Monday, October 24, 2016

Pizza Express Autumn Menu >> Family Meal Review



Autumn warmers


As I've said before, we are huge pizza fans in this house and love Pizza Express. There's always an amazing selection on the menu and everything is packed with flavour that you just don't get elsewhere.
Pizza Express also bring out seasonal menus to offer something that bit different throughout the year. We love how child friendly the restaurants are, the children's meals are incredible value and they provide the perfect table entertainment (colouring and stickers) to keep your little ones busy while they wait for their food.




Last weekend we were invited to our local Pizza Express restaurant in Lincoln, to try out their current Autumn menu. We couldn't wait to see what was on offer and try out some delicious new dishes.

First up was our starter which was the Risotto Fresco - Oak-roasted, peppered salmon fillet, garlic and fresh parsley in a creamy white wine risotto, with Gran Milano cheese, chopped fresh tomato and red onion: finished with a splash of chilli oil and a wedge of lemon. Although it sounds tasty, it's not something I'd normally order but I was so glad we got to try it. The salmon tasted absolutely amazing and the risotto was lovely, it went together really well, it was packed with flavour and the perfect dish to warm you up on a cold Autumn day. 



For mains we had the choice of three seasonal dishes, two pizzas - Basilicata Romana and Rustichella Romana as well as a Canelloni dish. We both opted for a pizza each so that we could share half and half. Both the flavours sounded unusual and completely different from our usual spicy choices, it's always good trying something new and we weren't disappointed.




The Basilicata Romana was topped with Lamb, mint and chilli meatballs, red onion, mozzarella and garlic oil on a Capia pepper and tomato base, finished with rocket, shaved Gran Milano cheese and basil pesto. To me, this sounded like such an odd mix of flavours. Lamb, mint and pesto - really? But yes, of course the flavours compliment each other perfectly and it was amazing! I would never have picked this but the pizza pros really do know their stuff and I will definitely be more adventurous with my choices in future. I loved this pizza, the lamb meat balls were just great and again this was a perfect dish to make you feel all warm inside - so good.





Likewise, the Rustichella Romana was another delicious pizza, slightly more regular in terms of toppings, but packed with flavour. I preferred the Basilicata as it was so different but this was really good too. This one was topped with Pancetta, mozzarella and tomato finished with rocket, shaved Gran Milano cheese, roasted tomatoes and Caesar dressing - yum!


Our last course was a really nice surprise. I always choose the chocolate options when it comes to pudding, so I was super excited about this one - a Chocolate Fondant which was a rich warm chocolate cake with a soft melting centre, served with vanilla gelato, topped with fresh mint and icing sugar. This pudding is baked in the oven so you get a freshly baked crisp to the outside, but when you cut in it reveals a melt in the middle pool of chocolatey goodness, this tasted incredible and it really is a grown up chocolate pudding as it's so rich in flavour. The coolness of the gelato cuts through the richness and heat of the chocolate making this just the most amazing dessert, we both absolutely loved it!



As well as the food, I ordered my usual Sicilian Lemonade which is always my highlight of our Pizza express trips, as well as the Autumn special juice which was a Passion fruit punch - really refreshing with the food.




The kids had their usual kids meals which are a total bargain for three courses. Alf loved his dough balls and Sophie, our little pizza monster just loved it all and may have slightly growled at a waitress when she thought she was going to remove her pizza plate - sorry!




We loved our meal out at Pizza express, the autumn menu comes with a big thumbs up from us and as always our visit was fun, faultless and super tasty. We had a sneak peak at the Christmas menu while we were there too and we can't wait to try it!



Disclosure: We were provided with our meal and drinks in exchange for an honest review.