Lunch / ££ / 9.5/10

I have been wanting to go to Slice ‘n’ Brew for months, so jumped when the chance arose. The opening hours didn’t go well with my babies timetable so when she started nursery I knew one of my first fridays would be spent there. I have finally got round to writing the review 3 weeks later and something has happened that is very rare, my memory of the food has improved. After reading my first draft The Northerner reminded me I wasn’t as effusive when we left, but in this case absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Being summer, it was a cold drizzly day. We had errands in town, we headed there for an early lunch but on arrival were told the oven they use for the ‘Detroit’ pizza wasn’t up to temperature yet and would be about another 30 minutes. We had already decided we wanted the Detroit so the waitress said she’d hold a table for us while we did a couple more jobs. As it was our first visit and the restaurant only had one other table in so we weren’t sure it was necessary; but were extremely grateful when we came back 30 minutes later to a full restaurant with one empty table. The dining room itself is very simple and functional. Stools, benches and low level seating help balance out the trattoria paint colours with the trademark signage transporting you to Little Italy, NY. That’s Amore.

After a slightly later than expected lunch we went for an appetiser, a couple of beers and a Detroit pizza. The large Detroit is the most expensive pie on the menu but we were unsure, 10/14″ seemed small compared to other pizza places. We had the nuts to curb our hunger, they were moreish and had a very earthy saltiness from the truffle but I didn’t get any cheese from the pecorino.

The beer menu is extensive (as you would expect from the name) and I don’t know enough about beers to add much more than the Ayinger was the best match for the pizza. Cloudy beer never tastes as refreshing to me. When the pizza came, it was delivered with theatre on a stand that elevated it above the table (like they do in New York). I spent a few minutes trying to work out how it had been made. The edges were laced with crispy melted cheese that erupted out from areas where the crust wasn’t as high.

We opted for the added fennel sausage; but this pizza already comes with a bucket of flavour as standard from the chilli honey, cheese blend, oregano, fresh basil and marinara sauce. The fennel sausage was a perfect ‘topping’ and didn’t overpower the pizza.

I have not tried a Detroit pizza before but I am a convert. Deep pan pizzas are no longer fashionable but with a soft, pillowy base that is light as a cloud Slice ‘n’ Brew then pile on the flavour. Sweetness comes from the honey, the blend of cheeses that combine a ‘pull’ when the pizza is cut but deliver a deep savoury kick. The fennel in the sausage is just enough aniseed to linger but not so much you have the bitter dry fennel taste. The star of the show though is the marinara sauce. On it’s own it is simply divine. Mixed with the base and toppings it is like your friend that organises all the social gatherings – there in the background doing (the pizza) gods work. I don’t know how they make it, or what they put in it but it’s sublime.

To answer the question ‘Where does the best pizza in Nottingham?’ I think Slice ‘n’ Brew are top of the pack in the city centre. If you are put off by the price I should add we only managed 2 slices each, it is VERY filling but we took the rest home and had another full meal the next day from it. £28 to feed 4 is very reasonable in my opinion.

FAMILY – Slice ‘n’ Brew would be great for slightly older kids (belonging to other parents) who can appreciate the quality of the pizza and not pull off every single basil leaf like it is a personal affront.