The last time we were in Bath there was a tiny little restaurant which had people queueing out of its doors; there wasn’t a hope of getting in. This time however The Real Italian Pizza Company had a few spare tables that we were grateful to sit at and get out of the rain.
The menu is unsurprisingly dominated by pizzas; without tomato, without cheese, with whatever you want. If you don’t fancy a pizza, there are a few other options but I would wonder why you would be in this restaurant if you didn’t want pizza.
After being very tempted by a white pizza I chose the Ortolana and Ciabatta and olives to start. As my previous reviews state bread, oil and balsamic is one of my favourite things. The above came to the table; warm crusty bread and a generous serving of oil and vinegar. I dunked the bread into the liquids and consumed it with relish only to be bitterly disappointed. It was not balsamic vinegar but balsamic syrup. This was not the bitter, sharp vinegar/bread/oil combination I expect. Why would anyone think balsamic syrup is a suitable replacement for balsamic vinegar? We spent the starter skirting around the pool of sickly sweet misfortune desperately trying only to get oil on the bread.
The olives were nondescript olives; exceptionally large and juicy but the green ones were far too briny to be pleasant. Fortunately it was mostly black ones in the bowl.
We had ordered a bottle of sparkling water to share which was remarkably small. After all the brine and in expectancy of our pizzas we ordered another. The pizzas came; not too big and not too small. I was impressed with the generosity of the toppings. Chain pizza restaurants put toppings on pizzas based on price and a picture on the wall. I got the impression that the pizzas made here had toppings added until it looked good. The crust was brilliantly golden brown; just how I like it. The tomato sauce had the right level of sweetness, herbs and very slight tartness. The cheese was excellently placed such that you got a bit with every mouthful. A little sprinkling of oregano would have improved this pizza but as it was I was pretty happy.
The prices were fairly reasonable; between £8 and £10 for a pizza, £4 for the bread and £2 for the olives. What I thought was overpriced was the water. We spent pretty much £6 on two bottles of sparkling water. I wouldn’t mind if they were big bottles but they weren’t; they were 500ml. One glass each.
The restaurant was pretty much full by the time we left and I understand why; there’s a pizza for everyone. If you’re in Bath, you like pizza and you can get in then give it a go.
What a lovely pizza, now I want one!
Love pizza! that bread looks good, but agree about the syrup, would just prefer a good olive oil or chilli oil to dip the crusts.
How were the bases, it’s the pizza base that makes or breaks the pizza.
Cheers
Marcus
It’s a good job the pizzas were good, since ther other things were a bit disappointing.
Don’t you wish sometimes that there was a good way to give a restaurant proper feedback on your dining experience? If everybody said they hated the Balsamic syrup then presumably they would stop using it.
I disagree on your comment that “olives are olives”. They can be very diferent. I like some but not others. I don’t like them too briny either.
Sounds good!
well the pizza looks superb. And bath is a lovely place to visit with or without food!
It sounds like the pizza made the place’s other quirks worthwhile. I love Bath–am so due in for a trip back to England!
I have never been to Bath and I know I will go sooner or later so I will remember your post! I always fancy a good pizza but not many places do it well.
It is crazy how much they can charge for bottled water and it is everywhere like this. In Italy it costs more than wine!
I’ve never been to Bath nor do I know where it is. Where is it?
However, I love pizza and could eat it all day long. Yours looks delicious!
I was in Bath last year but more of sightseeing and we did not have much time to check out the restaurants here.
However, we did explore other restaurants in Italy with pizza and pasta most of the time for our meals.
I like to dip the bread into balsamic vinegar rather then balsamic syrup too.
Yeh, the charges for the sparkling water was quite high too, so must of the time we opted for plain water instead.
The pizza does look good esp with the generous splash of cheese on top.
It is very disappointing when a pizza place really only has good pizza. I know people say, well it’s a pizza joint, that’s what they specialize in. But in my opinion no matter what someone specializes in, if you can’t make something taste good, don’t put it on the menu. I’ve reviewed way too many places that specialize in one thing but failed miserably in others. Thanks for sharing your experience and for being honest. Have a wonderful weekend. =]
I highly recommend there large antipasto to share for lunch, great selection of fresh cured meats, cheeses, olives, roasted veg and bread. iv been eating there for years and iv never been dissapointed and I am very fussy with my italian food as my husband is italian and we only eat at the best italian restaurants.
I also recommend there salads.
overall i find there extremely good value for money.
The only negative is im not personally impressed with there selection of wine but its a casual lunch time restaurant so not necessarily needed.