Heist Bank, 5 North Warf Road, Paddington, W2 1LA www.heistbank.com

Back at the beginning of summer, we visited Heist Bank for its launch party. Now, a few months later, Chloe goes back to try the menu properly and see how they are getting on.

Located just off Paddington Basin, Heist Bank is a new urban hangout specialising in wood-fired pizza, craft beer and cocktails, all set in an urban-ly decorated restaurant with concrete walls, spray paint and modern art. Combined with the pool table, football table and karaoke party room, this is a great new place to grab a bite to eat and a drink.

We started off with a beer and a cocktail, and the intriguingly named beer stick. This turned out to be a cured meat stick which, in all fairness, did go very well with the drinks to get our appetite going

Then came the starters. After already trying the olive and cheese curd doughnuts and watermelon with labneh and toasted seeds at the launch party, we decided to go for something a bit different. The N’duja croquettes were absolutely delicious – warming with a crispy outside and a sorrel mayo which I wish I could have taken home by the jar load. My dining partner tried the crispy squid with creamed and grilled corn and a bacon crumb. Again, a delicious starter with perfectly crispy squid.

The stars of the show came next – the pizzas. Although Heist Bank does have an array of other main courses, we thought it would be a shame to miss out on the house speciality. Not being able to decide on just one pizza each, we chose two varieties and went’half’n’ half’. The lamb with preserved lemon, Brockley feta and wild rocket was a refreshingly light pizza, and highly enjoyable on a warm, summer’s evening. My favourite, however, was slightly more… meaty. Smoked sausage, hispi cabbage, chilli and smoked mozzarella all topped this taste bud tantalising pizza. However, I did have to add a touch more chilli oil to my pizza to give it a real spice boost.

Even though after all that food we were absolutely stuffed to the brim, we thought it would be rude to turn down dessert. My dining partner had a huge bowl of strawberries and thickly whipped cream, which I was rather jealous of when I tried my final course. The Pimm’s jelly was disappointing to say the least. Not really tasting of Pimm’s, with a bitter, unappetising aftertaste – needless to say I did not enjoy. The apple sorbet that went alongside was nice and refreshing though.

Overall, a great tasting dinner with pizzas that taste great with some unusual, but flavoursome, toppings. If you’re in the area, and need a relaxed place to spend time with friends I would highly recommend visiting Heist Bank.