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Pizza Express

There are over 100 branches across the UK. Find your nearest Pizza Express restaurant.
Review by Celine Chaplin

I visited Pizza Express in St Paul’s square and managed to get a lovely view of the front steps of the cathedral – quite a nice place for an after work dinner or for something a little more special if you’re visiting town and don’t want to head to the West End.
With all Pizza Express restaurants the beauty is that it’s reasonably priced and you usually know what you’re going to get.
The restaurant was a little clinical, yet the staff greeted us with enthusiasm and enough charm for me not to feel I was dining in McDonalds. We were seated as soon as we walked through the door even though it was reasonably busy. The menu and wine list were presented quickly and we were given time to choose the Pizza Express ‘Favourite’ Pinot Grigio, priced at around £15. The price of a bottle ranges from around £12 to £30, and the list has a wide selection of reds, whites, rose and sparkling, so all tastes and budgets are catered for.
I also ordered a Sicilian Lemonade, which as I’ve never been to Sicily I can’t say it tasted authentic, but it did taste like traditional lemonade: bitter, sweet and very refreshing.
We decided to have an ‘Intro’ and chose Rustica Tomatoes. They were absolutely divine - really sweet tomatoes marinated in herbs and olive oil. The Intros are all £1.95 and comprise of nuts and seeds, tomatoes and olives.
The Starters selection is varied with something for everyone, especially vegetarians. Options included Bruschetta, salad and cured meats and cost between £4-5.
We chose two new additions to the menu, the Bruschetta del Sole and Ramiro al Forno. The bruschetta was tasty, with tomatoes, fresh basil, yellow peppers and basil pesto. Pretty much a mini pizza. The basil pesto was lovely, though there weren’t enough peppers. I tasted a little of the Ramiro al Forno and found it too rich - the goats cheese with spinach and balsamic syrup was a particularly strong combination.
Our main courses arrived promptly and I ordered one of the Romana Pizzas, that are apparently bigger, thinner and crispier. It was definitely a monster and I was surprised by the size of it. I chose the Pollo Pancetta, with chicken breast, smoked pancetta, fresh parsley and a yellow pepper sauce. The pepper sauce gave the pizza quite a sweet taste that was very different to the normal tomato sauce. Overall the Pizza was good, apart from the chicken was a little on the dry side.
My date chose the Soho Pizza which looked like a mini garden. The pizza itself looked and tasted good - after he’d removed half of the rocket that was piled up high on top it.
Unfortunately I couldn’t manage to eat my monster of a pizza and so left almost half of it.
The waiter took an absolute age to clear our table once we’d finished our main courses and then even longer to present us with the dessert menu. I ordered Tiramisu and my date ordered a Hot Chocolate. However they didn’t have that so I decided on a Banoffee Pie, which they didn’t have either. After waiting for so long to order and then not having the one I wanted I decided to pass on the dessert. The hot chocolate was a winner with my date, however.
Overall the restaurant service was satisfactory, but quickly declined once it became busy later on. There were definitely not enough staff to cope with the diners.

See our review of Prezzo here