Pi Shop in Bristol, City of

Having left Casamia we were escorted to The Shop and ordered the tasting menu and some great wine. We were lucky to have exceptional service from everyone and this was matched by food that was not what we were expecting. Each tasting bettered the last. The bread that started the meal had a great aroma and the taste was, for us, stunning. A Pollock app was surprisingly tasty and called for more. Topping the meal was a fantastic bottle of red wine. The restaurant is not large and we sat with a view of the pizza oven that produced a great pizza. Thanks to all for a wonderful time. I apologize for not remembering our servers name as she was great and helped make the evening.

Formerly known as Pi Shop, this has been relaunched after a spell of closure and now seems to be just The Shop. Whereas before the menu was predominantly pizza, now it’s more “small plates” as they call it, although the prominent pizza oven is still there and there was a choice of four available. Staff were all pleasant, helpful and friendly, and when asking about the rather unusual wines (just four white and four red were available) we were offered a couple of samples to try. The food menu too is fairly concise, and the simplest thing seemed to be to go for the tasting menu (or “The Shop’s Pick”) which consisted of the majority, but not all, of the available options. The menu description certainly didn’t do the dishes justice, but they waitress was happy to talk through things. First up was “Cheese & Pickle”, and this was really quite exceptional. Think Welsh Rarebit and you won’t be too far off the mark, although it wasn’t on toast, I’m not quite sure what the base was. But it was very, very, tasty. The Cod with Mussels & Whey was another highlight, a beautifully cooked morsel of fish atop a mussel or two in a rich and creamy sauce with vibrant green dill oil around the edge. My only criticism which be the “Things on Bread” course which was a choice of four pizzas. We went for the Sloppy something, I can’t remember exactly what it was called, but unlike the Sloppy Giuseppe made by a well know pizza chain which isn’t at all sloppy, this one certainly was, but in a good way. It was covered in a rich pork ragu which was very tasty and had plenty of grated cheese over the crust. My criticism what not the pizza itself, that was very enjoyable, but the size of it. It was really far too large since we’d already had four courses, and it really took the edge of the two desert courses which we then rather struggled through. Of the two deserts, one was described as Mr Whippy with raspberries, and it was indeed served from a Mr Whippy machine, but was obviously there only recipe being somewhat denser than the van version with a very subtle caramel taste. The raspberries had been finely chopped and frozen and had been sprinkled over the ice cream to provide a crunchy topping. It was certainly a great end to the meal. All in all, highly recommended.