If you are not in a hurry to get home on a Friday night after a long working week, why not spend an evening eating delicious food? And if you are after some comfort food that is not necessarily “healthy”(go on, you deserve to spoil yourself once in a while!), how about washing some pizza or mac ‘n’ cheese down with a pint of something hoppy or fruity, while listening to some upbeat music and the happy chattering of your fellow City workers all around you?
This is exactly what me and hubby decided we wanted to do this Friday – go somewhere new and exciting and stuff ourselves with pizza. After almost a month of tracking Weight Watchers’ Smart Points, with much success I must admit, I was craving some comforting but naughty food, so visiting Tank & Paddle was just a perfect option for us. I remembered seeing the mouthwatering East London Girl’s Instagram picture of Mac and Cheese at Tank & Paddle and without much hesitation we headed to Minster Court.
Tucked away from the rush hour traffic of Fenchurch Street, Minster Court houses several eateries under its glass roof. This is what I love about London – it has so many of these unusual, quirky structures – be it buildings, or art installations, or, even, the combination of the two. I will never get tired of finding these! And would you ever expect to find a buzzing upbeat pizzeria/bar right around the corner of this neo-Gothic beauty?
Minster Court – a beautiful neo-Gothic building
Just around the corner along Dunster Court is the entrance to the atrium of Minster Court – Tank & Paddle is on the right hand side. As we approached the entrance we noticed loads of people were already celebrating the end of their working week, and they clearly had a good time!
City workers are enjoying their Friday night at Tank & Paddle
It was only about 5.30pm when we got to the bar and usually restaurants are not too busy as it is still quite early for diners to hit the eateries, they go drinking first. But Tank & Paddle is not just a pizzeria – as it happens, it is now known as one of the best places in the City to get good quality craft beers and ales from the local Meantime brewery, they literally have tanks-full of the stuff!
I instantly noticed the quirky light installation – a clever idea of using shiny copper pipes and a few bright lightbulbs – I love this kind of stuff! I always enjoy eating out and the interior details, the atmosphere most certainly contribute to the overall experience.
We found a table close to the open kitchen area so after we placed our order at the bar, we sat and watched the chef preparing the food. I must admit, from this angle pizzas looked much smaller than they really are!
I loved watching the Chef preparing the pizzas
When our “Meat Your Match” pizza with pepperoni, spiced beef, bacon and chicken turned up I nearly fell off my stool: it was enormous! We opted for “sharing” pizza version as we also ordered Mac ‘n’ cheese to share, but we never expected this whopper to turn up!
What a whopper! “Meat Your Match” with pepperoni, spiced beef, bacon and chicken
And what a stunner this pizza was! Crispy, airy dough, slightly charred along the edges, with flavoursome topping of delicious meats and tomato sauce. I loved the sprinkling of rosemary too as it added extra herby flavour to the pizza. I think that £15 is a complete bargain for a pizza that is this delicious and this big!
“The hot one” Mac ‘n’ cheese was really tasty too – my ultimate idea of comfort food, and, despite plenty of chilli slices in it, it was not very hot. It tasted really nice and somewhat sweet – not greasy but with plenty of silky sauce with a few pieces of pepperoni and chilli. It also was a very generous portion for the price tag of £7!
The hot one – delicious mac and cheese with pepperoni and red chilli
I was in a mood for going completely wild, so Diet Coke was just too boring for an evening like this. Despite knowing that I will use all of my daily and weekly Smart Point allowance all at once (and probably more!), I opted for some sweet cider to accompany my meal: Aspall is my favourite brand of cider and I have never tried this one before so it had to be Aspall Isabel’s Berry!
Aspall Isabels Berry cider
This cider is quite sweet, with deliciously delicate raspberry and redcurrant flavour – it is simply perfect!
We would never have finished that pizza in one go, so the waiter has kindly wrapped the leftover half in aluminium foil for us – Simon will be eating it all weekend! Hmm, he may even have a pizza overdose, if such thing is even possible. The smell of this amazing pizza did make a few of our fellow passengers on the train home feel extra hungry, I am sure.
It was such a nice evening which we thoroughly enjoyed: great food in a great buzzing place, and we will be sure to come back again soon. If you are looking for a great place in the City to spend an evening out with friends I would suggest you try Tank &Paddle! Remember, though, if you order the Sharer pizza, you will get a whopper of a pizza, so bring a minimum of three friends along with you. I have warned you!
