Review: Pizza Express

www.pizzaexpress.com

A3 Block, Jubilee Street, Brighton BN1 1GE

So not exactly the most independent of restaurants BUT I have a lot of love in my heart for Pizza Express. It's where my family and I go for 90% of birthday meals, to the extent that when we walk into the one in Woking the waiter knows we're looking for a circular table and that my dad and brother will be asking for two Peroni Gran Riserva. Basically, what I'm trying to tell you is that there is a lifetime of experience behind this post...

 Now I must be honest, the main reason for venturing to a Pizza Express outside of Woking was because they are currently offering a free pizza if you download their app. I repeat - FREE PIZZA.* This could actually be a super cheap (or free) meal, but somehow when I visited the price escalated slightly... beware of adding extra toppings (£1.80 each!!). There's no obligation to spend any money as far as I know, so basically what are you waiting for!

 Rule number 1 of Pizza Express - order the Dough Balls. Thinking about it, that's really the only rule... As I'm sure you all know, Dough Balls (with yummy garlic butter) are FAB. Can't beat 'em. Other options for the starter are Bruschetta Originale which is a big bundle of pesto yumminess, and I also have it on good authority that the Calamari is actually some of the best you can get. On previous occasions, I haven't found the garlic bread to be garlicky enough; however that seems to be the case with 99.9% of the garlic breads I order.

The pizza here is always great - just no-frills, non-fussy pizza. Now don't get me wrong, I love a good sourdough base but I have never had a bad pizza at Pizza Express. I always go for American + red onions + mushrooms, and my boyfriend got some weird olivey one (Veneziana) which unsurprisingly I did not try. There was not a scrap of food left on either of our plates by the end.

Is there a better way to finish a blog post than with a HUGE photo of a pizza? (No, there is not.) Pizza Express isn't particularly trendy, it's not fashionable, it's not overly cool. But it has bloody tasty Dough Balls. And I think you'd be hard pressed to find another restaurant that serves up the same reliable (doughy) goodness every time you visit.

*The free pizza will appear in your rewards wheel once you've completed your profile. Then just make sure you've added it to your wallet before you get to the restaurant as for some sneaky reason it doesn't appear once you're there (or you can just turn off location services for the app)