pizzaexpressyourself.co.uk

We are fortunate to have 2 large Pizza Express in Norwich.  Having been to the one at the forum on 4 separate occasions and having recieved slow service or on one occasion non-existent (order was lost and no apology made).  Another occasion the pizza was inedible – resembling the sole of a shoe.  On top of that the staff seemed more interested in getting their dinner.  I visited the ladies and there was no (zero) paper in the place – clearly they had not been visited by staff for some time – hand towels and all toilet roll dispensers were empty.  i advised the staff and they said “oh ok” – no apology – so if you visit the forum Norwich be sure to take some tissues and a packed lunch!

So having had 4 very poor experiences at the Forum we visited the Benedicts St restaurant this month, hopefull that it would be better (as it had been in the past).  however we must be jinxed!  We were promptly shown to our tables and got a drink (good start).  The staff seemed very busy but woefully inefficient – one just kept seating people while those sitting didn’t get served.  We order our food and 25 mins later, after lots of attempts to attract attention i asked a waiter to chase our order.  10 mins later nothing had happened so I stood up and waived my arms.  The same waiter came back with a menu and said “you wanted to change your order?”  I said “no thank you, we would like some food, could you please CHASE our order?”, “Oh” was the reply.  We watched the waiter go to the counter and chef found our order under some plates and rushed to it!  We got our starter 5 mins later which was very nice.  Then of course no sooner has the plate been cleared than our pizza arrived.  I had ordered a pizza with egg – I love a fresh egg in the centre of the pizza.  It came with hard boiled egg and I questioned whether they did pizzas with a fresh egg in the centre the waitress replied “not since I’ve been here” and walked off.  The pizza was awful, hardly any ingredients and very doughy – I’ve had better from the freezer!  My husband however enjoyed his main course – cesar salad, so all was not lost, albeit ironic that Pizza Express should be better at salads than pizza!

We received no apology for the order being lost, in fact were made to feel as though anything we did say was unreasonable (of course they were busy and we should be appreciative of that, pay graciously, thank them for working so hard and give them a big tip shouldn’t we?)  Well no actually, at Pizza Express, the quality and speed of service is key to the experience, coupled with decent, fresh food, and at this they failed, misserably.

Come on PE – buck your ideas up, you’ve been so reliable in the past!