We tried the Bristol pub pizza that’s been shortlisted for a national award

When The All Inn opened in May, not everybody in Fishponds was celebrating the fact their local pub had a new name and a fresh look.

Dating back to 1853 when it was a hotel, this landmark building on Staple Hill Road was The Cross Hands until earlier this year when it closed.

It was bought by Oxfordshire company Dodo Pub Co, which has six other pubs, although this is their first Bristol site.

When the new owners announced they were changing the name to The All Inn, a few regulars made their views known in no uncertain terms. In fact, 856 people signed a petition to keep the old name.

Five months since the doors of The All Inn opened, and the dust seems to have settled, although the chap behind the bar when I visited told me that it has taken a while for people to work out what the place is.

‘I think a lot of people think we’re a restaurant rather than a pub,’ he said, pouring my pint of Bristol Beer Factory Fortitude.

With its quirky and colourful design, The All Inn certainly looks different and on the lunchtime I was there, it was mostly families with young children ordering food rather than drinkers.

But then the food at The All Inn is already gaining something of a reputation in Bristol, especially the burgers and wings.

And then there’s the Dodo pizzas, which was why I was at The All Inn on this occasion. I wanted to try the pizza that’s just been shortlisted for a national award.

It’s not the only Bristol venue with a pizza nominated for the National Pizza Awards. Pizzarova has been shortlisted for its courgette, goat’s cheese, jalapeño jam and garlic oil pizza, and Zerodegrees has been nominated for its ‘Cinghiale’ (wild boar salami, fior di latte, nduja, roquito peppers, parmesan, fresh chilli, basil and tomato sauce).

The National Pizza Awards feature pizzas from chefs from across the pub, restaurant and street food sectors in a bid to be crowned best in the UK.

Finalists will take part in a live cooking showdown to be in with a chance of winning the top National Pizza of the Year title.

Entrants will also be tasked with a technical challenge that will see them whip up the best dish from a specific selection of sponsor ingredients, with the winner claiming the coveted Pizza Chef of the Year crown. The final takes place in London on November 21.

There are nine pizzas on the menu at The All Inn, ranging from the ‘Simply Red’ (tomato, garlic, olives, oregano and basil) at £9.50 to the ‘Truffle Funghi’ (a white pizza without tomato topped with mozzarella, mushrooms, parmesan, truffle oil and basil) at £14.50.

The Dodo Pub Co. pizza nominated in the awards, however, is the ‘Sloppy Napoli’ (£14.50), topped with tomato, mozzarella, beef ragu, pepper flakes, Parmesan and basil.

The pizza arrived within ten minutes of ordering it, which was impressive considering the kitchen had quite a few orders at the time.

It was pleasingly blistered and leopard spot-like on the puffed up edges and the pizza base was soft, chewy and slightly sweet. Apparently the dough is allowed to rise slowly for at least 48 hours before being blasted in the wood-fired oven at 500C.

To be honest, the stringy blobs of mozzarella looked a little odd at first, being slightly hard rather than bubbling. They had the appearance of discarded chewing gum but tasted fine.

There were blobs of rich beef ragu and strong-tasting basil leaves packed quite a herby punch.

Combined with the light and soft base, these powerful flavours worked really well and the end result was a pizza with layers of flavour and real depth.

Whether it’s good enough to win the national award, who knows, but it was certainly one of the most enjoyable pizzas I’ve had in Bristol for a long time and it deserves all the recognition it’s getting.

The All Inn, 1 Staple Hill Road, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 5AA.