Pizza Express

Not sure how this happened but hit this eatery on our 4^th night in London. But this resulted in the 3^rd chain eatery in 4 nights?!? Yeowwwee…
Well circumstance will dictate how things happen and in this case we were actually heading for the White Swan and Cuckoo since we had such a nice time there a few nights back only to find that at 7pm the kitchen was closed, even though, the sign inside the pub stated food served till 9pm. Well there were 5 of us including two twin toddlers, 4 years old so we had to do something quick.
This Pizza Express was across the street and was really to the rescue so point there. The insdie décor was inviting, ie. large high ceiling two story restaurant with a modern feel to it. Plenty of diners in this evening so all good although the lower floor was empty only to be travelled since the loo was downstairs.
Service was satisfactory, maybe on the slow side but on a busy night, that is to be expected. What was also reinforced was food is served as is ready as opposed to all at once like what occurs in the states. I didn’t take note of this when it occurred earlier in the trip but it is common practice here. Fine no big deal especially since it was the kiddie meals making it out first, always a good thing with hungry kids.
I’m sorry Emma m. doesn’t seem to take to having children present when she goes out to dine. This fact was a winner in my mind since taking the kids out is something important for families with children. This restaurant was indeed inviting in that regard. And since the downstaiir area was open, I told the kids let’s go downstairs so they could run around freely without restraint. That worked great!
Okay, 5 paragraphs without mentioning anything about the food?!? Well it was just fine for all. I had the spicy signature pizza Francesco, Mazzei Calabrese since I wanted sausage with a kick. This was great, spicy sausage pizza with chiles, peppers, Rocket adorning this tasty dish. Our cousin had the Pollo ad Astra which was a spicy chicken pizza which he enjoyed very much. In fact we both enjoyed our pizza very much we finished them completely. Kids had American Pizza (simple yet classic pepperoni pizza which they devoured) but also had the pasta dish with simple pesto alfredo type sauce that they interestingly didn’t care too much for. The thrid adult in our party had the Risotto d’Oro and Leggero Superfood salad. Both were big hits without complaint and actually raved about. Add a large Peroni and a great meal is had. Cool.
Anyway, it is a good restaurant, nice venue with good food and family friendly so will work for many people. The minority like Emma M. who don’t tolerate children, although this night was not as crazy as she describes it (our toddlers were the loudest in the restaurant this evening), should find a higher end restaurant where you pay for a quiet experience.

I usually love Pizza Express — as a chain they serve good food, tell you the calories and carry skimmed milk. All very positive in my view. However, the things that differentiate individual restaurants are the service, layout and ambience.
This particular Pizza Express is seriously lacking in two areas. The building itself is very pretty, bright, large with high ceilings and wooden floors. However, whenever I have been there, there have also been many many families with many many kids running around. Now, I don’t mind children per se… in fact there are quite a few I would go so far as to say I love… but I don’t expect to have supper in the middle of a crèche/​adventure playground where my table is fair game as a small fort.
I suggested to the manager that we sit on the opposite side to the total carnage that was the ‘open’ side, but he said that the area I was pointing to was closed. I asked if he could open it, but to no avail.
It was the very last time I shall ever go there. It was impossible to talk over the noise of excited screams, impossible not to concentrate on our drinks to stop them going flying as yet another child used our table to stop themselves mid-​slide, and simply impossible.
The service was also painfully slow. I needed a fair bit of alcohol to get through that meal without throttling someone (toss up between the manager, parents or kids) and it was a good ten minutes between every request and every delivery.
So, if you have boisterous children that need to let off steam, then do come to this restaurant. Beware though, almost every child seemed to leave screaming — and of course it took 15 minutes to get the bill for each person, so that added delightfully to the ambience.

Pizza Express Wapping is not your usual bland Pizza Express. For a start it’s in a beautiful building, set over two levels, exposed beams and brickwork abound.
The baby grand piano in the downstairs bar is occasionally put to good use — more often on a Saturday night — and they’ve recently had an excellent pianist/​vocalist performing.
You’ll find the standard Pizza Express menu here, though I have noticed that they’re attempting to update this on a seasonal basis.
The staff are a bit hit and missseveral of them try to remember orders rather than write them down, with occasional disastrous consequences. They’re a friendly bunch generally though, which almost makes up for it.
The bar downstairs can be an nice alternative to the upstairs restaurant, though you can access the same menu. I used to enjoy their draught Peroni beer, but sadly this hasn’t been available the last few times I’ve visited. There is a bottled alternative, but at over £5 a bottle, I’d think twice