Pizza Express

It was ok… my pizza was very floppy it felt kinda undercooked, also there was a really old piece of basil in it which was gross and lipstick stains on the glasses. I never learn…

Pizza Express, I expect better from you.
We were only looking for something familiar, comfortable and quick to have dinner before we carried on shopping for Christmas baubles and glitter (because I LOVE Christmas an obscene amount) and we thought Pizza Express would be a winner. How wrong we were.
We called them up to make a reservation despite being in Bluewater at the time because we had a Tastecard but half way through the call, I realised I’d forgotten it. No problem, they said. We’ll honour it this time for you. Perfect, we thought. Good start. But it went downhill from there.
When we arrived, they seated us at a dirty table. Half filled wine glasses, used napkins and sticky menus. The works.
When we called the guy over and asked them to clean it, they said they thought it was clean already, checked to see what was dirty and what they could get away with leaving and then eventually gave in and took everything. This was pretty disconcerting, because do they do that with every table? Check it over to see if stuff looks clean enough to leave? Eurgh.
Anyway, after about 5 minutes, a different guy came over and took our orders. We knew what we wanted so we ordered drinks, the starter and mains all in one go and thought that’d be it, nice and simple. NOPE.
Another 5 minutes goes by and our drinks arrive. He doesn’t pour them for us though, no no, we just get the glasses and bottles dropped in front of us and he hurries away. I thought they’re supposed to be servers? Not in this branch.
5 minutes after that, our starters. They seem to have timing down at this stage, it’s running like clockwork. The food was good, we had the doughballs and Christmas special of pork and pancetta croquettes. YUM. It was hot, tasty and just the right size. Can’t fault it.
This is where it gets sticky though. The guy comes back over, removes our starter and tells us our main will be along soon.
HALF AN HOUR LATER we’re still waiting. All we ordered was a couple of the leggera pizzas, you know, the ones with the holes in the middle filled with salad and dressing? It’s not even like you have to make sure it’s cooked in the middle because there IS no middle.
We called the server over again to ask where our food was because it was now 45 minutes since we arrived and all we’d had were the starters and he said our food was on its way and currently in the oven and that they were busy tonight. We looked around… they weren’t. But we were assured it’d arrive within 3 – 4 minutes.
Nearly 10 minutes later, it arrived. And… you know, it was good. But not worth the 40 minute wait and that kind of ruined it for us. I had the pesto pizza and Matt R had the sloppy giuseppe. It was hot, it tasted good and the salad was fresh and crispy… but after the wait, I expected better and the salad was iceberg lettuce. Boring.
When we’d finished, the guy came and took our plates away and asked if we wanted dessert. As neither of us fancied another half an hour wait for food, we declined, paid and left.
Sure, Pizza Express is familiar, cheap (the whole meal came to £35 without a tastecard and £21 with) and tasty, but I didn’t choose it to have a long dinner out. I also didn’t appreciate the constant excuses the server seemed to give us for why the table was dirty and why our food was taking so long. Just apologise, it’s clear there are mistakes here, it’s no big deal if you own up to it.
I like Pizza Express so I’ll eat there again. Just, not at this branch. Poor. Very poor.

Ate here because my friend wanted to. Was empty when we arrived at about 19.15 — however we had to wait ages to get seated, get our drinks and food order taken, to get our pizzas and we waited so long for our bill we walked up to the till! Pizza was tasty and well cooked, although after the service we received I doubt we will be back.

I have to file this one under «I never learn». Was in Bluewater, had a pizza craving and gave this place another go. We were shown to a table and left to stew for nearly 20 minutes. Our dough balls didn’t turn up to start and the pizzas came about 30 minutes later. When I mentioned we didn’t get our dough balls, they were taken off the bill but brought to the table anyway. The doughballs were cold but overcooked, which I can only imagine happened because they’d been on the side for 20 minutes.
My pizza was undercooked and didn’t have enough of the promised cajun spices. My wife’s pizza looked like they’d run out of cheese and couldn’t be bothered to get more. It’s just dreadful. I should complain and suggest that they get new management but I’m voting with my feet. Unless I have a voucher and can go to the Bromley branch, the only one in the area that gets it anywhere near right, I’m boycotting Pizza Express. It’s simply never worth the money.

Pizza Express in Bluewater is located in The Village. If you don’t walk down that part of Bluewater you won’t know Pizza Express is even there. It is located right near Paperchase.
The food in Pizza Exprss Bluewater is always excellent. Not only does it do lovely food, the restaurant is also child friendly. I have taken my niece a few times now and they have always been very accommodating with the little un’.
The worst part about Pizza Express Bluewater is it can get very very busy. So if you go on a weekend and haven’t booked, you can normally end up waiting about half hour before getting a table.
This restaurant is lovely in the summer too. You can sit outside or out on the terrace.
I visit Pizza Express quite regularly so have got myself a Pizza Express card. You get a great range of benefits, including money off vouchers and gift vouchers.

The only trouble with this restaurant is that it is out of the way of the other restaurants so I always forget it is there!! But it is definitley worth going to. They do amazing pizzas and have excellent service. Also it is definitely child friendly.