Hen & Chicken — Restaurant in Bristol

I am hereby writing this review to review the food of said establishment; Hen and Chicken.

My review, in summation, will start and end with this: This was the best pizza I have ever had in my life.

My review in completion will continue as follows: I only been on this earth for an odd 2 or 3 decades. I have sampled many pizzas in my time, some of them having been only a couple days ago. However, nothing up until this point in my life compares to what I had here today.

You, dear reader, may be quite familiar with the various pizza places dotted around Bristol: Pizza Rova, Laura’s Pizza’s, The Red Pizza Company, to name a few. I mention these names specifically as I have been recommended these companies as “the best pizza places in Bristol.” I have also in the same breath been let down by these so called “best pizza places in Bristol.” A bad pizza can leave you forlorn, to say the least.

Well, your days of heavy disappointments are over. I am here to say that this title is to be revoked from aforementioned restaurants, and dubbed to Hen and Chicken, only, as the Best Pizza Place in Bristol.

I am not quite sure if it was my (eclectic) choice in pizza, or the kitchen and chef’s working on the day itself, but my order of a Hoisin Duck pizza left my mouth and eyes watering in awe.

The duck, delicate and tender, served in a perfect scattering over the dough. I think it is important to mention that it was not only duck that was served here, but paired with it, in ideal ratio, was crispy duck skin, too. I was surprised to find these fatty, crunchy morsels in every few bites.

Next up is the cucumber and spring onion shavings. Finely chopped and delicately curled respectively, and smattered over the pizza; these green details added a delectable pop of colour and fresh crunch on an otherwise hearty dish.

Lastly but certainly not least, the hoisin sauce. Zig zagged in perfect proportion through the tomato bass, mozzarella cheese (also melted to a creamy, custardy consistency - no rubbery strands here!), this sauce was concentrated and added the zing that was needed to drive this dish up to be the star that it is.

I am a fiend for correctly proportioned pizzas when it comes to tomato sauce and mozzarella ratio. I believe a good pizza has a sauce to mozzarella ratio of 2:1, not more or less. The tomato sauce here was bright, tangy, rich. The mozzarella was deliciously smooth, mouth wateringly vibrant in flavour. Together, it created a pizza that was not overpowering in consistency or grease, and not at all lacking in substance.

The base underneath was void from sogginess, the crusts were light and did not require the mouth of an Ox to chew threw. Perfect to dip into a sauce and demolish.

Overall - I’d easily rate this pizza a 10/10. There is not one thing I would improve on or wish for more of. I only wish that my stomach was bigger. Everything was perfect. Did I mention that this beauty came out in 5-7 minutes? Piping hot and delicious.

The Hen and Chicken - the best place for pizzas, in Bristol, hands down. And...

I like the beer selection here as well as the pizza - the location is great and I appreciate their being open today - and I've been coming for many years and will continue to.

But today was a little disappointing -

We entered a mostly empty pub and ordered 4 pizzas. The pizzas didn't come for over an hour with no word in-between - no update. And when they did arrive - one was missing and I had to get up and ask where it was. It had apparently been burnt and was going through again.

I understand staff shortages and pressures around Brexit/Covid etc - but to take such a long time to make food in a pub which had no more than 3 tables in without any explanation is a major failing for a restaurant in my opinion. You've got to keep people in the loop.

I asked about compensation as a gesture and was told by the manager that I was being unreasonable and how it's a shame people can't accept an apology and are always "grabbing for money" - and how everyone makes mistakes and I should just accept it. I couldn't care less about the money - I'd have happily had it donated to charity -

I was then asked what I do for a living as a comparison - I didn't reply at the time, but I tell you what, if I don't meet my clients' basic expectations I do given them a discount because it's the right thing to do. Simple as that. I cannot imagine asking my clients to effectively "get over it it's a mistake"

Anyway - good beers, tasty food, but rather...

To start, the food here is really great and at a reasonable price. However the service isn't even slow, there isn't any.

Once we were seated we waited 20 minutes for menus and recieved nothing until we got up and asked someone. Apologies, united with menus and told someone would take our order shortly, 40 minutes in and no drink and no sign of anyone again. Approached the bar, recieved with smiles, but everyone was busy making drinks and I got the impression we were meant to order from our table.

Ordered food (after chasing down a waitress), asking to change fries to chips, was told should be fine but would double check. Drinks eventually arrived followed by some delicious food only 1.5 hours after we had arrived. Dinner done, we were asked if we wanted to look at dessert menus, we said yes of course. No sign of them being delivered 25 minutes later so we got them ourselves. The desserts were good but the waffle is a third of its previous size.

To add insult to being ignored for the 3 hour duration of our meal, they had added double chips onto our bill and when it was queried I was told that they cannot make a change to the chips served with mains so I would have to pay the full extra price for them (why they couldn't of told me this when I ordered who knows).

All in all although we had a pleasant night in the company of friends and good food. Service and lack of communication really let down what could have otherwise been a 5...