I’ll put it very honestly- the thought of a good-looking looking pizza really does make my day! I have never met anyone who isn’t a pizza fan, so when I was invited to review the all-new summer menu at PizzaExpress, Nehru Place I couldn’t be more happier after all. This casual dining restaurant has tastefully crafted a summer menu that boasts the best of both Italian and Hawaiian flavours.
PizzaExpress has a very warm vibe associated with it. Just as you enter the place, you’ll love the interiors that make it look like a perfect casual dining restaurant and not really a pizza place.
The food here is typically Italian but totally different from anything else I have eaten. The non veg platter, Antipasto Pollo e Gambero doesn't disappoint. It has fresh, warm, pesto marinated chicken, prawns on skewers along with peppadew, roasted tomatoes, and fresh buffalo mozzarella served with basil pesto, pesto rosso and dough sticks. The prawns along with the pesto rosso are super tasty. The drinks boasts of the right hint of flavours, and we recommend you to try their Ginger Fresca that has a kick of fresh ginger served with mint, green lime & ginger ale. Also try their Sunrise Iced Tea - a mock-tail iced tea featuring orange, pineapple juice and fresh mint that you'll love pairing with your food.
You’ll find that the summer menu truly stays true to the key seasonal ingredients such as pineapple, lamb and prawns combined with Hawaiian essences.
When it comes to tantalizing pastas, I think I have found a new favourite. The Penne con Peppadew is not your regular white sauce pasta. Chargrilled veggies and chicken chunks tossed in creamy white sauce with tangy sweet peppadew is an absolute win. The Grand chicken ceaser salad is not that special and I now think that I should have tried their another acclaimed salad- Poached Pear & Goat’s Cheese Salad. Anyhow the Dough Balls Doppio is an example of what perfect dough balls need to look and taste like! The fluffy yet soft portion of dough balls comes with a trio of dips- pesto, pesto rosso (an absolute favourite) and garlic butter.
Spiedini di Gambero didn’t have hard-hitting flavors and I’d simply prefer Antipasto Pollo e Gambero to it because it gives a lot more flavours to gorge on. A vegan must have is the white whine creamy, Risotto Mio that also stars woody mushrooms, fresh parsley, garlic oil, crunchy pine nuts- outright delish!
For mains we ordered the much talked about Pizzas. The menu for pizza has been designed to include seasonal and variety of ingredients in every category. Calabrese is freshly made thin crust pizza that had a subtle woody smokiness, with a cheeky touch of cheese, red chillies, jalapenos, red & yellow pepper, rocket pesto, emilgrana, baby mozzarella with Italian sausage. The best part is that you can personalize your own pizzas here.
The remarkable part of the meal was the (chicken) Romana pizza. Biting into a thin sliced pizza using my hands, I loved how bigger, thinner and crispier the pizza was and the toppings had retained it's flavor. Also do give their Lamb Polpette pizza a try.
We were stuffed by the time dessert arrived! Being a caramel hoarder, the classic banoffee pie was a heaven in the plate. I love how this place lays equal importance to all the dishes on their menu and that’s why I have to say that PizzaExpress is a lot more than the pizzas!
Service: The staff is extremely friendly and the service can become a bit more prompt.
Cost: Meal for two costs around INR 1600/-
Final Rating: 8/10