A special day, today, and one which saw me eating in Pizza Express in Bow Street, just outside Covent Garden and opposite the famous magistrates’ court.

Arriving at the peak of lunchtime, getting a table took no time at all – walked in, queued for around five seconds and were shown to a small table (ahead of the group who were there before us). The waiter was Italian, the service was impeccable. Whilst we were a little crammed against a group of somewhat loud girls, we were at least able to have a quiet conversation as we waited for the food.

A Nostrana salad and a Margheurita duly arrived and both were very tasty. in fact, I’d say it was the best salad I’ve had in any pizza Express! What made it so good? I’m not sure – something about the balance of the ingredients and the fact that it wasn’t smothered in dressing for a change. Nice.

All in all it was a good experience – one I’ll aim to repeat!

This is a place I go to reasonably regularly, and on each occasion I get a pretty good experience. Located as it is just outside the main entrance to Freeport it is easy to park and walk to, and you have the option of doing some factory outlet shopping as well. However, on this occasion we went for a meal between films – it was a three film day for us…

The food is good here. Pizzas arrive hot, deserts are well sized, wine is tasty and all in all you can’t go too far wrong.

What’s more, the place is reasonably clean (at least it is in the food hall areas, I didn’t check the other facilities). A peasant ambiance, then… so what of the service?

Yep, service is good, too. I must be getting old as some of the waiting staff (mostly female) appeared altogether too young, but the service was efficient and polite and not at all ‘young’ in the way they deal with you – i.e. they can string words together in sentences and are not afraid to talk to you!

So yes, good food, good service and a reasonable environment… it has to be a solid 8 out of 10 from me!

This was an odd one – the place is familiar enough and I have eaten there before, but on this occasion I noticed something peculiar.

First off, the service was OK – nothing superb, mind you as they were rather busy. It got a little impersonal, truth be told. The food was prompt, and on the whole good, but we didn’t linger for a dessert and this is probably because of the environment.

Strangely, there is a small step just inside the main entrance which presents no issue on arrival. However, on leaving the restaurant there were two incidents where people simply didn’t notice the drop down to another level and actually fell over. The manager wasmost apologetic on both occasions but it left me wondering how many poor diners had suffered a similar fate, and how soon it would be before the restaurant actually did something about the situation. For example, a high visibility edge would be a start, but there is nothing like that in place.

Yes, you need to take responsibility for where you walk, but I got the impression that this was a fairly regular experience in Chelmsford. It shouldn’t be, for sure. For this reason I am going to give this restaurant a ower score – good food needs to be served well and in an environment that you enjoy There’s nothing remotely enjoyable watching old ladies fall over in front of you as you eat… unless that kind of thing appeals to you, in which case, go to Chelmsford!

Tucked away just off the high street, this particular restaurant was very quiet today (Good Friday) and we were expecting it to be mediocre. How wrong could we have been!

The environment here is a little smaller than some but the spacious feeling is obtained by some clever use of mirrors along the back wall which make the entire space feel much bigger than it is. The weather was good and so the side wall was open which meant it was like eating outdoors – but without the chill. The facilities were well kept and clean, and the whole area seemed better than average, but some handrails were a little chipped and there is ample evidence of wear and tear.

The food was spot on, too – a team of female chefs worked wonders with the pizza dough and it was light and perfectly cooked – not too crispy, not at all chewy. We had a margherita and a pollo verdura salad – both excellent. For dessert there was a banoffee pie and a cheescake…

The service was calm, unhurried and relaxed, but efficient. As you might expect with a quiet restaurant there was no real delay or having to wait for a waiter to arrive. A very nice touch today was with the deserts – the waiter had written ‘cheesecake’ and ‘bpie’ on the plate using the relevant sauce for each pudding. A tad cheesy, but it raised a smile and enriched the experience somewhat.

Overall, this is a good restaurant to eat in. A little small, and tucked off the main drag, but worth a walk to if you can do it.

Since this one is fairly local to me, I visit it a fair amount and therefore a date isn’t always useful. However, the last visit was Tuesday 30th January. I was just back from a meeting in Norwich and had to rush to get out again for another meeting.

Food order was taken promptly and in good humour and the waiter appreciated the speed we wished to eat at. A single pizza to share, half mushroom, half plain… didn’t seem to faze the chap.

The surroundings are not large – a bit cramped in truth, but it was still early and it was a Tuesday, so they were not too busy. Even so, the place could do with a bit of a spring clean. It isn’t dirty – far from it – but I always think it looks well used (I guess that’ll be because it is!).

The food arrived promptly, was cooked to perfection and tasted superb. Who can ask for more. Deserts were served equally promptly and the portions seemed a tad larger than normal. Great!

Visited on 28th January 2007, this was a very pleasant experience – certainly better than average. The service was prompt, courteous and efficient and we had seating in an ‘olde worlde’ section away from the more modern seating adjacent to the cooking area. There were interesting artefacts around us to look at and talk about and the clientelle seemed very pleasant as well.

The food was as it should have been – hot, tasty and well presented. It wasn’t exceptional, but it was certainly very very good. The order was for a mushroom pizza, a margherita, an American and a childs peperoni. For desert it was Cheesecake (can you get Eli’s anywhere else?), Banoffe pie, apple pie and a chocolate fudge sticky thing that ten year old’s like! Cokes and water all round, along with a glass of house red…

The waitress was very attentive, spoke with a slightly curious accent and made sure we had what we ordered and that all was OK. We tipped.

Overall rating for the Canterbury branch is 8/10… I’d go back there.