When it comes to Fire & Brew, what you see (in their name) is what you get: handmade woodfired pizzas, and a drinks menu starring all the very best local beer and cider. I’ve got a lot of respect for a place that sticks to doing one thing well – and Fire & Brew have got their offering nailed. A few weeks ago, they invited me up to check out their newly revamped pizza menu, and on a rainy Saturday evening (the perfect time to tuck yourself away somewhere cosy and dig into an enormous pizza) we did just that.
Fire & Brew is a chilled-out, friendly little place, with cosy shabby-chic décor – mismatched furniture, dangling filament bulbs, reclaimed wood – and a warm, welcoming atmosphere. It’s not just a vibe either, everyone is genuinely welcome – this place has a great children’s menu, is dog-friendly, caters for vegans and will make you a gluten-free pizza base too. There are booths big enough to pack the family into (on a Saturday night it was buzzing with families of all ages) and tables small enough for date night, as well as stools along the well-stocked bar for anyone who just fancies a beer. And the air is filled with fabulous, mouth-watering smells from the tiny open kitchen, where the pizza magic happens.
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| A pint of Werrrd! at the bar |
Stomachs already rumbling, we started by perusing the drinks menu, which is a serious proposition: featuring all the very best local brewers, with cans, bottles and draft, and constantly changing to make the most of seasonal specials and new releases. My dining companion went for a pint of Electric Bear’s Werrrd!, one of our favourite local beers, whilst I couldn’t resist a bottle of Honey’s Stoney Bonk – if you haven’t tried it, it’s a fabulous tastebud-boggling combination of cider and ginger beer, best served icy cold and the perfect summer thirst quencher.
Drinks in hand, we got stuck into some great starters, a garlic pizza bread sprinkled with melted cheese and fresh parsley, and a ball of mozzarella wrapped in crispy parma ham and served with a fresh green salad dressed in balsamic vinegar. The base for the garlic bread was paper-thin, gorgeously savoury and chewy – exactly as a really good pizza base should be – and generously topped with golden garlic butter and mozzarella, absolutely the perfect partner for a really cold beer. The salad, meanwhile, was simple but delicious, packed with great fresh ingredients.
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| The Oldfield |
Next up, it was time to try the main attraction. All the pizzas on the menu feature fabulous Bath ingredients and local connections, and we picked the Moorland (top image – chorizo, pepperoni, fresh chilli) and the Oldfield (chicken, mushrooms, peppers and rocket) – which earned an approving nod from our waiter. The Moorland is the kind of pizza I’d usually choose, and it was delicious – loaded up with melted cheese and spicy meats – but I was surprised to find that the Oldfield was my favourite. I’d usually steer clear of chicken on pizza as it can often get a bit dry, but on the Oldfield, it was gorgeously juicy and succulent, perfect with fat mushrooms and sweet peppers – I’d definitely order this one again. The base was just as good as it was for the garlic bread – I always say that the way I judge pizza is by whether the base is good enough to eat on its own, and this most certainly was. A million miles away from the thick and doughy base you get on a supermarket pizza, the proper stuff is thin and chewy and fabulously flavourful.
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| Chocolate brownie with fabulous Jude’s Ice Cream |
Having stuffed ourselves with pizza (it was too good to leave a single bite) we were only up to sharing a dessert between two of us, but just about managed to find room for a warm chocolate brownie, served with two scoops of Jude’s Ice Cream, Salted Caramel and Truly Chocolate – yum.
Whether you’re meeting up with friends for a beer and pizza feast, getting the family together round the table, or you just fancy heading out for some seriously good comfort food, I highly recommend you hit Fire & Brew. The menu is simple but properly excellent, the staff are lovely, and the prices are a total bargain too, with none of the pizzas costing more than a tenner. This is definitely going to become one of our regular favourites – so we’ll see you there.
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