As I write this blog post I am sitting on a train. I’ve been doing an awful lot of this recently – those of you who follow me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, may have seen random pictures appearing from Leeds, Newcastle, Hull and Birmingham.
I can finally reveal a little of what’s been going on. I’ve been a judge for the Italian Awards – visiting ten different restaurants all over the country, clocking up the miles and the calories. I’ve eaten in cafes and restaurants, and found some real gems hidden away (more on that next week).
So it’s easy to see why I surprised even myself by agreeing to review Prezzo. That would be my 11th Italian restaurant in a month. Surely I’d eaten enough pasta, pizza and risotto to last me for a little while?
Apparently not. Which was how I found myself with Cheryl in Prezzo on Deansgate, post training session, appetite engaged, ready to eat my fill of the menu.
Prezzo is another Italian chain restaurant slowly populating the city. Along with Zizzis, Pizza Express, Bella Italia, and Ask! Italian, it seems we simply can’t get enough pasta and pizza. This Prezzo, the newest in the city is situated on Deansgate, a mere stone’s throw (across the road) from Bistro du Vin and the Barton Arcade, an area of the city about to experience a bit of an influx of new venues with both Lunya and Solita planning to open.
Inside is light and airy, for a Tuesday evening so close to payday, reasonably full, and as we made our way to our table, it was somewhat intriguing to see the range of people sitting down to dinner. From friends on girls night out, to business colleagues chatting facts and figures after a conference, to a couple on a date, it appears there was something for everyone.
For our starters we opted for a bit of a selection – appetites were in full force and so a selection including garlic bread, breaded mozzarella, prawns in chilli and tomato sauce and stuffed mushrooms were on the table.
The prawns were great, just cooked, sweet shellfish in spicy tomato sauce, and the garlic bread too was delicous – stringy cheese, dough that was both crisp and chewy, it didn’t take long for those carbohyrate sugars to rush around my system.
The mozzarella squares were lovely, but I think the oil should have been a touch hotter – the breadcrumbs weren’t quite as crisp as they could have been, though the cheese oozed just as it should.
The mushrooms were good, but I do tend to find them in general a little, well, soggy for want of a better word – it doesn’t seem to matter what they’re stuffed with, or how they’re cooked, I think that despite my love of fungi, the stuffed mushroom just doesn’t work as well as it should for me.
Onto mains, and I was rather excited. Throughout all the nominated restaurants I’d been to, I hadn’t yet allowed myself pizza. Instead, tonight was the night. Prezzo offers a range of pizza styles, including their orignal round pizza, to their light, which is a smaller flatbread pizza served with salad, to their V.I.Pizza – a long wide flatbread style, loaded with toppings.
I opted for an original Vesuvio – double pepperoni, chilli, mozzarella and tomato, with the extra addition of nduja sausage. I was going all out spicy.
Cheryl on the other hand opted for one of the Executive pizzas – a pizza with a pinstripe suit and cufflinks. Rare steak, red onion, cherry tomatoes, olives, bella lodi cheese and dressed rocket sat atop the classic mozzarella and tomato base.
It was big enough, and saturated with enough toppings to make my own look positively delicate.
This atop the large number of starters meant that we were soon overfaced. Luckily as Prezzo offer a takeaway option, there were boxes on hand to ensure Cheryl could take home the second half of her pizza for later.
For dessert, we both selected something a little lighter. For myself the cherry sorbet which offers a sweet yet sharp dessert – and as we all know iced desserts melt and fill the gaps left in your tummy after a meal. The sorbet was clean and light, yet satisfying flavour wise, lots of flavour for all it’s delicate texture.
Cheryl had selected the vanilla cheesecake with salted caramel from the mini desserts selection. Rich but small, and accompanied by a white hot chocolate, it was soon clear to see that the dense, buttery cheesecake with the creamy drink was a little heavy following the hefty meal we had consumed. I suspect the dessert too may have been packaged up for her to take home for later.
Overall, the food is good – yes, it’s a chain, and yes the pizza isn’t going to be as fabulous as at Altrincham market from a woodfired oven, and yes the food isn’t going to be as individual as you’d find in an independent venue.
But, as I’ve said before, for those days when you see a name you recognise and there’s no worry about consistency or if those in your party are going to find something they like. It’s easy.
This teatime post gym refuel was supplied for free by Prezzo. As ever, this doesn’t guarantee a positive review (if anything, I tend to be a harsher critic). In this case the experience was what we’d expected, bar one or two niggles from myself, and that cherry sorbet means I’ll need to revisit soon.