While the husband and I were in London at the Rugby sevens about 2 weeks ago, we visited a couple of Pizza Express restaurants. We had some vouchers which entitled us to get one 2 main courses for the price of one, so even though we were in London we still managed to eat pretty cheaply.

I think the vouchers are available most of the time if you do a google search there is always something that comes up.

The ones we visited were one in Leicester square and one near Kew.

I am from Shropshire and there aren't many Pizza Expresses about so I have only ever visited the chain once before and couldn't really remember it, but I envisaged it to be similar to Pizza Hut, and this turned out to be a huge misconception.

The restaurants are very light inside and all really simply decorated but it makes for a lovely atmosphere. There is an extensive menu with lots of options that aren't just pizza and they do have quite a lot of options for vegetarians, happy days.

I think one of the things I liked the most about both the restaurants we visited, and I think this is true of most of their restaurants, is that the food is cooked in front of your eyes, not only is this interesting to watch, but also provides peace of mind, that your food is fresh.

They do have quite a good drinks menu too. They sell a beer called Peroni, which I assume is Italian, and is very nice and light. They also have spirits and a great selection of wines to choose from.

Starters range from £4.00 - £6.00 and we tried various ones, and they were all great quality and just the right size. I would recommend the dough balls, everybody seemed to love these, or the Bruschetta Con Funghi which is "Portobello and closed cup mushrooms, cream, béchamel sauce, red onions, parsley and a dash of balsamic vinegar", my husband had this twice as it was so nice.

Main courses range from very simple pizzas costing £6.00 ish and the most expensive is around £10.00, which is a great price in my opinion. Their main options for main courses are obviously pizzas, but they have a wide range of pastas and salads too. The pizzas all have great topping options, and there must be something to suit everyone. We had pizza both times and both times they were faultless. They had a thin, crispy base and came exactly as described on the menu.

Desserts range from £4.00 to £6.00 and all sound lovely. We didn't try any of the desserts as we were too full, but I saw a few peoples across the room and they looked great.

I found the staff at Pizza express very friendly and happy to help with any special requests. The service was quick, and the food quality was excellent. I found the prices to be very reasonable considering the quality of the food, and with our vouchers it was an added bonus.

I would highly recommend this chain of restaurants after my experiences, and I will definitely be finding one near to me to visit. Nothing like Pizza Hut, so much better.

For more information you can visit the website at
www.pizzaexpress.com