PizzaExpress — Restaurant in London

The likes of Pizza Express and Nando’s have breathed some much needed evening-life back into New Malden High Street. Pizza Express is far from unique to our High Street, but certainly still draws a crowd, and, on my experience, for good reason.

Our entire High Street is blessed to have both the Multi-Storey and Malden Centre car parks (although perhaps not for much longer if the Multi-Storey is redeveloped!) nearby, which are mere minutes away from the restaurants and shops; with a wealth of restaurants on our doorstep here in New Malden, including some of the more well-known chains, New Malden is slowly becoming a ‘place to eat out’ on a Friday night.

I visited Pizza Express with my family last Friday evening. Despite the fact that the queue to be seated was out of the door and every table was occupied, the restaurant is designed in such a way that keeps a relaxed atmosphere, with guests able to fully enjoy their evenings. Staff, despite the busyness, were very friendly and attentive.

The choice for my fussy brother was an easy one: dough balls and polenta chips. Whilst, at first, this may seem a somewhat modest choice for a Friday supper, I was thoroughly assured that the chips were ‘very nice, although they tasted funny’ (being polenta rather than potato), and the dough balls were ‘perfect, especially the big ones!’.

As someone who likes spice in their food, I opted for the American Hottest pizza, a new addition to the Pizza Express menu which took my interest because of the use of both hot green and roquito peppers, as well as fresh red chilli. When they say ‘Hottest’, they really do mean it! I found it very pleasant, although those who prefer their food slightly milder might be best to opt for the ‘American Hot’ or another alternative altogether.

All in all, a very pleasant meal in a friendly, airy restaurant, with fresh, good-quality food at a...

Really enjoyed our visit this evening. The food was great and arrived quickly. Our server Tomasz was lovely, served us with a smile, was perfectly attentive and professional throughout. I don’t normally leave reviews but felt he deserved a mention as another party arrived after us and treated him appallingly. After being sworn at for not allowing them to use more than one voucher per table (doing his job) he remained polite and calm. One of the women from this table, the one responsible for being abusive, then complained to the manager about him being rude. I’ve dropped one star off purely as the manager apologised to the customer and didn’t back up her staff member. Considering this customer threatened to “knock his teeth out” she should have been removed. No one should be made to feel uncomfortable at work by anyone throwing a paddy for not getting their own way. So...

Unable to give a lower star. Staff were rude and unwelcoming. The menus were thrown on the table as though we were a huge inconvenience for them.

When the food came out, the pre made cannelloni had been heated in the microwave for far too long it was burnt and the ricotta had split. When I raised this with the, obviously new and untrained waiter, he made no offer of rectification but just stared at me blankly. I asked to see his colleague but he told me that he was handling the situation, took my plate and left.

I then watched him (without clean hands) cut and handle pizza into the take Out boxes for other paying customers.

I cannot tell you the amateur and potential dangerous manor in which New Malden is running their store. For such a huge organization, they really should not be slipping so terribly.. it’s embarrassing. Environmental Agency need to swing by to see...