PizzaExpress Feedback Thread - See what MNers and their DCs think of the new summer Piccolo menu at PizzaExpress! NOW CLOSED

[EmmaMumsnet]

PizzaExpress asked us to find 50 Mumsnetters with a DC aged 5-12 to go to their local PizzaExpress to try the new additions to their summer Piccolo menu and experience the new activity pack. While in restaurant, they unleashed their creativity and entered the Dough Ball Adventure story writing competition. Read the comments below to find out what they thought!

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.”

Testers - to be in with a chance of winning free pizza for a year (£300 PizzaExpress voucher)! please post your feedback on the thread below, including answers to these questions:

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it?
2. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why?
3. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?
4. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about?
5. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not?

Thanks and good luck,

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

I went with my 3 year old, 5 year old and 7 year old and 12 year old.

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it?

They all had the same the cheese/tomato pizza and the garlic dough balls and brownie for dessert. The pizza is a good size, there is enough dough balls and the brownie seemed small they said it was 'strong' (I think they mean rich!) so I think a bigger one would have been too much. They all enjoyed it very much and ate it all. They like seeing the man making all the dough through his little window.

1. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why?

Yes, I would, its nice to have the pizza freshly made as you order and the kids made a safe choice with the toppings but they liked it a lot. Its nice to have a meal, a side and something for after.

1. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?

They enjoyed doing the colouring in. Its nice to have little things like that to make children welcome.

1. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about?

We didn't see this so they didn't do it?

1. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not?

Yes it is, it is nicely decorated and clean, the tables are good sized for families and the menu is good for children. The staff are nice, we didn't have to wait ages for our food as that can be a problem when children get 'hangry'! We don't often go out to eat so it was fun for us.

Thank you again for letting us be testers.

We went to the Norwich one in the Forum. It was myself Dh, DD's 1 , 2 and 3 (17,10 and 3) and DS's 2 and 3 (16 and 11)

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it?

She (dd2 - 10) had the dough balls, Margherita pizza, and the brownie with gelato and a bambincino. - She absolutely loved it, particularly the brownie.

1. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why?

Yes I would, I think they have sensible choices which most children would eat, for a reasonable price.

1. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?

As you can see from the photos, it kept them busy while we waited for the food. DD really enjoyed the crossword and wordsearch.

1. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about?

She has just about finished it. Hers is about a doughball that escapes and spends ages trying not to be eaten by lots of people and animals along the way. There was nothing about it in the pack as far as we could see, but it was in an email I received a few days later.

1. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not?

Yes I would.
There are lots of food choices. Ds3 chose to have a small starter sized portion instead of a typical children's meal.
They were as quick as could be in a busy restaurant, and nothing was too much trouble. For instance the boys wanted more doughballs, and they quickly brought some. DD3 dropped her fork and they got one immediately.
All the staff were very friendly and efficient.

All I would say is it would have to be for a special occasion as it was over £100 for us all, so not something we could do very regularly.

Thank you Pizza Express and Mumsnet for asking us to take part. We really enjoyed it.

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it?
DD (7) had the Pollo Salad, and loved it, DS (3) had a Margherita Pizza and enjoyed it, once it had cooled down
2. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why?
Definitely, it has some nice options, rather than just pizza, and it's reasonably priced
3. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?
DD loved it and it definitely kept her busy, DS loved the stickers, although we were quite surprised to find that his had actually been used (all the puzzles inside completed) which felt a bit ick
4. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about?
DD has entered and her story is about a unicorn hunting dough ball
5. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not?
Yes, my only comment to Pizza Express would be to let, especially the kids pizzas, cool a bit before serving, all the food was brought out at the same time, but DS's pizza was so hot that we had to wait ages, blowing it to cool down enough for him to eat it.

Thanks for this opportunity to try Pizza Express, which both me and DD1 (8) and DD2 (5) thoroughly enjoyed.

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it?
They both had doughballs/margarita pizza/brownies and they really enjoyed them all.

2. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why?
I would yes, I thought it was good value and very tasty with enough choice to please anyone.

3. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?
The kids loved it to the extent that it was actually quite hard to get them to put it down and start eating when the food arrived.

4. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about?
No, we didn't notice this. shame as DD1 would have loved it.

5. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not?
Very much so, due to the very relaxed atmosphere and the excellent activity pack, as well as the appealing food.

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it?

My DD (11) has a big appetite so ordered from the adult menu, bug friend's younger DS who we took with us had garlic dough balls, marguerite pizza and a brownie for pudding. They both loved it, the portions were quite generous.

1. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why?

Yes, there was lots of choices and it was good value for money.

1. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?

The younger one liked the stickers, and DD enjoyed helping him with the word search. The pencils were a bit crap, lots were broken.

1. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about?

No, I don't remember seeing anything about a story competition. DD would have enjoyed that.

1. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not

Yes definitely, the service was quick (though we went at a very quiet time), kids portions are generous and offer plenty of choice and the prices are reasonable.

Thank you so much for picking us, the children were super excited as we hadn't been to Pizza Express before. We went to Pizza Express at the Forum in Norwich, in fact they enjoyed it so much we went twice!

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it?

There was only 1 starter which was the garlic dough balls, my son had these, the margarita pizza, (pepperoni the second time we went), and the ice lolly. He really enjoyed the dough balls, said the margarita pizza was ok and really enjoyed the pepperoni one. The pizzas were a similar size to the small ones you buy in the chilled dept of a supermarket and just the right size. He also really enjoyed the ice lolly.

1. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why? Yes, it's very good value and good size portions. The dough balls came with a small side of cherry tomatoes and cucumber as well. The waitress was very friendly and helpful and happy to give us more time to order. The foodooked like it had been cooked just right.

1. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?

This was probably his favourite part! He started doing it straightaway and it seemed to be pitched to the right level for him (he's 8). It kept him occupied throughout the entire meal meaning that I could enjoy my food 😀 He really enjoyed the wordsearch, drawing his own dough ball character, and all the other activities. I was impressed with how much they had fitted into it.

1. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about?

Yes he wrote about two dough ball characters who were selected to join the England football team 😀 He often doesn't like writing and it takes a lot to motivate him and get him started so I was pleasantly surprised.

1. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not?

My only criticisms would be that the tables are very small and cluttered and I was really worried about my son knocking a glass off the table. My second criticism is that, although we were served very quickly, it took them absolutely ages to produce the bill and then come back for payment (the waitress was walking off as I was trying to hand her the voucher) so my son got a bit fed up. Overall though I would consider it a family restaurant as the staff were generally helpful and accommodating, the menu was good and well priced, and the activity pack was excellent.

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it?

Dough balls and ham and mushroom pizza. Would have liked to have a choice of starter. Dd loved it and enjoyed dipping in the butter

1. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why?

Yes because the food is lovely and the portions are right

1. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?

Loved the activities - there was plenty to keep Dd happy and the dough ball character stickers were fun

1. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about?

No, she didn't want to write anything in the restaurant, too much concentration required. I think that's something to do later at home. I did ask her what the story would be about if she was to write one and she said a land made of food like Willy Wonka's but savoury!

1. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not?

Yes, very. Lots of space, entertainment, quick service and friendly staff

Thanks again for the voucher!

Thanks for the opportunity to have a nice meal out with my dc and 4 of our friends too. Was nice being able to treat them all for once.

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it?

All 4 dc had dough balls and, after various swaps of cucumber and tomatoes, it was all eaten. Including shameless licking of the garlic butter bowls
Followed by pizza, 2 margaritas and 2 American. Then there were 3 brownies and a strawberry sundae for pud.

1. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why?

Well not much was left bar half a slice of pizza which fell on the floor. We had an 11 year old and a 9 year old with a big appetite with us and we were a little concerned the portion sizes were on the small side, but everyone was full and satisfied at the end of the meal. So yes, I would recommend it.

1. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?

TBH I didn't notice a massive difference. I have always thought the hats are a nice touch and different from elsewhere. Stickers also good too. The activity sheet had enough to entertain between courses too.

1. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about?

We didn't enter but my youngest (6) enjoyed the design your own doughball superhero activity.

1. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not?

Yes, definitely. But I also like that it doesn't dumb down for the kids. It's a nice environment compared to other "family friendly" places. It is usually a euphemism for cheap, slightly unclean looking, bad quality food serving establishments. If I'm given the choice of places to eat pizza it is always my number one choice. Thanks once again for a lovely meal which otherwise would have been beyond my means.

We went as a four with DH, myself, DD and DS. DD is only 2 so I'm supposed to write about DS's experiences I think but we all had a good time.

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it? He had dough balls and pizza, followed by ice cream. Loved it all.

1. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why? Definitely - my children always eat really well in pizza express and I think the options are suitable for even quite fussy (and not fussy) kids.

1. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?

I felt there was more to keep older children occupied than before, like the crossword - it was good.

1. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about? I was a bit confused by the competition to be honest. We were given a sort of postcard thing about it in the restaurant but the competition has to be written into a website online. It didn't feel like it streamed very well from getting it in the restaurant to entering. Due to confusion we didn't fill it in in the restaurant. At home, my son keep saying he will enter and has started a story but I can't seem to make him finish!

1. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not?

Yes because the activities are good, staff usually good/patient with kids, lots of other families go (so fewer concerns about noise), food is good for them and more importantly food is good for ME!

Thanks for the opportunity to go!

Fucksakefay yep a girl mask and a boy mask not that my 2yr old cared particularly but obviously the almost 7yr old said why has J got a girl one I hadn't noticed initially as don't go in for "girls/boys" stuff especially activity packs it paper and pens 😂

We visited Pizza Express at Westfield in Stratford on a Sunday early evening , 3 mums and 3 kids, who are all 6.

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it?

My DD had the dough balls, a margarita pizza and a brownie, washed down with apple juice. She really enjoyed her food and finished every last crumb, it was delicious.

1. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why?

Yes I think it is good value for money and the food choices cater to kids' tastes.

1. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?

The activity pack was great, my DD enjoyed the cut out masks the most.

1. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about?

I wasn't aware there was a competition, so no and to be honest at 6 years old it would still be a bit of a challenge for her.

1. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not?

Yes, in general. BUT here is the catch, the wait for food was ridiculously long and the restaurant was only half full. It spoilt the whole experience. When we arrived the drinks order was taken quickly but we then had to wait a long time for the waiter to come back. He took our food order and the kids starters arrived quickly, adults did not have starters. That's when the problem really kicked in. We had to wait around 25 min after kids finished the starters for the mains to arrive. As you can imagine this didn't go down well with them, the kids had already pretty much used up the activity packs while we waited to order. Tears, tantrums and arguments followed and eventually the food came after we had asked the waiter twice. He assured us it was being cooked in the order orders were taken...I doubt this but if true it makes it even worse because it suggests their service is consistently snail paced. After we ate no one came to clear our table or take the dessert order..eventually we sent one of the kids to get the waiter who told us he couldn't take the order yet because he was making desserts for someone else so I asked for the manager. The manager came and I told him that all I really wanted was for the by then extremely grumpy kids to get their deserts asap so we could go home. Thankfully that happened and we got 20% off our bill as well. However, I'd much rather have had swift service and happy kids so I will think twice about visiting Pizza Express again, or at least this particular branch.

We went to the Pizza Express in Street. We had had a long afternoon buying school shoes and were in the middle of a week's holiday camping nearby. The children were all excited, not only to be eating out as this has become a rare event for us, but also as we had just been spending some holiday money in The Works so they all had new small toys (including putty!) To top that, I have a broken ankle so we probably looked a motley crew but the staff were all lovely and we had a lovely experience.

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it?

All three had the dough balls to start, they all had pizza (2 American and 1 margarita) and then 2 had the brownie to finish and one had the sundae. They all enjoyed their meals and there were empty plates all round. DD1 (who is nearly 11) is probably ready to have a larger pizza but we would end up taking/leaving some as she is unlikely to actually manage all of it. DD2 (who is 8 would probably also like a larger pizza just because this is one of the places where she likes pizza as she is not usually a fan. DS (who is 4) found it to be the right size. The dough balls are one of their favourites things - we occasionally buy them at the supermarket as a treat to cook at home. I had an adult portion and both DDs had an extra by swapping their tomatoes for my doughballs! DS loved the salad as tomatoes and cucumbers are two of his favourites. He actually prefers the salad to the doughballs but all were eaten. The brownies went down really well as did the little chocolate sundae. We did have to ask for bambinochinos but, when they came, DD1 enjoyed them all (the other two are not fans of hot milk but DD1 loves these - DD2 would really love it if it was a mini hot chocolate, DS has no interest in hot drinks at all).

1. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why?

It is really nice that the children get a proper menu that looks like a mini version of the real menu. The food is all mini versions of the adult food which is another plus. For three courses, it is good value but the price really goes up once you add drinks. DD1 had a coke and DS had a juice carton (DD2 only drinks water which was free). The drinks were okay but all bar DS topped up with water after as we only had one drink each.

1. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?

The children all enjoyed the activity packs (and meant it was easy to get the putty put away with no fuss). DD2 and DS enjoyed colouring in their masks and chef hats. DD1 and DD2 both enjoyed the puzzles on the pack - many of which were beyond DS. DS especially was impressed with the crayons as he had never seen such things before. he spent some time experimenting how far out he could wind them. DDs both expressed preference for these crayons than others as they don't need sharpening and do no snap. DD2 and DS also enjoyed adding the stickers to their doughball and we brought all of the stuff home (well, back to the tent, although not sure any of it actually made it home).

1. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about?

As we were on holiday, neither DD was interested in entering the writing competition. Had we been at home, I expect they would have been more enthusiastic as we could have followed up straightaway. However, we saw nothing about the competition in all of the stuff the children were given.

1. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not?

We have enjoyed eating at Pizza Express as a family in the past. We have celebrated special occasions their with family and friends and both DDs have chosen to go their with me during one-to-one days out in the past. The staff where we went on holiday, and in our local restaurant in the past, have always been very good and never fuss about having children at the table (or in the vicinity). That said, we were surprised at how expensive the bill was in the end - although as we had the voucher, I had a starter and both DP and I had a coffee with the small dessert. I think these and the drinks certainly add to the price which would have been too much for us normally. However, for a special occasion it was very nice.

Thank you for the voucher as this enabled us to have a special treat in the middle of a holiday.

We had SUCH a good time, thank you for picking us!

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it? Pepperoni and ham pizza! With dough balls and veggies to start, and a brownie for dessert.

2. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why? Yes. It was a bargain price for three filling courses, and the DC loved the food. Every scrap was eaten!

3. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack? It was really good! It kept the 7 year old entertained from start to finish and we really enjoyed doing the activities. There was loads to do, and stickers too.

4. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about? We weren't given any info on this, so no.

5. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not? YES! We had a proper, lovely meal out as a family and for once the DC weren't bored!

Thank you :)

I didn't see any information about the story competition either, and I looked on the activity sheets. Is this something we can still do?

(had a lovely time though, will do feedback later)

Or is it just that we do it online and it's not really anything to do with the meal/activity pack? [easily confused]

I have never noticed any difference between the activity packs. I have 3DC (2 girls and 1boy) and they have always been given exactly the same thing. It is the sort of thing mine would notice - DD1 would not want anything targeted for girls if it was pink/princessy/fluffy animals. DD2 definitely would want anything targeted at girls if there was the option. DS would also prefer a super hero version if there was one on offer.

It was online cag

Oops thanks mermaids! :o

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it?

DS had the dough balls and pizza -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.

1. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why?

Yes it had good choices and good sized portions

1. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?

DD really enjoyed it, especially the hat

1. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about?

No, maybe if we had not been so busy with childcare/holiday clubs then going away ourselves for few days

1. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not?

Yes very, our waitress was very friendly and DS and DD were very relaxed.

Thanks for picking us to sample the menu - we had a lovely time and the kids ate everything up so it was very successful indeed.

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it?

Yes, both kids chose dough balls, pepperoni pizza and the sundae - all was wolfed down.

1. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why?

Yes it seems more of a 'grown up' menu to most chain restaurants - the food is really tasty and the portion size is good. The kids can have what the adults have more or less and I think they like the idea that they can do that.

1. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?

We thought it was great and the kids were suitably engaged throughout the meal (we have a very fidgety little boy who is sometimes a challenge in restaurants). One thing I would say about the activity pack is that I don't like the answers to the puzzles written underneath - the kids just cheat!

1. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about?

Yes both kids entered. Our 9 year old wrote a story about some dough balls visiting a holiday park and the 8 year old wrote about a dough ball in the pouch of a kangaroo jumping around Australia! They both enjoyed entering - and the fact it was only 200 characters made them more inclined to do it!

1. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not?

Yes definitely - for all the reasons above. There are always loads of kids in there which is proof that the 'formula' works. The staff look after the children well and it is always a lovely atmosphere.

We went to the Chelmsford Pizza Express a couple of weeks ago - myself, DH & the 3 DSes (8, 6 & 3). Overall, we were impressed with the experience. The food was good & it was good value for money (especially as we managed to combine the gift card with voucher codes found online). The only small gripe was that service was very slow & the DC started to get a bit irritated, but I guess this is to be expected on a Saturday at 5-6pm.

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it? All 3 DSes had dough balls to start, which they really enjoyed. They felt grown-up having their own little dish of dough balls & crudites They also liked the veg to crunch on & I felt it was a nice healthy addition. For main course, DS1 had mushroom pasta, DS2 had pizza & DS3 had Pasta bolognese. They all enjoyed their dishes, DS1 (8) said his was 'brilliant' & it is his new favourite! For dessert, DS1 had brownie, DS2 had ice cream & DS3 had an ice lolly. Again, they all enjoyed it & I felt there was a good variety of desserts, something for everybody even if there are allergies or other dietary requirements. They loved the bambinochino too.

1. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why? Yes, I would recommend it as it is a varied & healthy menu with plenty of choice. It is nice to find something different to the usual chicken nuggets & sausages! Also, there is a good pack with plenty to keep the children entertained while they are waiting for their food.

1. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack? DS1 loved it & would give it 10/10 because it's 'epic'. He likes that it keeps him busy & there are lots of different things to do. The other DC (6 & 3) enjoyed the stickers & colouring.

1. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about? They did not enter it, they were too busy enjoying the other bits!

1. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not? Yes, I think it is family friendly as there is a good menu there for children & plenty to keep them entertained. There are also lots of families at the restaurant at peak times eg around lunchtime & 5-6pm.

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!

I posted my review and photos on the original thread, but here are my answers to the questions:

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it?

Dough balls, Margherita pizza, ice cream. Loved it all - the little salad looked very nice and went down well, and the babyccino served in an espresso cup on the side of the ice cream was a nice touch.

2. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why?

Yes I would. I didn't particularly notice a difference from the old menu though (except for the babyccino). I think we've had the Piccolo menu at Pizza Express about three times - it's really good, and well-priced too.

3. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?

I think this might vary according to location, but I didn't notice a massive difference - there were new puzzles of course, and we got a glasses mask this time rather than a chef's hat (I think I prefer the chef's hat, which we've had in the past). The stickers looked the same as usual - they are nice stickers.

4. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about?

No, 7yo doesn't yet have the concentration (or the inclination) for that sort of thing.

5. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not?

Yes, very much so. The restaurants are clean and well-provided with high chairs, baby change etc. Obviously having a great, well-priced children's menu is a big signal, as is the activity pack. There are usually other children in the restaurant. The opening hours are also good - you can (and we do) go and have dinner there at 5.30pm. Despite the family-friendly tag, it does feel like a venue for a special occasion - especially our local, which is very clean and new, and where the staff are great. It is our usual venue for birthday meals out.

Didn't do the MN trial of new menu but have eaten in PE with kids and lots of other chain restaurants over summer.
Sorry to say, I have several unfavourable comparisons to make.

• It is very unusual for a kids meal not to include a drink with the meal - yes there is a bambicino at the end of the meal but they want a drink with their meal so this adds an extra £1.50 to the meal, making it a pretty expensive kids meal. Think this is a deliberate ploy to get more money out of parents.
• pizzas v small for kids of 8/9. Fine for little kids, but you wouldn't expect to have to buy an a adult meal for an 8/9 year old. Many Italian chains offer much bigger pizzas or offer two menus - one for tiny kids and one for bigger ones.
• Other places with an equally good restaurant experience but better menu or price include Frankie and Benny - £4.25 for 3 courses and drink. Excellent value. BElla Italia offers huge choice on menu, including any adult pasta in a child portion size, plus unlimited cordials or a good choice of 1 fruit juice or other options. Think it was £6.50.

Food is good in Pizza Express. Restaurants are pleasant and good service, but these things are true of most chain restaurants. Faced with a High Street with a choice of several chain, Pizza Express would be low down my list for a meal with a 4 and 9 year old, because I know I will have to pay extra for drinks and the meal won't be big enough for the 9 year old. I think they have become a bit complacent and including a drink and making the pizzas a bit bigger would make all the difference. It's a competitive market, there's lots of choice, so they need to stay ahead of the game and not slip behind.