How do you eat your pizza? Fingers or knife and fork? For my two boys and their friend Kyle, it was certainly a case of ignoring the cutlery and straight in with the fingers. Mind you, pizza is just about their favourite meal and any chance to try somewhere new that is supplying this tasty treat, they’re there in a flash.
Our latest pizza try out was the new Pizza Night at The Hub at Mulberry Park, near Combe Down in Bath. We’re regular visitors to The Hub, it offers excellent cooked breakfasts, I quite often call in for lunch or a cup of tea while I check emails and catch up on work, plus there are classes and events for families in the function rooms upstairs. What’s more, the team there is always friendly and great with children. All in all, it’s an excellent community hub complete with free parking.
For the pizza night, which runs on Thursdays and Fridays from 5-8pm, as this was the opening night there was an extra special guest, Mr Pizza himself – or whichever junior member of staff had been persuaded to wear the pizza slice costume! Ten out of ten to the lucky winner, he did a great job in showing us to our seats, handing out the menus and adding some extra fun to the occasion.
The Hub is a light and airy area with a choice of seating from tables for up to six, benches and even a sofa area to choose from. The wifi is also excellent, which is useful for those business visits.
With eight different pizzas to choose from, my lot were soon homing in on their selections, with a Mulberry Park Margherita (£7.39) accompanied by two Meare Meatys (£9.23) (tomato sauce, grated mozzarella, pepperoni, ham and chicken), plus a Veggie Patch (£8.26) (tomato sauce, mozzarella, mixed peppers, red onion, mushrooms and sweetcorn). While the pizzas were prepared, the boys each enjoyed a cherry coke while I went from an excellent pale ale, with a choice of wines and ciders also available.
With the younger boys detouring to the sofa area to blast each other with games on their phones, I chatted with my older son about the madness of modern politics and just enjoyed not having to worry about meal prep for the evening! Even though this was the opening night, there was still a good crowd coming in, with a couple in the corner enjoying a quiet night out, two families already enjoying their feast and more arriving all of the time, all greeted by an ever enthusiastic Mr Pizza.
In no time the pizzas were served and I have to say, they were excellent. My Veggie Patch was perfectly cooked, full of flavour and with enough veggies to kid myself that I was making a decent inroad into my five a day. I assume that the boys were enjoying theres as the previous loud chatter had descended into quiet munching, only distracted by a brief experiment along the lines of what will a piece of pizza dunked in cherry coke taste like. Apparently, not that good.
While I was pretty full after my Veggie Patch, the boys still found room for a choice from the cakes and Marshfield Ice Creams on offer. It is amazing just how much growing children can pack away and still have room for cakes…
Bath is, of course, well served by pizza restaurants and over the last few years, I reckon we’ve tried most of them. Others will certainly have longer menus and more authentic Italian style decor, but full marks to The Hub, by keeping the menu pretty basic, they made sure that the pizzas available are well prepared and very tasty. And if you can’t quite finish them, boxes are available to take the last few pizzas home. Indeed, before we finished, I ordered a take out Margherita with ham for my daughter at home who hadn’t been able to join us for the evening out.
Yes, we will be back again. OK, it’s unlikely that Mr Pizza will make an appearance, but this is a great option for a family treat, the cost certainly wasn’t high and once the warmer weather returns, the outside seating will make a great option.