The lure of the dough balls! (Pizza Express)

Member Name: kingfisher111

Product:	Pizza Express
Date:	19/10/08 (345 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good family restaurant

Disadvantages: none

Every so often at a weekend when we don't feel like cooking we think 'where can we go for lunch?' and often end up at our local Pizza Express in Wokingham. Recently I discovered that I could get a voucher that said that if we bought one main meal we could get anothet free which seemed too good an opportunity to miss. And then of course, there was the lure of the dough balls...

All Pizza Express restaurants offer the same menu which covers the typical italian food you would expect ,mainly being pizza and pasta. All of the food is reasonably priced and we have just eaten a good three course lunch for me, my husband and our two daughters which cost just under £40 (although this did include our BOGOF voucher). I think this is pretty good value.

Pizza Express offers a range of starters but our all time favourite has to be the dough balls. In fact I love these so much that I never have any other starter when I go there. For the uninitiated these are lovely small balls of just cooked dough that you dip into garlic butter which then melts all over it. It is absolutely divine. You get eight dough balls and a little pot of the garlic butter for only £2.30. It's also quite a good thing to share if you want to save yourself for what's to come. Other starters include various garlic breads, salads and risotto.

For our main courses my husband and I both had pizzas - he the Sloppy Guiseppe and for me the Quatro formaggio. These are pretty generous proportions and even being thin crust I find them quite filling. We both enjoyed the taste and the fact that they are all freshly made with good ingredients. I've never had a disappointing pizza at Pizza Express, and the pasta dishes, such as lasagne or cannelonni, are just as good too. There is also a good range of salds if you want to opt for something a bit lighter and I can definitely recommend the caesar salad. Prices range between about £6 and £9.50 so they definitely won't break the bank!

There are lots of options for vegetarians on the menu and every dish that is suitable is marked with a 'v'. Dishes marked with 'N' indicate that the dish contains nuts. Pizza Express have recently introduced a new chef called Theo Randall and they are making quite a feature of his dishes on the menu although I have to admit that we did not try any if those.

If you have room there is always a very tempting dessert menu. My husband had banoffee pie with cream today and I had a wonderful ice cream concoction called Chocolate Glory. It looked huge when it was served but somehow I manged to force myself to eat it!

Children are well catered for with their own set menu. It costs £5.75 but for this they get dough balls, a small salad, pizza, ice cream and a warm drink. Both my girls enjoyed their meal very much. There are ample high chairs for smaller children and colouring activities for while they are waiting. When I took my daughter to the toilet, a waiter suggested I use the disabled/baby change facility rather than take her to the main ones upstairs. I was really impressed to notice supplies of cotton wool and talc as well as a lovely mobile placed over the changing area. I thought these little extras were very thoughtful.

The staff always seem very friendly at Pizza Express and if you pick your times carefully service can be very quick. We always choose to go early before the restaurant becomes too busy. Today we arrived at 12 to be the first people there but by the time we left at 1.30 the restaurant was full as it really does seem to be a popular place. In fact we have been caught out in the past thinking that we would just turn up only to find the place full so it really is best always to book in advance. Our service today was very good and all the waiters were very friendly and particularly seemed to welcome the girls. I do think that it is important that children are made to feel welcome.

I definitely recommend Pizza Express as it is always reliably good and the prices are very reasonable. You don't get many surprises but for a family meal out you can't go wrong. In order to find out where your nearesr Pizza Express is you can visit

http://www.pizzaexpress.com

So if you want to enjoy tasty food that is well priced then take yourself off to Pizza Express. And if you've never tried dough balls then you really should give them a try - you won't be disappointed!

Summary: A great place to eat with all the family.