild Grain Bakery- Silverdale 
Silver Award: Ratanak Nov- Corner Bakery- Auckland
Bronze Award: Vong Hean- Mairangi Bay Bakery- Auckland 
Highly Commended: Patrick Lam- Patrick Pies Cafe and Bakery- Tauranga

POTATO TOP:
Gold Award: Sopheap Long- Hillside Bakehouse & Cafe- Auckland
Silver Award: Jason Hay- Richoux Patisserie Takapuna -Takapuna
Bronze Award: Shuly Ngann- Le Royal Bakery- Auckland 
Highly Commended: Bunna Hout- Euro Patisserie- Auckland

COMMERCIAL/WHOLESALE
Gold Award: Akshay Trivedi- Dad's Pies- Silverdale 
Silver Award: Terrence McMahon-Couplands Bakeries- Christchurch 
Bronze Award: Kerry Orchard- Gourmet Foods Ltd- Tauranga 
Highly Commended: Jason Danielson- The Wholesale Bakery- Wanaka

CAFÉ BOUTIQUE:
Gold Award: (Five spice pork belly) - Edmund Koh- Ed's Cafe- Auckland 
Silver Award: (Free range chicken porcini) Megan Priscott- Red Kitchen- Te Awamutu
Bronze Award: (Caramelised rhubarb & wild berry) Alan Woodford- Banana Pepper- Waihi 
Highly Commended: (Bacon, chicken, leek, croquette cheese) Michael Buckman- Robert Harris Cafe- Matamata

SUPREME:

Gold Award: Gourmet Meat: Patrick Lam- Patrick Pies Cafe and Bakery- Tauranga