Prezzo Italian Restaurants

I will never be snobby about chain restaurants, especially ones that serve Italy's most delicious dishes. So, when Prezzo invited me to try their summer menu I was there quicker than you can say arancini, or pizza, or gelato, or indeed - prosecco. 

I visited the St. Martin's Lane branch with a friend, which is a five minute walk from both Leicester Square and Charing Cross tube stations. It's a light airy place, all beech wood floors and taupe leather seats. I ordered the Porn Star Martini (top picture) which came with a shot of prosecco, hell yeah! I've since been told that this cocktail always comes with a 'side car of prosecco', and frankly, I think all drinks should. For starters my friend had the salmon arancini, which she declared to be fresh and delicious, and I had the bruschetta (above) with peas and beans in a scrummy mint and lemon dressing, with a slice of crumbled goats cheese on top. 

For our mains my friend chose the Chicken Milanese (above), which came with a small dish of spaghetti bolognese. She was delighted with having 'two dinners' and thought everything was delicious. I didn't read the menu properly and ordered what I thought was a mushroom pizza, itt turned out to be a pizza with mushroom béchamel sauce (above). It's good to try new things, but it didn't change my love of traditional tomato and cheese pizza. When the waitress saw I'd left half of it uneaten she asked if everything was okay, I explained that it was a bit rich for me, and she picked it up and walked off without saying anything. My friend laughed that maybe she had made it personally. I think if you like really good pizza base and very creamy sauces, this choice would be heaven for you. 

Dessert was divine. My friend went for the orange polenta cake, which she declared to be both traditional and scrumptious, and I, of course, went for a chocolate fest. I had two mini calzones with banana and Nutella and a scoop of chocolate gelato. The savoury pizza dough worked really well with the sweet, warm Nutella - so, so good! 

If you're in the West End of London I really recommend visiting this Prezzo, but check out their website for other London and nationwide branches. It's clean, friendly, and there's so much choice that we were reading the menu for a good ten minutes - pizza, pasta, seafood, steak, burgers, you name it. The summer menu is all about fresh, light tastes, and the kids' menu is incredibly reasonably priced. If Italian carbs are calling your name, head to Prezzo, pronto.