Aberdeen Restaurant Week - Nick Nairn's Pizza Bar: Review (Aberdeen)

I've always really enjoyed a good pizza, but it wasn't until I met my boyfriend Calum, that I truly became a real pizza fan. His favourite food, we always try and experience different homemade pizza places anywhere we go, be that Gran Canaria, Amsterdam, or Aberdeen.

So when I met Carolyn, the manager of Nick Nairn's Pizza Bar at the launch of Aberdeen Restaurant Week, it reignited my interest in the local pizza offering and I just had to get down to pay them a visit.

Heading along yesterday afternoon, I was pleasantly surprised to see how busy the restaurant was. Luckily, we manged to bag the last available table and made ourselves at home. The smells of freshly made pizza engulfed the place and I started salivating at the thought of the food.

To begin, we ordered some water for the table and Calum ordered a blood orange San Pallegrino.
We skimmed the menu, but after hearing one of the special's had black pudding on it, I was sold.

To start, we ordered the salt and pepper chicken wings. The wings were scrumptious and we demolished all eight of them.

As I brought a wing up to my nose, it was filled with the aroma of rosemary, and as I bit into it, the salt and pepper on the skin immediately captured my tastebuds attention. The crushed black pepper brought a slight spiciness to the lovely, succulent chicken, and the salt added a good seasoning to the dish. Having been cooked with fresh rosemary, there was a slight fragrance to the dish which I really enjoyed.

Cooked in baking powder, salt, and crushed pepper, the chicken wings arrived piping hot straight out of the oven and were the perfect starter. And with eight wings on our plate, the starter was very generous size. With two pizza's on their way, we were happy to have shared the starter.

I was very much looking forward to the main event, the pizza's. Handmade in the open kitchen which boasts a bar area in front of it where customers can sit and watch their pizza's get created, I patiently awaited the arrival of our freshly made pizza's.

Calum had ordered the hot Italian, and I ordered one of the special's, the black pudding with pancetta - a pizza I've been told is one of the most popular specials the restaurant has, and which may eventually make it's way on to the main menu.

The smells from the pizza's were unbelievable, and the size of them almost looked a little too challenging for me. But it wasn't until I tasted my pizza, that I knew I wouldn't be going home until it was finito.

Calum's hot Italian pizza came with spicy Nduja sausage - a sausage which has only become more popular in the UK over the past few years. The spiciness of the pizza ignited his tastebuds. A lover of spice, he was happy that a pizza that states it's spicy, actually boasted some real heat to it.

The pizza dough was light and fluffy throughout, and the crusts were lovely and crisp, bringing together the ultimate pizza base. Using Shipton Mills finest 00 flour, the dough takes 48 hours to mature and is cut into smaller chunks to ensure the chefs get that beautiful thin, doughy base.

Topped with homemade tomato sauce which is created by simmering Italian Mutti tomatoes for six hours with shallots, garlic and premium olive oil, its this, and the blend of three cheeses from Scotland and Italy that top the pizza which truly brings a marriage of Scotland and Italy together to create some of the best pizza's I've had.

My black pudding and pancetta pizza was phenomenal. Not only was the black pudding cooked perfectly and tasted incredible, the addition of the slightly chewy, salty pancetta and the herby, earthiness from the basil on top, brought an array of flavours and textures to the soft pizza. What I loved most - not forgetting the base of the pizza as a whole - was how much of the rich black pudding there was on the pizza. Every slice of pizza was covered in the stuff, and I loved it.

The pizza melted in my mouth, and unlike most pizza's I eat, I got stuck in with my hands tearing the pizza apart piece after piece. The tomato base didn't drown the pizza, and was evenly spread across the whole pizza. The cheese's were lovely and fragrant, and added a slight gooeyness to the pizza as I tore the different slices apart.

We also decided to try the homemade chilli oil on the side, dipping our pizza's into the oil and devouring them. Calum loved the kick the oil had.

The restaurant was packed, and Pizza Paul - the pizza chef - was busy in the kitchen making every pizza by hand.

Everyone was loving the pizza's and it was great to see all ages in the restaurant enjoying a simple Italian dish, which is done superbly well by the team at Nick Narin's pizza bar. There were empty plates everywhere, including my own, and it was refreshing to see so many people enjoying good food in a relaxed, chilled out environment.

Involved in AberdeenRestaurant Week, the pizza bar will be offering a three course menu for £20.18 from the 1st - 8th of February. With the salt and pepper chicken wings available as a starter, a pizza of your choice from the menu, and a choice from the dessert menu which could be anything from an orange almond cake to the Valrhona chocolate pot, it's a great opportunity for anyone who's been wanting to try out this restaurant to indulge in its brilliant offering.

All of the regular pizza's will be available on the Aberdeen Restaurant Week menu, allowing customers the chance to try any one of these delicious pizza's. With everything from a classic margherita, to garlic mushroom, to great glen Scottish salami, there's something to suit all tastes.

Located on Back Wynd, where Nick Nairn's Cook School also is, the pizza bar is ideally located in the centre of town, and is a great pitstop for anyone visiting the Belmont Cinema and is also the perfect place for some pre-theatre grub too.

So if you love pizza, and haven't yet had the opportunity to try the best pizza in town, then get yourself along to Nick Nairn's Pizza Bar.

I promise you won't leave disappointed.

   For Now...

Just Julia

Revolution Aberdeen: A slice of the action at new menu launch

It's been a while since I've indulged in a good pizza, and it seems over the past week I've been invited along to three different pizza menu launches - all of which went down rather well.

For me, eating out is all about the full experience. Great freshly cooked food, delicious drinks, a welcoming atmosphere, and a restaurant you could happily spend all day in. So, when I was invited along to try out Revolution Aberdeen's new menu, which boasts an incredible pizza offering, I was there in a flash and ended up staying much longer than anticipated - obviously.

Inviting my blogging gals along, we sat outside on the terrace on a beautiful Autumnal afternoon awaiting the arrival of our pizza's. Being a menu showcase Revolution Aberdeen had provided us with the full pizza selection (two of every pizza), showing off their new flavours and enticing our tastebuds to try something different. With six different pizza's to choose from, we immediately dived in to try them out.

First up was The Hot Italian Pizza. With pepperoni, cured ham, roquito peppers, garlic mushrooms, tomato sauce, topped with fresh mozzarella and rocket, this was the spiciest pizza on the menu. A little warm for me usually, I actually really enjoyed the pizza. Yes the roquito peppers left a warm sensation in my mouth, but the ham, mushrooms and cheese contrasted the heat, making it extremely enjoyable to consume.

I'm not a massive fan of Moroccan food or lamb, however the Lamb Baba Ganoush pizza was lovely and fragrant and was not quite what I had initially anticipated. Featuring ground lamb, baba ganoush, rose harissa, fresh mozzarella, feta, crème fraîche, coriander and pomegranate, it was surprisingly delicious. This pizza is definitely something my mum would adore - she loves lamb so this is right up her street. 

Next I delved into The Beet Goes On vegetarian pizza. Unsure to begin with due to the fact there was no meat on it at all, it was probably the most unusual tasting pizza as I'd never had artichoke puree before, which was actually pretty tasty. Topped with goat's cheese, beetroot, fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, roasted peppers, basil and parmesan, it's definitely something I would order again,

Onto the traditional margherita, as you'd expect there's not really much I can tell you about this pizza, well that is unless you've never had a margherita pizza - which I'm very doubtful of...

A tomato sauce based pizza topped with mozzarella and basil, there's not much you can really go wrong with for this pizza. The mozzarella tasted lovely and fresh, and the pizza dough was cooked beautifully.

I also tried out the Fresco pizza which was extremely more-ish. Featuring cured ham, feta, kalamanta olives (which I removed as I hate the damn things), fresh smoked mozzarella, balsamic onions (mouth-wateringly good), rocket and olive oil - this pizza offering was spot on.

Last but not least, the showstopper for me was without a doubt the Asian Satay Chicken pizza. Lathered wth dollops of the satay sauce sporadically all over the pizza, this was pizza heaven. With pulled chicken covering the pizza, homemade satay sauce, peppers, mozzarella, cucumber, spring onions, coriander and lime on top, this was my favourite pizza and one of the best I had tried in a long time. Squeezing the fresh lime onto my slice created a whole new burst of flavour, and was so good I ended up having one or two more. #sorrynotsorry

The pizza's, which launch on Wednesday 12 October, start from £7.95 and are the perfect size for sharing, or devouring solo, and with their variety of dishes there's something for everyone on the new menu. Yes the flavours of the pizzas are a little more adventurous, but I think that's what I loved about them. I'm a simple creature and smother most of my pizza's in BBQ sauce, however, found the tastes of these pizzas were perfect, and didn't need drowned in sauce. Although if there's more of that satay sauce going I am game!

Alongside the pizzas, we were also treated to a few cocktails of our choice, which obviously went down a treat too. I opted for a cherry mojito in what I can only envision as a pick n' mix sweetie bag - why else do you think I chose it - and also a Blank Canvas cocktail (vodka based) with sour berry flavour in a pipette. Anything that looks a little wacky to me, and that I can play with (be that food or drinks) is a definite for me.

The best thing about Revolution is that on Monday, you can get 50% off all food on the menu which is great. Plus, you can also save 25% seven days a week with a Revolution card - ask in the bar for more deets on this if you'd like to get your hands on one. Pizza really has never tasted so good, especially at that price!

A huge thank you to the team at Revolution Aberdeen for hosting us and for providing the pizzas and cocktails for us to try. I'll definitely be back. In fact, see you next Monday!

   For Now...

Just Julia

Shilling Brewing Co (Glasgow): Review

Glasgow is a city known for its passion, and rich history of brewing. It's a city which is innovative, forward-thinking and collaborative when it comes to its food and drink industry, and possesses a huge range of foodie establishments which offer up unique, artisan dishes.

Recently I discovered a new found love for craft beer, not my usual preferred tipple of choice, my tastebuds seem to be playing tricks on me, allowing me to indulge in some exciting new flavours. Maybe getting older isn't so bad after all...

With a passion for pizza and my tastebuds looking for their next foodie fix, it wasn't long until I'd sold in the idea to my boyfriend. After all Shilling Brewing Co is the new place-to-be on the Glasgow brewing front, and he does love pizza and beer - it was an easy sell really.

Previously an old bank, the eatery, which is located on 92 West George Street boasts its own in-house brewery, and is the first brewpub to don the city of Glasgow. It's also home to a coupla oven which all of the homemade pizzas are cooked in.

The beer of choice was the unicorn IPA. Named after Scotland's national animal, the IPA is unique in flavour and can be ordered in a pint, 2/3 pint or 1/3 of a pint. Perfect measures if you'd like to try out a few of their other beers too. In all honesty, I'm obsessed with unicorns, so it was always and only ever going to be the unicorn IPA, a good choice and very refreshing, the perfect pairing with a pizza.

 

As well as its brews, the brewery specialises in pizza and pizza alone, so if you don't like eating pizza then best stick to the beers. Actually, even if you don't like pizza, I urge you to give these bad boys a go. Legit, one of the best pizza's I've eaten in Glasgow, so much so, I'd say it's a close call between these pizza's and Paseano's pizza's for the top spot. 

I love a traditional pizza, the more toppings the better in my eyes, and if it comes lathered in BBQ sauce, then we're on to a winner. However, when you see a pizza on the menu which boasts haggis, red onion, tomato sauce, mozzarella, and chilli and Irn Bru jam (£9), you've got to try it out! The pizza was light, and left me full, not the heavy full feeling you sometimes get eating doughy foods, but the satisfied full, leaving a real positive taste in my mouth. The haggis and chilli and Irn Bru jam was phenomenal. Haggis in itself is fantastic, but that chilli and Irn Bru jam was bloody awesome, and I'd order it again, and again, and again. Haggis ft chilli and Irn Bru jam, I love you.

My boyfriend decided to keep it tradizionale (that's traditional in Italian) and ordered a pepperoni pizza featuring jalapeños, mozzarella, red chilli, tomato sauce and red peppers (£10). You can also build your own pizza, and add four different toppings for just £11, bargin. Armed with our own personal pizza cutters, we delved into the gourmet thin-crust pizza, fresh out of the coupla oven, putting those hunger pangs to bay. Better still, all of the pizza's are made using dough risen with brewers' yeast.

Mid pizza meltdown, I sneaked off to discover the rest of the brewery. I'd heard how impressive this place was, and that the tasting rooms and toilets were in what used to be the old bank safes. Did I believe anyone? No. Do I now believe them? Absolutely. It's definitely worth while going for a wonder round this place, you just never know what you might find...

Back to dinner, another great element to this feast was the crust dippers. Gone are the days you have to leave those poor, soulless crusts, hello the era of foodie heaven where crust dippers are a thing. Hello Shilling BBQ and aioli sauces, god damn they were good.

The most fantabulous part about my experience at Shilling Brewing Co (minus the food) was the fact I was seated right in front of a kick ass unicorn. Yeah I just made up a word, but they have a unicorn on the wall - AMAZING.

As a whole, the new brewpub is shit hot. The interiors are, as the kids now say "sick", and the pizza and beers are cracking. A great wee place to stop in for a pizza and beers with your pals, or a fab place for a casual date with your other half. Heck I'd even go as far as saying to take your parents and grandparents along, this place has something for everyone and really caters to all ages.

I will definitely be returning armed with a crowd of my friends to try out another pizza, and together we will sit staring longingly at that unicorn, dreaming of the day we can finally own one...as if.

So if you like great pizza and you love good craft beer, be sure to pay the brewpub a visit, you won't regret it.

For Now...

Just Julia