UK MNer with a child aged 5-12? Want to try the new summer Piccolo menu at PizzaExpress and be one of the first to experience their new in restaurant activity pack and Dough Ball adventure competition? You’ll also be in with a chance to win free pizz...

[EmmaMumsnet]

PizzaExpress have asked us to find 50 Mumsnetters with a child aged 5-12 to go to their local PizzaExpress, try out the new summer Piccolo menu and experience the new in restaurant activity pack and enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition. Then leave their feedback on a thread on MN.

Here’s what PizzaExpress has to say: “We know how much families love spending time together in our restaurants and this summer we have a lot to offer and more reasons to get excited about your next visit to PizzaExpress. As well as enjoying new additions to our piccolo menu and new activity packs, we are encouraging kids’ to unleash their creativity and be as imaginative as possible in our Dough Ball Adventure writing competition. We’ll be asking kids between the ages of 6-12 to submit an exciting Dough Ball adventure story (up to 200 words) via our website for the chance to have their stories being made into animations, as well as win weekly adventure prize. Plus one lucky winner will win an adventure holiday.”

This product test is open to all UK Mumsnetters who have at least one child aged 5-12 and are available w/c 31st July and w/c 7th August to go to a PizzaExpress restaurant and test out their new summer Piccolo menu and activity pack. Testers will be given a £50 PizzaExpress gift card to use at their nearest PizzaExpress restaurant and will be required to leave feedback on their experience on a thread on MN. We’d also love to see photos of your DC enjoying their food and going out for dinner at PizzaExpress, so please do share them on the thread if you are selected.

Everyone who gives their feedback will be entered into a prize draw to win free pizza for a year (£300 PizzaExpress voucher)!

If you’d like to take part click here to sign up.

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

when I clicked through on the 25% voucher it said Sunday 30th July!

Hmm, Flower, so it does. Apologies . Back to the drawing board!

Right, have looked again. For my local I have

• 2 mains for £10 today only
• 25% off food until 3rd August
• Starter & main for £9.95 until 6th August
• Starter, main & dessert for £12.95 until 6th August

If you go to pizzaexpress.com & enter your local restaurant you will see what offers you can get. HTH

Mines arrived, can't wait to use it 😊

Where do we leave the feedback?

First, thank you so much to MN and Pizza Express for choosing us!

We went to Islington Pizza Express, as part of a day out. I had some Nectar points and there's a Nectar Pizza Express offer on at the moment (2 pizzas for 1000 Nectar points, which is equivalent to £5). There was no problem combining this with the giftcard.

I had the new Vegan Giardiniera pizza, DH had the Sloppy Giuseppe and we shared a side salad. For pudding we had the Leggera raspberry sorbet and the New York cheesecake. DD(7) had the Piccolo menu.

I was glad to try the vegan Giardiniera, though I don't think I'd get it again - the vegan mozzarella had that slightly weird "vegan cheese" taste. I'll revert to my old favourite the Pianta, which is another vegan pizza (no cheese at all and genuinely delicious).

DD enjoyed the activity pack (had to wrestle it off her when the food arrived) and the food - she ate everything. The dough balls came with a nice, quite substantial little salad of baby plum tomatoes and cucumber. DD was also very happy with the pudding - her ice cream came with an espresso cup of babyccino on the side, which we haven't had before with the Piccolo menu, and which she found quite exciting.

For pudding I thought about trying the new coconut sorbet but after the slightly disappointing Giardiniera decided to stick with an old favourite.

We didn't have any wine (it was midday) and the restaurant was very busy (they were actively looking for tables to turn) so we didn't want to stick around for coffee. (This does obviously vary from place to place - our own local PE is much more leisurely.)

With the Nectar vouchers paying for two pizzas, the bill came to £21.15! (Would be £26.15 including the £5 worth of Nectar points, or £43.80 without the vouchers.) We left a cash tip, although we could have included the tip on the card.

Even without the discount it's obviously possible to have a very nice meal for £50.

Thanks again to MN and PE for enabling us to have quite a splashy day out (and another one when we spend the rest of the giftcard!).

We are not long back from using our gift card tonight! DH & I took the 3 Dses, who are 3, 6 & 8.

The boys were very impressed with the new activity pack with the Piccolo menu. There was plenty to do to keep them occupied, which is always something to consider with 3 fairly young DC! There was a good choice of food for them & I like how it's 'proper' food, not just nuggets & sausages. I thought the chicken salad was a welcome addition (although mine did not choose it this time).

The boys all had the Piccolo menu & it was enough for them, even Ds1 who has a hearty appetite. DH & I both had the '3 courses for £12.95' offer & were able to use this with the gift card. There was a choice of 3 or 4 dishes for each course & it was tasty.

We found service was good but rather slow, but this was probably because we went on a Saturday evening (arrived at 5pm, so it wasn't too busy when we arrived, but got busier from about 6pm).

Overall, a fun night out & a lovely, much-needed treat for us as we're not going away this summer due to DH'S work contract coming unexpectedly to an end. Thanks again MN & Pizza Express!

We've used our voucher tonight, big thank you MN and Pizza Express we've had a fab night.
Ds was very happy with the Piccolo menu as it wasn't 'kiddy food' rather smaller versions of the main menu. He had dough balls, American Pizza on thin base and an apple ice lolly with Bambiniccino. He really enjoyed it and as a parent it felt like a treat meal without being junk. He enjoyed the activity pack and it kept him busy between courses, lots more to do than I've seen elsewhere.

I had the cod croquettes followed by the Legerra Padana Pizza, then ruined my good intentions with a Brownie! Dp had dough balls, an American Hot and chocolate fondant. We shared some Polenta fries which were a huge hit with Ds.

We spent £68 in total but dp gets a good discount through his work so we paid just under £50 - great value although I'd have been happy to pay full price.
In summary the food was really good, service excellent and we really enjoyed the evening - we've decided that Pizza Express is going to be a regular treat as we all enjoyed it. Thanks again MN and PE

Sorry, forgot photos!

We've used our voucher tonight, thank you very much mumsnet and pizza express. As always I was impressed by the kids menu with how appealing it was to both kids. My two are 8 and 11 and both chose the same food, dough balls and margherita pizza. Adventurous they are not sometimes! Both wolfed down all the starter including my daughter licking out the garlic butter bowl :) I thought it was a good amount of food for both ages.

We waited quite a while for the starters, at least 35 minutes and then about 20 minutes for the mains. We played some games and my 8 year old enjoyed decorating her chefs hat. Even my 11 year old put his chef hat on!

My daughter completed some of the activities in the book but frustrated herself by drawing a dough person who was too small for the stickers! She stole her brothers pack to try again. Did the old activity book used to have a pre-drawn dough person or am I imagining things?

Myself and my mum shared a calamari to start which was hot and delicious and we had a mixed salad and cannelloni and lasagne for our mains which were great and left us stuffed!

The kids had juice cartons, apple and pear, which they drank way too fast so we asked for a jug of water.

For pudding the 8 year old had the vanilla ice cream. It did not come with a cone so I asked for one. My son had the brownie. Neither wanted the warm milk so we did not order it but I think if actual hot chocolate had been an option they would have taken it.

All in all, with the 25% voucher, it came to 49.90 which was a result! We really enjoyed ourselves and I love the fact it feels as if we are feeding the kids healthy food. The portion sizes were perfect for my two but the pizza may be too small for hungrier children.

I also forgot to take any photos but can include one I remembered to take just as they finished their puddings!

Thank you Pizza Express, we thoroughly enjoyed our meal last night. It was a lovely treat.

The highlight was how relaxed DS12 was (ASD), he knows what he likes and does not enjoy hanging around too long for food.

DS had the dough balls and pizza -he is small for his age and still has children's meals when we go out. He enjoyed both courses and finished his food, we may need to upgrade him to adult portions soon.

DD 10 had the dough balls and Pasta with creamy tomato sauce, now she is a very picky eater. She ate all the dough balls and most of her main. She did not like the cheese on top of the pasta so next time we will ask for it on the side- then I think she would eat it all.

DS ended up with 2 brownies as DD did not want hers. The coffee machine was broken so no bambichino's for us, but the children did not mind.

DD really enjoyed the pack and has brought it home to finish.

I went with DH and between us we had Cod Crocchetes, Garlic Bread with mozeralla. Both were lovely. DH had the Calabrese pizza which he says was amazing and I had my favourite the Fiorienta.

Because I have an NUS card we really pushed the boat out had deserts too, the honeycomb slice was amazing and the tiramasu was apparently very tasty.

We had a lovely evening and DS even said the he did not get grumpy. (In conclusion- if the cheese on the pasta had been on the side it would have been perfect)

9/10

We used our voucher this evening and had a fab time. I took my DD (11) and my niece (4). DD chose from the adult menu and DN had the piccolo food. I had garlic bread with mozzarella followed by a Padana pizza on a classic base. DD had the same starter as me and the pollo pesto for her main and DN had dough balls and a marguerita (so adventurous!)

We all thought the food was delicious and the portions very generous - a bit too generous in fact as DD couldn't finish her pasta, but they packed it into a box for her to take home which she was very pleased with. She is currently tucking into her 'supper' now .

DN was kept very entertained by the activity pack, which DD helped her with and loved wearing her chefs hat.

I used a 25% off voucher which I found online so the total bill came to just under £50 which was perfect!

Thank you very much for allowing us to take part. I have attached a couple of photos.

We went to the Mermaid Quay Pizza Express on Saturday afternoon. It was very busy and so we had no choice but to sit outside on tables that look out over bay. Luckily it was a rare sunny day in Wales.

DS absolutely adores Pizza Express and straight away noticed the Piccolo pack had changed. Even DSS8 was engaged by the pack although both found the word search a stretch as lots of backwards diagnol words to find.

Both boys had Piccolo milk and dough balls to start. DS had Magherita pizza and DSS American. Followed by Brownie and a Sundae each with a babycinno. DS however was disappointed that his babycinno came in a normal coffee cup that wasn't even 1/3rd full yet DSS had a fully espresso/babycinno cup.

DP and myself utilised the 3 courses for £12.95 deal that we got a code for from Pizza Express website. We both had garlic bread with mozzarella. I had a Pollo Astra pizza without the Cajun spices and DP the Diablo one. Again followed by salted caramel and chocolate gelato.

The boys enjoyed trying my food and my Sicilian lemonade and the food was all very lovely.

The total bill came to £49.60 and was amazing value for money. We usually change our Tesco vouchers to pizza express tokens every few months and it was great to try a new Pizza Express restaurant. We had a lovely time and will be going again soon. Thank you Pizza Express!

We went to pizza express at Livingston.

The service was terrible here but it was very busy so put it down to that but we waited 30 mins for our order to be taking, air was then another further 20 to be served the starters it was then a further 40 mins before mains arrived and then it was another 45 mins after mains plates were took away that before we were served the dessert so kids got a bit restless waiting but thankfully we took tablets they could play games on and they could draw with the crayons provided by pizza express.

The kids liked the piccolo menu they had the dough balls to start and then the pasta bolognese and the brownie for after.

My ds loved the pasta but my DD didn't like the sauce in it at all said it was too tomatoey.

The brownie was very small also it was a small dry square of brownie the kids got no ice cream or cream to help it not be so dry.

My DH had the Cesar salad to start and the sloppy guisseppe pizza followed by cheesecake, he loved it all.

I had the dough balls to start followed by the American and the chocolate fondant.

My dough balls were lovely the pizza toppings were lovely but the sauce was not very nice it tasted like they had just stuck on some tomato purée on it and it wasn't that nice.

My chocolate fondant was burnt around the edges and had collapsed in the middle they tried to cover this up by sticking a dollop of ice cream on top of it which made everything freezing cold.

Overall the kids had a good day out though and most of the food was nice.

Out total bill was £72 minus the 50 we paid £22 and also left a cash tip.

Thanks for the gift card for our day out.

We went to the Pizza Express at Tower Park Poole. We had a fantastic time.

We had very quick service. It wasn't particularly busy at 5.30pm but we were impressed with how quickly drinks came out and our starters appeared very quickly too. All very smooth.

The children liked the piccolo menu and were impressed with the activities. They didn't finish them (as we had little wait time ) and there were enough crayons (a bugbear of mine when there's only a few snapped crayons of one colour!) They are excited about entering the mini movie competition. However they were a little disappointed the stickers that it said it came with weren't available.

We were sat near the kitchen area so the children were fascinated watching the people making the pizzas!

The children had dough balls for a starter and loved them. As well as the dough balls they got a little bit of cucumber and tomato which was nice and they enjoyed dipping in the garlic butter.

We had a sharing antipasto which was amazing and my favourite part of the meal . I loved the various bits on it especially the bread and the sauces and olive and artichoke. Husband like the cold meats.

For our mains the children had pizzas. They liked they had a whole one each and they were a sensible size. One child thought it was "undercooked" as they are quite dough-ey/almost damp but I think was just the style of pizza.

We shared between us a sloppy Giuseppe and a super food salad and mediteranian salad and dough balls.

The pizza was nothing special but the salad was amazing!! We also liked the dough balls. The salad was just a lump of mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and pesto so woudlnt have been impressed if we hadn't had so many other things to eat with it.

We'd had extra sides instead of pudding but the children had a brownie (sensible size for a child but dry) and a Greek yoghurt ice lolly which was very tasty and I'd buy in the supermarket if I ever saw them.

We had a litre of sparkling water and they had juice.

We combined with a 25% off offer so it came to 52.60 and we also tipped so it was a little over.

In summary we felt we had a lovely time together, great service and good kids meals/activities. Wasn't overly impressed with the Pizza but the salad and service were amazing!

Thankyou pizza express!

We finally got around to going tonight! Hurray! Never thought we would make it.

Friday deals are not quite as good as the rest of the week, but there was a deal for a starter and pizza/main for £10.95, so dh, myself and dd1 /ds had that. DD2 (aged 6) had the Piccolo menu (she's in the picture.)

We all had pizzas- and dough balls (not very adventurous) but really tasty. Service was not speedy, but it was Friday night, it's a very busy branch (Cheadle High Street), so we did book, and they were apologetic that we waited a little while- not that we noticed.

DD2 loved colouring in the glasses and playing with the stickers. And drawing pictures of dough balls. DD1 (whose 11th birthday is next week, this was an early birthday 'treat' )was happy to do word searches and play with hats. 14 year old ds was above this.

DS and DD1 both had fudge cake, and dh and I had coffee.
DD2 felt very grown up with her cup of froth bambinocino. And was very happy with her sundae and strawberries. The staff were really great.

All in all, it was a very lovely night. Pre-children, I used to go to P E quite a bit, for all 5 of us, it's a bit on he pricey side to do often, so this is the first time in a while. Our total bill with tip was about £75.

So, thank you MN and Pizza Express!

Has anyone had a link to a feedback survey or thee feedback thread can't see one.

Do we just post our feedback here (used ours today its my birthday all I can say glad I didn't pay for it terrible experience esp as more waiters/ess than tables dining but will save for my actual feedback - funnily the piccolo menu was OK just our for n service was horrific)

I think we just post feedback here EastMids, just about to do mine now

Sorry for the delay in this - in Wales and signal is intermittent.

First of all thank you Mumsnet and Pizza Express for our voucher. We used it at the Birstall branch earlier this week. It was our very first visit to a pizza express - there was me, DH and our 3 DC.

We've had lots going on so I'd not had a chance to look for a voucher code before we went. Really wish I had, as it was expensive - over £6 for a bottle of Kopparberg!

Anyway, the DC were really excited for the visit. I'd prebooked a table and we were seated quickly. We were by the door and it was very busy. The staff were attentive enough.

The kids loved their activity packs - DD1 who is 9 has been writing a story to enter the competition, so that's got her really excited. DD2 (6) enjoyed the activity pack, as did DS (4). It was very busy and noisy, not the best experience but the staff were attentive enough.

We browsed the menu and DC said they'd all have the dough balls, which came with tomatoes and cucumber. I really liked this. DS wasn't so keen on the doughballs but ate all his cucumber and tomatoes. I think that it might have been a good idea to have a veggie plater (cucumber, tomatoes, pepper and carrots) as an alternative option to doughballs. DH and I shared a cheese garlic bread, which was overly doughy for us.

Two DC had chosen pizza for mains and one DC has chosen pasta. The pizza was nice according to DC who had pizza, but the pasta was a bit oily. I had a taste of the sauce and although it was nice as in you could tell it wasn't your usual Dolmio, it was just oily to the taste and you couldn't taste much else.

DH and I both had pizza for main. It didn't come presliced, which isn't the end of the world, but it would have been nice if it had - it was a bit awkward cutting it up.

For afters DC had brownie/icecream. They all seemed to enjoy this and we all liked the touch of the mini cup of frothed milk. It didn't taste of a whole lot, so DC mainly wasn't keen, though DS did drink it. Maybe a minihot chocolate would have gone down better?

I had the brownie and DH the coconut icecream thing. We both enjoyed this.

Overall the kids enjoyed their trip and the activity packs kept them quiet, which is always a bonus. I said when I applied that I thought of Pizza Express as more of an adult restaurant and I'd still stand by that I think. It's fantastic not to see nuggets/sausages/chips on the menu, but at the same time I think there needed to be a little bit more variety on the whole (not necessarily of chips etc).

We found the experience quite expensive - for the 5 of us it came to £84 with only what is listed above and some soft/carton drinks, so all the £50 went. The cartons were £1.50 each and only small, so we ended up spending £9 on 2 drinks each for the kids.

Would we go again? Possibly yes, but not without checking all the offers first. I don't think we are necessarily their target audience, but we all enjoyed ourselves in the end so thank you very much.

We used our voucher at the Whitstable branch with our two children aged 5 and 7. We are very regular customers here, so much so that even though it's a busy branch they recognise us and give us our favourite table It's a nice environment to eat in - clean, airy and fresh modern decor. For this visit we prebooked a table and were seated quickly with no waiting even though we were a bit early.

The children ordered from the Piccolo menu as they always do - one margarita pizza with extra ham and one bianca pasta which is penne with a white vaguely mushroom flavoured sauce. Their starters (dough balls and vegetable sticks) came quickly which kept them quiet while they enjoyed the colouring and activity packs. They both love the sticker sheets which come in these packs and use them to decorate basically everything in sight. The adults ordered a calamari starter to share and then a pizza each because we were feeling quite greedy - one to share and a side salad would probably be sufficient. I had the American Hot on a romana base which is a very thin base indeed (which is how I like it). My husband had one of the leggera pizzas - this is their lighter option which comes with a hole in the middle filled with a small salad.

When the main courses arrived we commented, as we always do, that the child's pasta portion was very stingy. My five year old is small for her age but has a normal appetite and could easily eat twice the portion. On previous visits we have commented to the waiting staff that it seemed a very small portion and they've brought us some more! Interestingly it's not the case in other branches we've been to, so maybe just a stingy chef at this one. No complaints about the child's pizza, it was a good size and looked delicious.

The adult pizzas both tasted lovely though mine arrived to the table cold - I had seen it being left on the side while they prepared the other dishes. I ate it regardless but would have preferred the dishes to arrive separately but hot.

When we came to order dessert a minor disaster struck - they had run out of chocolate brownies. Considering we were a very early dinner sitting I was surprised at this since it's their main offering really. The children were disappointed because they love them but ordered ice cream instead. The grown ups opted for a second drink - I was drinking a very nice red wine (Malbec I think) and the husband some sort of lager. Unfortunately they had run out of this particular lager as well! Perhaps they had had a problem with their delivery. He changed his second drink order to a coffee with one of the miniature desserts - figs and marscapone, which is delicious and one of our regular favourites.

At the end they sorted out our bill quickly - there were no problems combining the gift card with a 25% off offer that I had been emailed. The total came to £66, a bit more than we usually spend due to the starter and second drink.

All in all a pleasant and enjoyable visit. Positives were the quick service, tasty food and great activity packs. Negatives were the stingy portion of pasta, running out of food / drink and this time an unusually grumpy waitress. Would we come again - yes of course, it's our preferred place to take the children locally because you know what you are getting. They also cope well with larger groups and we often visit with other families.

Hope it's ok to post feedback here - I did get an email saying that I would get a link to a feedback thread but haven't seen anything yet, hence the delay in posting.

We went to Monmouth Pizza Express on the way to our week away in Wales. It was a lovely restaurant and the staff were absolutely lovely. The waiter gave dd her pack straight away and she got on with colouring in the hat, stickers and completing the activities in the pack. The activities were very good for her age (6) and kept her well entertained. I must say she thought it was brilliant that I was asking her all sorts of questions and I felt like a news reporter.

So, working our way through, firstly ordered a drink, nice carton and dd liked it, however we were surprised to find at the end that it was not included in the price. On looking at the menu again it is at the bottom but we didn't feel it was clear that this was not part of the deal. I think we would rather have the carton included rather than the Bambinoccino and have that as an optional extra, as dd didn't drink it, not something we would usually order so it was wasted.

The starter was delicious and just the right size, although dd was disappointed she didn't have a choice of starter. The pizza also was a great size and there was a good choice of mains. Dd ate it all and was very happy. The dessert was lovely, dd had the fruit lolly, and again there was a good choice.

Overall the menu was good, apart from lack of starter choice, and portions were right for her age group. The activity pack was fun and she enjoyed creating the dough ball character. Lots of stickers left which came with us on holiday to create more dough ball people.

Our meal was also lovely and we went for the thin pizzas - haven't been to a pizza express in a while so we were very happy with the meal. We had the leftovers in a takeaway box and took them with us to Wales.

I would go back and really enjoyed it.
Thank you for the voucher!

Ohh OK will do mine this eve with pics was waiting for an actual thread 😂

Thank you for our voucher

We went on Friday evening. Despite being busy our service was very good, food came quickly and waitress was very attentive if a bit miserable.

Dc both had dough balls followed by American pizza and sundae. Dp and I had to help with the large portion of dough balls and they were delicious. Kids also loved their pizza and desserts, as well as the great activity pack. Overall the children's menu was excellent.

Dp and I both had Romano pizzas, one chicken and one hot and spicy (Sorry I've forgotten their names )
Both were very nice and authentic tasting. Not at all greasy or dripping with cheese.

We found the drinks very expensive but on the whole it was pleasant.

Sorry, photos are here.

I keep losing my post

Here goes. Third times a charm.

Firstly, thank you for choosing us. We used our voucher to take our friends to dinner when we visited them last weekend.

There were 7 of us. 3 adults and 4 kids aged from 11 to 6 years.
We booked our table for 5pm on Saturday because of the size of our party and it's a good job we did. It was heaving within about half an hour of us being seated.

We ordered drinks. My dd ordered orange juice but as she's fussy about bits in hers, I had to ask for something else.
All the kids ate from the piccolo menu and all enjoyed the dough ball starter. Even the tomatoes and cucumber were shared around in a kitty type arrangement.

They all had pizza, either the margarita or American and, though the 11 year old thought it was on the small side, everyone thought they were tasty and all that was left was a half eaten slice which dd dropped on the floor.
The adults had a sloppy guisseppe which was described as marginally better than the supermarket version, and the leggera Padana which was lovely but seemed to be lacking in goats cheese from the last time I've had it. It was still very tasty though.

For dessert the kids had brownies which saw licked plates, and ds had the ice cream sundae which didn't last long at all.

The adults had the fudgy chocolate cake, a latte and I had the lemon posset crunch with an Americano.
I'd have liked a full size pudding as it was delicious but I was disappointed with my coffee. I ordered hot milk as I hate lukewarm coffee but, it took so long after the drinks were served for the milk and sugar to be brought to the table that it was almost cold.
It was also very weak tasting. I'm not convinced it wasn't instant to be honest.

Anyway, this was a let down at the end of a lovely meal. I enjoyed being able to treat my friends to dinner as I couldn't possibly have afforded to without the voucher.

Thank you so much for the opportunity and I hope I can do something similar again.