A few days back, I was invited along with other reviewers to taste the new Summer Menu of Pizza Express at their outlet in Ambience Mall in Vasant Kunj. For a regular customer like me, a new menu at Pizza Express sounded like music to my ears – I have my favorites there but an addition to the regular menu is always welcome.
They have added new dishes in the starters, pizza, pasta and cocktails/mocktails section. For the first time ever, they are introducing pineapple in their pizzas and that too in a chutney form.
To make the tasting session fun and meaningful, Pizza Express had a pizza making demo class by the senior chef. This was followed by a pizza making competition organized amongst us. We were divided into two groups and each group had to make a thin crust vegetarian pizza from scratch keeping in mind the instructions given in the demo class. May I be boastful enough to say that my group came out with flying colors and we won ? Quite enjoyed, this competitive adrenaline high – the lengths one had to cross to get to eat pizzas !
Opened the eating account with the starter : Lamb Polpette – spicy and really soft lamb meatballs baked with a tangy pomodoro sauce and served with two bread sticks. If you love your red meat, you’ll notice a world of difference between these and the chicken polpette. I thoroughly enjoyed them.
Followed by the Pizzas……
Hawaiian Pizza Express –Speck ham, pineapple chutney and red onions topped on béchamel sauce with a subtle kick of chili on a thin crust pizza is all one could have asked for to truly tantalise one’s taste buds. I was initially worried when I heard the word chutney but what you get are actually chunky pineapple pieces pre-cooked with a bit of sugar to cut the tartness of the pineapple.
Gambero – prawns marinated in Indian spices on a bed of coriander pesto and passata sauce (especially imported tomato sauce used for pizzas by Pizza Express) garnished with coriander. This pizza did not appeal too much to my taste buds as a heavy coriander flavor seemed to have taken over the whole flavor and the tartness from the passata was missing. Also, the topping of the prawns was too meager – they either need to add more prawns or tear them into smaller bits so that at least each slice has some prawns on it.
Lamb Polpette – spicy lamb meatballs, onion rings with a mint yoghurt and coriander topping. This was really nice and the flavors complimented each other. But again the toppings have to be increased. There was actually a slice with no topping on it. I had to break the meatballs from other slices into smaller pieces to use for this slice. Having said that, I was really happy to see lamb meatballs in the menu finally. Even though I used to order the chicken meatballs, I always thought that lamb would lend a better flavor comparatively speaking.
Polo Cajun – Cajun chicken, grilled peppers, sun dried tomatoes on a Cajun sauce on a square pizza. The toppings all complimented each other to pack a punch.
And a bit of Pasta……
Linguine Cajun Gambero Pasta – Creamy, spicy linguine pasta with chunky prawns tossed in Cajun spices, grilled peppers and sun dried tomatoes. The pasta was made well but a heavy hand in cream was used which can be toned down.
Not to be missed are some cocktails like the Hawaiian Tikki – a refreshing pineapple and orange juice spiked rum drink.They have a decent collection of mocktails too.
Ratings (Out of 5)
Food: 4.0 | Ambience: 4.0 | Service: 4.0 | Overall: 4.0
Meal for Two: Rs 2000 | Wheel Chair Friendly: Yes | Credit Card: Yes | Alcohol: Yes | Timings: 11.30 am – 12 midnight
Address: T-303B, 3rd Floor, Ambience Mall, Plot 2, Vasant Kunj Phase-2, Nelson Mandela Road, VasantKunj, New Delhi | Phone: 011-33105719
Disclaimer: This review was done on an invitation from the restaurant. Due judgement and care has been applied by the author to remain objective and unbiased in the review, but readers need to consider this review keeping this fact in mind.
