If there is one thing that puts a smile on my face it's pizza and since The Stable opened in Southampton's Guildhall Square last November I've been meaning to go and try what they had on offer. Pizza, pies and cider is how The Stable are bringing a little slice of Dorset to Southampton so Arran and I went in for food and drinks one Friday evening after work and grew some remarkable food babies in the process.
Sam greeted us and showed us to a table on the first floor over looking the whole restaurant, perfect for sipping cider and people watching. Natasha looked after us during the evening and she was by far the best server I have ever experienced. I'd go back just for her but thankfully the food matched her incredible customer service so I have two excuses now.
After having a look at the menu and deciding on what pizza to have, we headed on down to the bar to place our order and try some cider. Natasha talked us through what was on offer, with over 60 varieties of cider we needed a little help. I ended up drinking the Purbeck Cider Co. Dorset Draft for the rest of the evening as I like quite dry ciders while Arran went for the Lilley's Bee Sting which is much sweeter. For food we ordered a pizza each plus a garlic pizza bread and a side salad. Not realising how large both the sides were going to be we also had a plate of olives while waited for our food.
The pizzas arrived within good time thankfully as we were both starving as we hadn't eaten much that day as we knew we were eating out that evening. I went with The Billy The Kid with goat's cheese, caramelised onions, field mushrooms and spinach leaves while Arran had The Longhorn Jim with marinated longhorn ground beef, chorizo, field mushrooms and roasted red onions. Both pizzas also had The Stable's fresh tomato sauce and mozzarella.
The pizzas were incredible, perfectly cooked, full of taste and the best ingredients. We definitely didn't need the garlic bread and side salad but we had a good go at it and then made sure we were bursting by trying the Apple Crumble and Chocolate Brownie.
The atmosphere the whole evening was chilled and relaxed with a buzz in the air from friends, families and work colleagues catching up. We could've easily spent all night in there chatting, eating the food and trying different ciders. Sometimes when going to restaurants on a busy Friday night you occasionally get the feeling that the servers are eager for you to move on so someone else can be seated but The Stable wasn't like that at all and we ended up staying for around four hours. Service was on hand throughout the night but it wasn't pushed in your face which is my pet hate, I like to be asked if everything is okay then be left alone. If we did need anything extra someone was over within seconds with a big smile and a helping hand.
I've recommended The Stable to two different friends now who have since been in and loved the food and the experience too. I can't wait to go back the beginning of May as I'm dying to try another one of their delicious Pizzas.
Have you been to The Stable before? What did you think?
