Restaurants / Reviews
Pi Shop: ‘No plate is anything less than fantastic’ – restaurant review
Pi Shop 2.0 is the newest alter ego of the pizzeria opened under the same name by the Sanchez-Iglesias family in 2016.
Having experienced a somewhat chequered history, unexpectedly closing in 2018 before reopening to do takeaways during the first lockdown, Pi Shop has now once again burst from its chrysalis.
This time it offers a selection of Italian small plates, alongside a little of something dirtier and messier, more carnal even – their now well-established fair of sourdough-based pizza, dusted in a smattering of well-aged gouda.
The menu, which our waiter proudly declares to be “the best of both worlds”, is exciting, fresh and elegant without transitioning on flashy.
You won’t be able to pick up a pizza much under £20, with oysters at £5 each and small plates sitting at around the £11 mark.
Recommended for those bordering on adventurous, or maybe better described as indecisive, the ‘shop’s pick’ is a selection of small plates, pizza and a touch of something sweet, which costs £90 shared between two.
It’s a tasting menu without the ostentatious label, allowing your experience to remain relaxed without losing its polished element of suave.
Beef, tare, ramson
The cocktails are fun, the wine list is eclectic and even the water decanters are screaming cool without trying too hard.
One at a time, the plates roll out from the kitchen, as a team of animated and friendly front of house staff describe each element of every course in expert detail.
From confit egg yolk to tomatoes bathed in their own jus, the ingredients are described with energetic confidence and familiarity.
No plate is anything less than fantastic. The flavour combinations are classic and unintimidating, yet nothing to yawn at; while the small plates all pack a big punch, like tiny bundles of firework wrapped in a blanket of something warm and molten.
Spiced spork, tomato, lime, pickle and vintage gouda pizza
Chicken & corn
Stracietella, nectarine, cider
There does, however, seem to be a slight inconsistency in scale. The shop’s pick begins with dainty morsels, snippets and samples, yet in the middle comes an ever-so-slightly heavily set spiced pork pizza, dropping a spanner into the works.
My mindset was forced to adjust quickly from savouring every mouthful to considering how to get my mouth round one at all.
Yet perhaps this is part of the experience. After all, one can’t have the best of both worlds without sampling the contradictions of both.
Pi Shop 2.0 is romantic and intimate while remaining mellow and slightly rustic.
The food is glorious, yet never overtly flamboyant. The Sanchez-Iglesias family have pretty much nailed approachable yet accomplished dining – a precocious and sociable younger sibling sandwiched between Casamia and Paco Tapas.
PiShop, Lower Guinea Street, Redcliffe, Bristol, BS1 6FU
www.exploretock.com/pishop
All photos by Robin Connolly
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