I am a chocoholic from Australia. I also love snowboarding, skiing and bands.
I am a chocoholic from Australia. I also love snowboarding, skiing and bands.
Member since:07.06.2002
Reviews:13
Members who trust:12
Ahhhh, Melbourne, Australia. La Porchetta pizza. I thought there was no other pizza restaurant like it in the world outside Italy. However, I was wrong. Enter Pizza Express.
My very first Pizza Express experience happened on my very first day in London! We left the airport and hit Putney Pizza Express on the way to my new home. The pizza choice was a surprise. The toppings provided an interesting collection of pizzas as well as a few old favourites. As a vegetarian, I was delighted at the wide selection of non-meaty pizzas available.
My friends who took me to the Putney restaurant were seasoned Pizza Express goers. They suggested I start with dough balls which they described as "like garlic bread, but in a ball". Well, yes, it is garlic-y - and bready - but garlic bread it is not! It is so much nicer. Small balls of just-baked dough, soft on the inside and squeezy on the outside, accompanied by a dish of garlic butter. This means that you can choose just how much garlic and butter to consume with each dough ball. I like to stick a fork in a whole dough ball, then twirl it lightly from an angle into the butter dish. This provides even but light coverage, keeping garlic breath down to a minimum. One of my friends chose to cut hers in half, then knife as much butter on as possible because she likes the garlic more than the dough. This is the flexibility offered by the dough ball.
I could finish here because dough balls justify any visit to Pizza Express. However, there's a few other important points. Namely, eggs, lettuce and chocolate cake.
I've read in these reviews that fried egg and pizza don't belong together. I completely agree with this; however, Pizza Express pizzas do not come with fried eggs. The eggs are broken directly onto the pizza and baked along with it. In addition, you can specify if you would like your egg yolk soft or hard. The waiting staff may not ask you so you have to let them know sometimes. An egg is a definite winner on the right pizza.
Now, onto lettuce. I cannot do lettuce on pizza. It seems to defeat the purpose of having a hot, doughy, cheesy thing brought out when it has something cold and crispy on top. The pizza in question is the Soho pizza. A friend recommended adding chicken to it, which two of my other friends have done and they agree that it helps the lettuce factor greatly. I have not tried it since chicken is off my list of munchies. So, I still say 'no!' to lettuce. Have it as an accompaniment if you must.
The final point: the chocolate cake. We know it's a winner. To make it even better, try asking for it heated, with cream. The cream mixes in nicely with the frosting, turning the cake into a self-saucing pudding. Delicious. I have a feeling that the flour is American flour (like the stuff in a Betty Crockercake mix - try the Devil's Food mix if you want to get the Pizza Express choc cake taste at home, complete with Betty Crocker frosting). American flour, apparently, keeps cakes more moist and soft.
Since my first experience, I have been to many other Pizza Express restaurants, but the rating here is based upon my very first time. Lose your Pizza Express virginity today!
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I can't get enough of the dough balls!!!! Goods review by the way.
nictastic 12.02.2003 19:55
hey, i totally agree, i love this restaurant, classy pizza, yum, by the way, i always have the soho one, it is not lettuce on the top, its rocket, and you should give it a go, its my favourite one yet! nic :)
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