TEARS were shed in our house the day that Est Est Est closed down in Chester. Since the children were young, high days and holidays have been spent making pizzas with their own chef’s hat, drawing on the tablecloths with chunky crayons and finding room for a fizzy drink and an ice-cream, all for under a fiver. Alex, our elder daughter, is just weeks off her twelfth birthday so would no longer qualify for the children’s menu but she still craves the thin crispy crust and choice of toppings of the Est Est Est pizza. So when we heard that a Prezzo restaurant, the Italian chain, had opened at the Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet village, we were eager to try it out. The site of the new restaurant doesn’t excite me, positioned as it is on the edge of what is effectively a large car park. There is no ambience in that part of the ‘village’ and the sight of a tree or bush is rare. Apart from the cinema and a nightclub, there is restaurant after restaurant, all national chains offering their own seemingly inimitable version of pasta, pizza, chicken or chips. We arrived early evening and it wasn’t raining so parts of the restaurant were bravely open to the elements. We hadn’t booked and our first impression was that this was a mistake. The place was packed. A waiter approached and we enquired after a table for four. After much discussion, we were found a table in the corner, in a private sort of cubby hole. From the dull, concrete jungle that is Cheshire Oaks, we were transported to a balmy summer’s evening in the middle of Milan. The restaurant has a truly chic, continental feel and is light and airy and well designed. Our fellow diners were chatting at full volume with smiling faces and the food looked promising. We decided to soak up the atmosphere by ordering an aperitif and some olives. I chose a gin and tonic and husband Alasdair went for a Peroni beer. The girls ordered a lemonade and we watched the world go by as we waited. And waited. And waited. Service wasn’t brisk and it was hard to attract anyone’s attention but our drinks eventually arrived with a small bowl of deliciously marinated green and black olives. We should have ordered at least two portions as the 12 or so served in the £2.35 portion disappeared fast. Olivia already needed the toilet and was delighted to find that her new shoes clip-clopped on the wooden spiral staircase to the first floor. This meant that during the course of the evening, she must have visited the conveniences about four times. I didn’t enquire about disabled facilities but a further phone call has confirmed that all the toilets are on the first floor. It might be worth checking before you go, if this is a problem for you. We didn’t order starters but there were the usual choices of minestrone soup, bruschetta and grilled goat’s cheese. The girls would have gone for the garlic bread but experience tells me this means they won’t finish their pizza, so we decided on some side orders instead. We went for a mixed salad, a red onion salad and some fries, all generous portions. Predictably, the children chose pizzas for their main course. Olivia nearly went for the penne basilico as she loves pesto but was put off by the chopped tomatoes which were included. Another option she toyed with was the fusili al pesto rosso with asparagus spears, mushroom and roasted peppers in a red pesto sauce but apparently this didn’t look as good as mama makes. In the end, she went for the pizza tropicana and it was helpfully served without mushrooms, one of her pet hates. Like chalk and cheese, Alex, of course, goes for the pizza funghi. I expected her to ask for her sister’s mushroom portion as well. Alasdair searched the pizza menu for his favourite anchovies but didn’t fancy the tuna included on a Napoletana. The waiter happily agreed to add anchovies to another version, or so we thought. None of the staff we encountered were from these shores and a few requests were lost in translation but they were all very obliging and cheerful. I didn’t follow the family pizza line and let my eyes wander further down the menu to the ‘specialita’. The fact that they are pre-printed on the menu and available on the website makes me think they are not thought up on a daily basis but I was taken by the pollo al funghi at a reasonable £8.95. This was described as chargrilled, butterflied chicken breast covered with mushrooms and baby spinach, pan roasted in garlic and served with house fries or gratinated potatoes. And it was. Quite delicious, very garlicky and a good sized portion. This I washed down with a large glass of perfectly chilled Pinot Grigio at £4.75. And now for the pizzas. Were they up to scratch? Was the crust thin enough? Was the cheese stretchy enough? Were the toppings plentiful enough? A mixed reception, I’m afraid. In Alex’s view, you can’t ‘diss’ a pizza. For the uninitiated or for those who don’t live with a pre-teen, ‘diss’ loosely translates as ‘be disrespectful to’. She devoured the whole thing with no problem but was heard to mutter that it could have had more herbs or seasonings. Olivia could only manage half of hers and described it as ‘too cheesy’. It did look as though someone had emptied a whole round of mozzarella and an entire packet of grated cheddar on top. Alasdair’s mis-translated anchovies arrived as artichokes so the waiter immediately removed it. Unprompted, he insisted that we weren’t to pay for his mistake and the offending dish was indeed removed from the bill. Alasdair’s verdict: OK. Since Olivia was a baby, she has compartmentalised her stomach so there is always room for pudding. The home rule of having to finish one course before pudding is served is relaxed when we are out so she pored over the intriguing dessert menu. On offer was something described as honeycomb smash cheesecake, a chocolate biscuit cake and a delicious sounding apple crumble. Evidently the pudding compartments of both girls’ stomachs were already quite full so they wimped out and went for the ice-cream option. Both are afficionados of Italian ice-cream and looked expectantly at the waiter for the list of flavours, dreaming of honeycomb, kiwi, mango or forest fruits. Unfortunately, it was the staple vanilla, strawberry or chocolate on offer, so they were a little disappointed. I chose vanilla ice-cream encased in chocolate and hazelnuts. When it arrived, it looked just like the sort of dessert you expect on an Indian restaurant menu called a ‘bombe’. I hoped it wouldn’t take three weeks to defrost but was pleasantly surprised, although I couldn’t quite finish it. Alasdair, a savoury man, went for an espresso, which was apparently not very warm. The restaurant was thinning out now and it was barely 8.30pm. Had the diners been post shoppers or pre-cinema goers? I got the impression that they were there for a purpose and that not many, like us, had made the journey for the food alone. Out of Italy and back down to earth into the Cheshire Oaks car park. Next time I’m in search of a bargain, I’ll certainly put Prezzo on my list to round off what I hope will be a successful shopping trip. FACTFILE Prezzo, Unit 2 Coliseum Way, Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet, Ellesmere Port 0151 3571394 Price: £65 for four, although one pizza was removed from the bill Best things: Cheerful, helpful service, great restaurant layout and good salads. Worst things: The pizzas only got 7/10. Would suit: Pre-cinema goers or post shopping trippers. Wouldn’t suit: Disabled diners would do well to make further enquiries about toilet facilities. | 
Article
