Meat, Bread, Beer - Pint Shop review

I have decided to use my blog as a place to review restaurants I visit.  So here goes, my first review.  On Tuesday I was tired and didn't want to cook.  Plus I had just finished an essay so I felt like I deserved a night off.  So my boyfriend and I went out for dinner.  Just before Christmas a new restaurant opened up in Cambridge called 'Pint Shop' and it's slogan is 'Meat, Bread, Beer' - you pretty much can't go wrong!  I will note here that if you are a vegetarian this definitely isn't the place for you.

There are two sections to Pint Shop, the front bar area where you can order from their huge range of beers and ever wider range of gin and accompanying bar snacks.  However, we went through to the restaurant area at the back.  The atmosphere was nice and intimate, although I can imagine this would change slightly if we had been there on a busy night.  While we were looking at the menu we were given some bread and butter.  This is definitely worth mentioning as the bread was really good, lovely and soft with a crunchy crust.  I'm not sure if they bake their own bread but it was very good.

I decided to try one of the beers they had, so being more of a lager drinker (I attribute this entirely to the fact that I spent last year in Germany) I opted for the Adnams dry hopped lager.  It was a nice beer to have with the meal, not too heavy.  My boyfriend on the other hand went for the Adnams Copperhouse sloe gin with ginger ale and lime.  I will add here that Pint Shop has a very wide range of beer and gin it just happens that my boyfriend and I are very fond of the Adnams brewery and distillery.

I was pleased with the service and our food arrived very quickly.  I had a steak and cheese pie (the puff pastry kind - as opposed to a cottage pie) with cabbage and my boyfriend had spit-roast pork with Brussels sprouts and bacon.  We also order sides of chips and onion rings.  I have to say that it was very difficult to find fault with the food.  The pie was beautifully cook and the steak just melted in your mouth.  There was a good amount of cheese but not so much that it overpowered the pie.  My only comment on the main would be that the cabbage, although cooked nicely (not overdone) was a little bland and could have done with a little more seasoning.  My comment for the onion rings is similar.  Although very tasty the batter could have done with a little more seasoning (maybe some lemon juice or pepper).  The chips on the other hand were perfect, crispy on the outside while still soft on the inside.

All in all the meal was excellent and although not cheap I wouldn't say it was overpriced either.  If you want somewhere a little more special, but still relaxed, then Pint Shop is the place.  I will definitely be going back before the end of the year.  I really want to spend an evening in the bar area in order to try some more of their beers and maybe some gin too.  I'm not normally a fan but maybe Pint Shop will convert me!

I know it's customary to include pictures in a review and I do have one that I will include below, but I must apologise for the quality.  The lighting in the restaurant was dim, which made for a lovely atmosphere, but meant that I wasn't able to take a particularly good photo.

If you want to find out more about Pint Shop then here's their website:

http://www.pintshop.co.uk/

Steak and cheese pie with cabbage