Pizza Hut, Bournemouth

There are more than one Pizza Hut in Bournemouth, but this review is based on my experiences of at least two of them, but mainly focusing on the one in Castle Lane, Bournemouth.
It's one of the newer restaurants that have popped up in our area within the Pizza Hut chain. Due to this it was one of the nicest decor's before the rest followed suit and finally upgraded their tired wallpaper and carpet.

The restaurant itself is fairly large in size, with lots of different sized tables, but unfortunately lacking in larger tables. These have to be accommodated by pushing two or more together. I have found that the other restaurant near me does have more of the larger round tables for groups of six or more, and they always seem to be filled with the appropriate number of diners even in quieter periods.

The ambience is similar in both restaurants with brightly coloured walls and prints placed at various intervals along the walls. You don't get the feeling of the walls being too busy even though the colour scheme consists of a lot of bright oranges and lime greens. It seems to suit the place.

Walking in there are lots of waitresses bustling around. There is a wait to be seated system right by the front door, and in busier times you may have to wait a couple of minutes to be served as sometimes the waitresses really do look like headless chickens dashing about, balancing big pizza plates on each arm..

Tables and chairs and the general area around where you are seated always seem to be averagely clean. The tables seem to be cleaned as soon as a table is vacated, but sometimes the carpet looks a bit grubby, especially towards the end of the day.

The menus are placed on the table along with the complimentary salt, pepper, parmesan cheese and chilli flakes waiting to be sprinkled on your food. The menus are made of cheap plastic covered card, which gives the place a slight air of cheapness due to their wipe clean ability. This fits in well with the chain restaurant however.

If you're not into pizza then you can find pasta and salads on the menu here, as well as pizzas in various sizes with various toppings available. There is the option to choose your own topping as well as choosing the type of base you want as well. These range from deep pan, stuffed crust and whatever promotional base they may be offering at the time.
The prices of the pizza are fairly good compared to other pizza chains, unless you opt for the buffet option should you be visiting during the offer times.

An average pizza ranges from 10 - 16gbp depending on size and topping you choose.
The buffet lunch is another matter however. During the week, eat as much as you like pizza only costs 3.99gbp. If you want to choose pizza, pasta and salad, then it's 5.49gbp.
This works by where you tell your waitress you wish to eat from the buffet and then you are free to go to the serving tables which are kept regularly stocked up if you like with hot pizzas hosting six different toppings. These include, margarita's, beef and onion, vegetarian, pepperoni, and a ham pizza. There is also bread slices kind of like garlic bread available.

The salad cart is much like a Harvester but with less choice, and sometimes it doesn't look as fresh as a Harvester. I have never seen this restocked during any of my visits, but the area looks clean enough.

The pasta choices are limited with only a tomato variety and a creamy ham variety.
For both of the above reasons I tend to choose just the pizza only option as I can easily fill myself up on pizza without worrying about choosing salad. (Sometimes however some some coleslaw does seem to jump on my plate. I'm never quite sure how it manages to get there, but the waitresses never pick me up on it).

During busy periods the pizzas don't tend to stay there long so you really do have to time your visit to the area well.

Soft drinks are available on a bottomless glass option with as many refills as you like for 1.50gbp. This is a standard price for most soft drinks in restaurants now anyhow, so it's a good deal, but remember the more you drink, the less you will eat as you will fill yourselves up quicker. I'm sure the top bosses at Pizza Hut have thought of this too.

Room for pudding? Hardly after a buffet style lunch, but if choosing from the normal menu where you can ask for the rest of your pizza to be put into a doggy bag (not available on the buffet lunch though), you may well be able to squeeze in a pudding. There aren't too many options available, the odd chocolate fudge cake and apple pie. The main star here is the ice cream factory which Pizza Hut is famous for.

Unlimited trips back to the factory (where have I heard this before), is available to get your mitts on the air whipped ice cream topped with your choice of sauces and sweets.
Too many times the machine has been out of order in both of the restaurants I visit, and therefore I have been put off ordering pudding any time I go here.

The taste of both pizzas and ice cream is pretty good. The pizzas are rarely burnt with a good splashing of toppings covering all of the base. The base in my experiences have never been soggy, unless I have take one home and let it sit a while.
The ice cream is very synthetic in taste and not too unlike a mr whippy ice cream. It suits my liking and my daughter's too.

I musnt miss out the various starters and other beverages that do happen to be included on the menu. There are a variety of garlic breads, chicken wings etc. available, but to be honest, I find the pizza more than fill me up so I don't tend to order from the starter menu. Prices range from 3.00gbp - 5.00gbp, which again is standard to similar chain restaurants.
Other drinks available include a couple of brands of beer / lager, and two wine options which are served still in the singular sized bottle.

The waitresses as I've mentioned always seem to be very busy, and I put it down to this fact that they are always very slow at serving drinks, getting refills and bringing bills to your table. I know this can't be helped, but it might be that more staff could be needed. I always worry they are going to drop an order, the way they speed about the restaurant. This is the case in both the restaurants I visit, so I am convinced it's not just a one restaurant problem.

Overall I like going to Pizza Hut. It makes a change when you're out in town and fancy something a bit different but not too healthy for lunch.
There is a takeaway option available at all restaurants and they are always attached to the front of the restaurant, which doubles as a waiting area for diners in busy times.

Opening times are from 12pm - till usually 11pm, and I have visited at various different times and there never seems to be a quiet time to pop in.
Kids are always welcome here too, and high chairs are available, but they seem to get squeezed into a space next to your table, making it sometimes difficult to get out and around again.

Toilets are always clean and smell nice, however they always seem to be placed near the ice cream factory, and this puts me off slightly. Maybe it's just my imagination, but at least they're clean.