Entertainment | Dining Guide | Pizza Piazza
Pizza Piazza, Warwick |
Pizza Piazza, Jury Street, Warwick (Now Pizza Express)
Set in the heart of Warwick, Pizza Piazza is an outwardly-endearing and informal-looking Italian-style restaurant.
Inside the restaurant has character, with wooden beams and a charming farmhouse-inn style.
My dining companion and I had booked to sit in the smoking area - but soon changed our minds when we were seated in a dark, cold corner looking into the friendlier no-smoking area. Staff were very accommodating, despite the no smoking area being considerably busier.
Here we felt much happier, although perhaps a little disappointed at the limited range of pasta dishes on offer as main courses. However, there was a considerable choice for vegetarians.
We were more than satisfied with our tasty and generous-sized starters, my friend having chosen the funghi al forno - oven baked garlic mushrooms with parmesan gratin - and I having chosen the pollo vesuvio - chicken baked in spicy Sicilian sauce served with garlic dough fans.
However, we were a little concerned and baffled at the restaurant's insistence on adding Red Leicester cheese to many of the dishes on offer.
For main courses, we had both settled on a pizza. I was set on having the stonebaked style sorrento, which had spicy beef, pepperoni, meatballs, onions and peppers, while my partner chose the classic and more traditional La Reine, topped with ham, pineapple and mushrooms.
While we were not unhappy with the food on offer, we agreed it was not out-out-of-this world, although we washed it down with a very good and reasonably priced bottle of house white.
Our earlier misgivings about the lack of atmosphere in the restaurant began to fade as the meal went on and we began to relax.
For dessert I knew immediately what to pick - hot chocolate fudge cake with near-perfect vanilla ice-cream, while my partner enjoyed the banoffee pie.
We did have slight niggles about the experience - I had to ask for a clean fork for my starter and they forgot to bring us cutlery and parmesan for the main course - but the food was perfectly acceptable for the price.
Pizza Piazza is fine for an informal mid-week meal with friends and provides fair standard of food at a very reasonable price.
It is perhaps not the ideal venue for a grand occasion or special celebration, but our whole meal, including wine, came to just under £43 pounds - and we could not grumble at that.
Our rating: 3/5
