We’ve just had another round of redundancies happen at work and last week was time to say goodbye to one of my favourite colleagues which really, really sucks. As part of her farewell though we headed out for lunch at Fire & Stone an excellent little Italian tucked away behind Covent Garden.

One thing that always amazes me about restaurants in this area is the size. They usually look pretty small from the outside and then somehow manage to be totally huge inside, either because they go underground or they’re deceptively long. Fire & Stone falls into the latter camp and once you go up the stairs the seating area stretches out ahead of you.

My colleague had booked using a TasteCard which gave us 50% off food so we went for two courses; a starter and a main. As it was lunchtime I just had a soft drink but the cocktails here look delicious too.

I can’t resist anything with Parma ham so had the Brie & Parma Ham Bruschetta to start. Melted brie, Parma ham with onion jam, pesto & rocket on crusty bread. Mmmm… it’s quite a big portion but every bite was delicious. I especially loved whatever dressing was drizzled over the salad which is saying something as I usually hate dressing.

For main I had to have one of their weird and wonderful pizzas. No pepperoni or Hawaiian pizzas here oh no. Each of these bad boys represents the signature dish of a different city with toppings as varied as roast potatoes, chilli & lime prawns and avocado. I’m a sucker for avocado on pretty much everything so chose the Lisbon as my main dish. Peri Peri chicken, avocado, mozzarella, onions, sweetcorn, chilli & coriander.

So, so good. This was one of the best pizzas I think I’ve ever had in London. The chicken had a kick to it without being too spicy and the avocado helped cool things down but it was very filling and I couldn’t finish it, leaving two slices on the plate.

Other pizzas that caught my eye were the Cairo; torn goat’s cheese, basil pesto, pine nuts & caramelised onions with roasted courgettes & red peppers; the Tokyo; Chilli & lime prawns on a sweet chilli base, vegetable stir fry with egg noodles, spring onion, coriander & sesame oil (I mean noodles on a pizza? I have to try this!) and the Madrid; Spicy chorizo, prawns, roasted red peppers & potatoes, garlic, mozzarella, garlic mayonnaise & chopped parsley.

With discount it cost us £12.66 each which was amazing value. I’ve checked their website and they have amazing deals on a daily basis even if you don’t have a TasteCard including their £6.95 lunch deal, their pre-theatre menu and two pizzas for just £12! Definitely somewhere to check out.

Fire & Stone
31/32 Maiden Lane
London
WC2E 7JS
UK