LET'S EAT - Pizza Express (again)

Monday night found me in Pizza Express (yes, again), devouring a generously sized pizza and a good helping of dessert. This was mainly as a way to have an early birthday celebration for one of my closest friends, but it just so happened that it coincided with the completion of my first exam so I was very much in a 'treat yourself' and 'eat your sorrows' mood. We were drawn to Pizza Express largely because of the promise of pizza, however the 40% NUS discount on Mondays was also incredibly appealing.

Pizza for two

When I last visited Pizza Express back in November, I really enjoyed the 'Autumno' pizza I had - so much so that I was sorely tempted to get it again, even though I always try and have something different each time I go out. After an internal battle I decided to branch out and try the 'Giardiniera' classic pizza, which came with a topping of artichokes, mushrooms, red peppers, red onions, tomatoes, black olives, pesto, tomato, mozzarella and garlic oil (I elected to go without the olives, as they are very much on my 'foods to avoid' list). My friend chose the 'Melanzane' Romana pizza, which had a topping of aubergine, mozzarella and tomato. 

Being a Monday (Blue Monday in fact - so-called the most depressing day of the year!), the restaurant was fairly quiet and our food came nice and quickly. The first thing I noticed about my pizza was the toppings - there were definitely plenty of them, even without the olives. As a huge fan of pesto I was pretty delighted with the amount that came on the pizza. The pizza itself was delicious - all the toppings worked really well together and the flavour was great. I would have maybe liked a few more mushrooms, but overall the whole thing was really nice. 

The only gripe I did have was that the pizza had maybe been left in the oven just a minute too long - whilst I didn't particularly have an issue with the singed pieces of crust, cutting through the base was a bit of a challenge! I had to resort to eating a few slices with my hands (gasp! social disgrace!) as I couldn't tackle it with the knife. My friend, who overall really enjoyed her pizza as well, also had the same crunchy/slightly burned base problem.

My friend was pretty full after pizza and elected out of having a dessert but I'd already spied the Specials dessert of a 'treacle tart cheesecake' and I knew that I wouldn't be leaving without trying it. In the time it took for our dessert orders to be taken - which was actually quite a while, and unexplainable considering how quiet the restaurant was - my friend decided that she could actually find space for a pudding (she went for the 'chocolate brownie').

I absolutely love cheesecake - it's my favourite pudding - so I'm very rarely disappointed by them. This one was no exception; it was delicious! The treacle layer was sweet and thick - not quite like a treacle tart filling but incredibly tasty all the same. The clotted cream cheesecake itself was beautifully smooth and creamy and the crumble pieces on the top were a nice addition and worked well. It was gorgeous! I'm just disappointed it was a Special; hopefully it becomes a regular feature of the menu or at least makes a repeat appearance throughout the year, as I'd certainly like to try it again.

Overall this was another great meal from Pizza Express - the service was a bit patchy at times throughout the night, but the food was good (ignoring the slightly singed pizzas) and, coming in at just over £20 for 2 pizzas, 2 desserts and a soft drink, we left feeling pretty content. I'd rate my meal overall as an 8 out of 10 - it loses a few marks for the pizza, but the delicious cheesecake claws back several points in my eyes.

Thank you Pizza Express - I'm sure I'll be back for another visit soon!...