#PizzaExpressIceAge – Piccolo menu fun family dining

Pizza Express has a new Ice Age themed activity sheet for little Piccolo eaters (aka kids).

My kids are the very definition of the phrase ‘little Piccolo eaters’ – they love Pizza Express, they love Ice Age – clearly its a massive win. Especially with the Piccolo menu costing only £6.95 for a starter, main course and dessert. So I foolishly told them a week in advance we’d go and give it a try.

Cue massive excitement for a whole seven days, a booking at 6pm on a Friday after a long week at school…and that meant when we arrived we had two out of three children with their little grumpster faces on. I had a momentary wobble of fear. What was I thinking?!

Clearly I knew what I was thinking all along – it’s Pizza Express, of course – and that’s a totally different experience from taking tired kids to other eating establishments. From the moment we were greeted at the entrance, the staff went out of their way – as they always do at our local Pizza Express in Loughton – to make sure that those grumpy little faces turned into smiley, happy ones. We were booked in advance so they knew to expect us, and the table was laid out ready with Ice Age Activity sheets, crayons, hats and a copy of the menu – no hanging around, and one grumpy face was gone immediately as D got stuck right in.

Seb, as it turns out had decided that maybe he was ‘too old to be a Piccolo’ (at the grand age of 6). Our waiter, Luis, listened to his concerns, then suggested perhaps a grown up glass with a bright blue straw might do the trick…? Which it did…and our grown up little Piccolo eater lost his grumpster face too, even more so when he noticed the ‘spot the difference’ section on the Ice Age activity sheet…

And Little B – well she was just happy, happy, happy! She loved designing a pizza and she loved staring at herself in the mirror behind her seat too – proudly examining her hat 🙂

A short while into the frenzied colouring, quizzing and hat wearing, the starters arrived. Dough balls for the kids, calamari for me and an original bruschetta for the Other Half. It’s been a while since I’ve had calamari and these were perfect – hot, crispy on the outside and not too chewy, with a tangy, creamy dip and a slice of fresh lemon which perfectly complemented the taste of the calamari rings. Somewhat reluctantly I passed half of them over so I could give the bruschetta a go (I do love a bit of bruschetta) and that was wonderful too – freshly made dough topped with chunks of tomato and onion, basil leaves, black pepper, pesto and a swipe of garlic butter. Simple and always delicious…just like the Piccolo dough balls with garlic butter, which disappeared from the kids plates so quickly that (had I not taken a photo of them) I may not have believed they were ever even there.

The kids were already clamouring for their main courses the second the dough balls were all devoured, and of course Pizza Express were ready for that…the main courses were ready and heading our way within a minute or two (with D keeping a close eye on the process, taking the opportunity to watch the chefs crafting all the different orders pouring in).

Often Little B or D will decide to opt for pasta (D in particular can be a bit picky and having the option on the menu for pasta or pizza is incredibly useful) but on this occasion they had all gone for pizza – one pepperoni customised with red peppers and added ham for Seb, a pollo pizza for D, and a margherita for Little B.

True to form, as soon as the pizzas arrived the girls immediately changed their minds and decided to swap what they’d ordered with each other. Again, our waiter Luis stepped in and offered to help D cut hers so she could pick it up more easily – just another example of a little touch that really made her day and made our mealtime more enjoyable too. Which it definitely was anyway, as we’d both opted for something from the new Spring menu – Risotto Fresco for me, and the new ‘Hawaiian Pizza Express’ on a Romana base for the Other Half. This time there was no sharing, we were both appreciating our food far too much to stop and pass it over. I did reluctantly give in and let Little B have a bit of a taste of my risotto though, as she does have a thing for rice…

Then it was back to Ice Age and hats for a bit, as the kids contemplated whether they would prefer an ice lolly, ice cream sundae, or chocolate brownie along with their bambinoccino. D was presented with two straws by Luis, so that she could pretend to be a saber toothed tiger while she considered her options. I was pretty sure D would go for the sundae as she is always delighted with the tiny ice cream cone that she can fill herself from the scoops of ice cream and chocolate sauce – I was right, and the girls both settled on that while Seb diversified from his usual menu choices and asked to give the brownie a try.

Contented munching and happy squealing followed on not long after as tiny ice creams were made and the brownie disappeared almost as quickly as the dough balls had earlier in the evening. 

The Other Half and I took a little longer to decide on our own desserts, with the menu being almost overwhelmingly extensive! Having the option for smaller portions of something sweet is really useful if you’re already feeling fairly stuffed to the brim. Space was no issue this time though, so we went for the full sized dessert list and were subsequently presented with a Tiramisu, and the Passionfruit Mess – a new offering for the summer.

Tiramisu – well, it’s a classic and it’s always great. It was great again! The Passionfruit Mess was a lot less ‘messy’ than we were expecting…but presentation aside it tasted delicious and certainly finished off our meal perfectly.

It was, as I said at the beginning, a Friday evening; and so Pizza Express was absolutely full to bursting when we arrived. But that didn’t mean it felt busy – the fantastic customer service we received and the Ice Age activity sheets meant that right from the start, we felt relaxed. All around us was the noise of happy childrens chatter, and I’m entirely unsurprised by that because I’m pretty sure that other parents really appreciate the thought and care that goes into making a reasonably priced, well considered kids menu a pleasurable occasion for all members of the family, big and small. And of course the kids really appreciate the activity sheets, the food, the hats, the mirrors and the staff who are happy to join them in doing a little dance of delight!

Two hours and five smiley faces later we left feeling full and happy. Friday evening was saved, after all 🙂 Thanks Luis, and team Loughton Pizza Express!

 

Disclosure: we were given a complementary meal for the purposes of this review, however the review was not required to be positive and all words and opinions are my own.