For a girly-catch up with my friends a couple of weeks ago, we visited the Deep Pan Pizza across from our local cinema (Bently Mill). Realistically this was a budget visit, mainly for social reasons and, of course, to grab a bite to eat, so this review will concentrate mainly on that.
The branch we visited is part of a small gaggle of food places, all situated around a mini road-island. There was only a small amount of parking really, but even though it was a Friday night, there was no trouble in finding in a space.
Since this restaurant is literally just across the road from the cinema, it has a movie theme to it, which is a variation on the typical branches of Deep Pan Pizza. The walls are adorned with black and white photographs of movie stars, and there are clapper-boards and such things used as decoration. Quite a nice touch, especially when tying it in with a film.
We were seated fairly near to the bar-kitchen area and I presume that this seating was done to allow space from other diners
who were fairly spread out to allow privacy while the restaurant was fairly empty. Unfortunately it allowed us to get a bad impression of some the staff, who seemed to resent our presence and were not very discreet when refererring to us. The waitress who served us, however, was lovely. Very friendly, couldn't do enough for us and service with a big smile. We were impressed, and started to decide what to eat.
The menu is extensive and offers starters, side orders, many types of pizza, pasta dishes, sickly-sounding deserts and a small selection of beverages. After a brief glance through it, however, the three of us decided to go with the "All You Can Eat" buffet, which offers various pizzas, a full salad bar, hot pasta and garlic bread, and basically offers "all you can eat" for only £5.49.
Our waitress took our drinks orders, and was unperturbed by the fact it had taken us a little while to make up our minds because we were occupied by conversation. However, she soon scurried back to request ID from my non-driving friend who had ordered an over-priced Bud (not much short of £3). She was very apologetic in it, claiming her manager had demanded it, but this can be quite embarrassing, and since it is something which rarely seems to happen in restaurants we weren't too pleased.
After we had ordered, she returned with cutlery and slightly-warmed plates since the buffet is serve-yourself. There are two main buffet "tables". The first, is the salad bar, which consists of regular salad stuffs like lettuce, tomatoes, etc, but also has pasta salads, potatoe salads, salads with various dressings, which gives a vary extensive and varied choice. The second, is a heated "hot plate" type affair which contains big plates of various pizzas including different crush types, such as margerita, and toppings like pepperoni, ham and onions, peppers etc. Also included is that lovely pizza base garlic bread. For the health-conscience amongst us, be reassured that there are plenty of implements to keep grubby fingers away from the food when putting it onto your plate.
The buffet is constantly refreshed throughout the day and evening since it runs during most hours, though as some more guests were entering around 8.30pm, staff were dashing to the manager to check whether the buffet was still running, and by the time we had left it had all been cleared away. Slightly disappointing, however, was the size of the plates. They were quite small, meaning that you couldn't put as much food on as you may have wanted, and so a second trip may be in order. No comment was made about revisiting the buffet, so we assumed this was acceptable, especially considering the meagre size of the plates.
The food itself was good. The pizza was lovely and soft, had a nice crispy but moist crust, which is good for those of us who can take-or-leave pizza crust. The toppings were plentiful, gave a good flavour to the pizza and were complimented by all of the various salad available. The potato salad was lovely and creamy but quite average, but everything else was very enjoyable.
We had another drink after the meal but no desert since we were full, and the staff were very accommodating and did not try to bundle us out the door, instead cleared away the plates and let us sit, talk and enjoy our drinks for around 30 minutes (we were wasting time before the film started, but the restaurant was not busy, so we didn't feel as though we were imposing). The bill came to around £10 a head with a tip on top, which is not bad at all considering the amount of food we could have eaten.
I did visit the toilets, which were immaculate. Bright, clean and dry. No complaints there! There were plenty of staff milling around, but not in an annoying manner. They kept their distance until required, but were quick to clear away plates. Also, I noted a pick-up service available for take-away pizzas which would be something to bear in mind if living near-by, especially due to the high-quality of the service.
Overall the food was great, the waitress was friendly, the restaurant was clean, nicely decorated and comfortable. Definitely recommended for informal meals, whether evening or afternoon.
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