Pizza express Niçoise salad slowly shrinking

[Holidaysmoliday]

AIBU and should just accept economies over times of austerity?

I always have a Niçoise salad if we go to Pizza Express.
We probably go 3x a year or so.

Over the last two years they have shrunk it more and more yet the price has gone up.

Had one yesterday and it felt like a plate of nothing for over £12-
Tiny amount of tuna
No bread sticks anymore unless you pay extra for them
No potatoes included now
Half as much hard boiled egg

So for £12+ it’s a few leaves, half a tomato, spoon of tinned tuna, half an egg and a few anchovies and olives.

DH is convinced the pizzas have shrunk in size too.

Are we just imagining the wagon wheel effect or are they economising by stealth.

There is a great choice to eat out locally if you don’t want a pub. What is worth trying at PE that isn’t a big rip off?

You are quite right re things shrinking. Don't know about salad but pizza definitely getting smaller. Found an old photo last year taken about 17 years ago, in PE , friends birthday. DP and I commented straight about the huge pizzas. They were massive. Then we critiqued one anothers hairstyles!

Ha ha yes not sure I’d go back to a shaggy perm and mullet just to get a bigger pizza!

I think some of their portion sizes went down when they started publishing calorie content. And I guess they've taken out the breadsticks so they can claim it as gluten free. But surely if there's no new potatoes in it, it's not a salad niçoise?

How can they justify removing the potato from a Niçoise salad? It’s one of the key points. Do they even bother with the haricot verts then? So weird!

Lots of stuff has shrunk in the last few years. The Carluccios fixed price lunch used to be astonishingly good value as it had normal a la carte portions, but has since been changed so that its a smaller portion of the same.

@JingsMahBucket omg now you say it no- there are no green beans!

I’m trying to remember if there used to be or not

PE is bloody crap these days. Never forgive them for getting rid of the Bosco salad.

And their GF pizza is a fucking insult.

Yes, I used to love the Bosco salad too. And the super salad with a balsamic dressing, but then they changed the dressing and took out lots of the interesting things.
I used to go a lot and find it good value.
I don't now.

@MrsBertBibby I think you are right and they are just taking the pi@@ now

We made the decision not to bother going there anymore this weekend- just hate feeling so ripped off

@MrsBertBibby

I had a gf PE for the first time this week (excluding gluten for bloating, not coeliac, so not life and death) and honestly couldn’t believe they had the brass knackers to call it a pizza!

Sadly was deliveroo not in restaurant so nobody worthwhile to berate - but a lesson learned!

Traditionally a salad niçoise would not have potatoes or beans, so you can’t get them on that. But then traditionally it would not have tuna either, just anchovies.

Everything is less content for more cost though. Not just meals out. And if it's in a box, say, like cereal, you can guarantee the contents wouldn't fill the box even if shaken to allow for the contents

They shouldn't be calling it a Nicoise but would probably respond to any complaint with, 'It's the 'PE Nicoise Salad' - our interpretation' or some similar mealy-mouthed explanation.

I think it must depend on the branch as my DP had one a couple of days ago and it was massive and came with a big flatbread thing. He couldn’t even manage any of my pizza which is saying something!

Chain restaurants are mostly useless and a rip off now. A rung up from McDonalds.

the wagon wheel effect

I haven't heard this expression before. Are you by any chance referring to a popular 1970s kids' snack that has gradually shrunk to the size of an Oreo?

They got rid of the bosco salad, the bastards. That was the best thing there for years! My eldest however loves PE but I can no longer eat gluten. Their gluten free one is a joke, however the Pizza Hut veggie one is actually edible and quite nice.

Jamie what you describe sounds like a Caesar Salad.

what you describe sounds like a Caesar Salad.

That's lettuce-based, nicoise is mostly tomato. And the dressing is completely different.

Ahh people who loved the Bosco as much as me! That was one of my favourite meals, I loved it.

I’m not berating them about the authenticity of their Niçoise- just the fact it’s shrunk, lots of missing and it was an extra £1.50 for the previously included slices of bread.

And it was over £12

We had a family meal at PE recently for the first time in ages - we were very underwhelmed by the food, and I left feeling we'd been a bit ripped off!! We sometimes go to a local family run Italian restaurant that is amazing and cheaper than PE. Won't be going to PE again anytime soon.

I only get the larger pizza when we go to PE these days - their standard ones are absolutely tiny! Complete waste of money, never fills me up 😭

We went yesterday ..... £180 for basically bread, cheese and a few toppings .... outrageous.

The bread sticks are still included, i had it recently. Their website also states that the breadstick are included and there is an image showing the breadsticks. The issue is probably with the PE you visited

The cost of living is going up (and will get worse) so we either pay a severely uplifted price or get a smaller portion, I suppose.