The Brick Oven

I have never been a big fan of Proby's, so when they closed down, I wasn't too upset about it. But in December, The Brick Oven opened at the same premises and I waited until now to try it out. Went there for lunch on Thursday with Linda.

The interior is contemporary with lots of different lampshades hanging from the ceiling. The furniture is modern and comfortable, the walls are painted in a cream colour with 2 walls being covered with letters of all type and size. It takes you a while to read the names. We were told that one wall shows the favourite places of the head chef and the other shows names of friends he met while abroad. Everytime he looks at the wall he smiles and feels happy. I love that kind of personal touch.

Anyhow, the food......the waitress was friendly and smiled but looked a bit lost when I asked for a glass of Prosecco....hmmmmm, I wasn't impressed. I simply settled for a glass of housewine instead.

The menu is short and divided into pizza (8 different types with the option of creating our own). All pizzas come in 2 sizes. The next 2 pages showed the starters, side dishes and mains with desserts. These items can only be ordered from 5pm. The usual suspects were in the starter section with goats' cheese, calamari, chicken wings and ribs. I was impressed that Polenta with Truffle Cream Sauce was also on offer. It is very rare to get Polenta outside of Italy these days. The mains offered 5 different dishes, Rib Eye Steak, Mixed Seafood, Breaded Fish of the day (monk fish on this day) and Chicken. The vegetarian option was Tuscan Style Roasted Vegetables with Penne Pasta. The sound of that made my tastebuds squirl. It is the usual safe option of a chef who doesn't want to think too much about us poor veggies..... Prices range from €15 for the veggie option to €23 for the Steak.

The menu offered 4 different dessert for €6 each and incl. Whiskey Caramel Cream, Meringue Ice Cream, Creme Brulee and Chocolate Brownie Sunday.

Special of the day was crispy scallops, monkfish with white wine chowder and a few things more but I couldn't take note.

The restaurant prides itself on sourcing only locally and that all dough, soups and sauces are made freshly daily in house.

I was hoping to be able to order the Polenta but it was prepared so we both opted for a pizza with a side portion of chips and garlic bread.......a small tip here....the sauce needs a bit of a zing....not bad but nothing to write home about. I will hold back with my judgement until I have tried the evening menu.

The chef came out after the meal and chatted away to us and told us the story about the wall and the lampshades. His girlfriends parents in the States collected them for him and added all the finishing touches to it. As I said, I am a sucker for this type of stuff....