Review: Zizzi Italian St Giles
For the longest time, I thought Zizzis was another high street pizza chain but I was wrong. It has a rather extensive Italian menu at very decent prices. I was invited to review Zizzi’s new Ruby Chocolate dessert, the new pink hued chocolate that is going to pastry chefs’ new secret ingredient. But first the other courses.
The extensive menu offers a choice of recognisable Italian starters like Bruschetta, Arancini and salads. It is a typical British Italian menu which doesn’t specialise in a region. There are lots of choices for when you are dining with any fussy eaters. Zizzi’s St Giles is in a cavernous glass lined space dominated by the open kitchen and pizza oven. On the night I was there, they might have been short staffed as I saw only 3 servers on the floor and it took ages to get a menu and place an order.
My fritto misto starter when it arrived was enormous. Lots of battered fish and squid, done quite well. The garlic bread on the side was to nibble on to dull the hunger pangs but it arrived after the starter and was a bit doughy and undercooked. It was a test to see how good the pizza dough could be but those might be cooked differently. I didn’t order one to compare.
From the choice of main courses, I settled on the pan fried seabass. A simple dish, done well here. Crispy skin, just cooked fish on a bed of cavalo nero with a side of obligatory zucchini fries. Again, a very generous portion and at £15.95, quite a good deal.
Finally, the pink Ruby Cheesecake, layers of ruby chocolate over a chocolate crumb with a marbled top. Quite a pretty pudding, served on an enormous plate. Quite an unusual dessert for Zizzi’s to serve as Ruby Chocolate is a lot more expensive than regular chocolate. It was lovely and a fitting sweet finish to the meal. (This was on for a limited time so might no longer be on the menu). I was pleasantly surprised at the choices available on the menu and am quite impressed with the quality delivered at high street prices.
Chain restaurants differ a lot in quality and value for money ( also dependent on which branch you go to). I’d not hesitate to recommend Zizzi’s for an Italian meal as they did deliver on flavours, not overpriced but they do need to brush up on service.
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Zizzi’s St Giles
8, Central St Giles Plaza,
Bucknall St,
London WC2H 8AB
EatCookExplore was a guest of Zizzi’s.
