Nell's Kampus — Restaurant in Manchester

We went in on the last day of their January half price on Pizza offer. It was understandably very busy for a Tuesday night. It's a nice space with good decor and lighting. And being situated by the Canal makes for an aesthetically pleasing experience. And with the offer on that is now expired it was very well priced. Unfortunately that ends the positives of my experience.

Firstly we were sat on some plastic primary school seats. Initially thinking perhaps I'm being a little fussy here. But then as I eyed up the comfy looking seats (presumably reserved for the best of derrieres) another punter realised the short straw we had been dealt and swiftly changed seats. Fair play my indecisiveness was his gain. So yeah the chairs were not great.

But that's not too significant the real shame for me was the Pizza itself, let me say the dough was some of the nicest I have had in Manchester. But we tried four different pizzas and found them all lacking in flavour and quite soggy. They all needed salt and my Vegan companion for this meal had an even worse time her pizzas were truly bland and perhaps missing components, she essentially was served some fried veg dripping in oil on a soggy base with no cheese replacement and chilli all over it. We have had better tasting pizzas from a kebab shop.

And the Drinks were not ideal. Not many options for someone who is not drinking and then its 4 pound for a lemonade, and they had no option for the water on the App, obviously I was capable enough to ask and they pointed me to get my own which is fine but I didnet need the agrivation from the servers which brings me to my last unfortunate critique.

The staff were quite short, physically yes but talking more tempremantally here. I can sympathise with them being very busy and perhaps overworked however that's not my fault and really leaves you with a dampend experience. And as we were leaving we asked for a box to take the leftovers home, I know I moaned but I paid for it so Im going to eat it ! And we were told "oh we have no boxes left... people have ordered far too much pizza ! 👀".... Hmm maybe as a buisness perhaps people havent ordered too much product and you havent ordered enough boxes. I just found the sentiment ridiculous as she was obviously not pleased with booming business their receiving, but I can get why a server would be inclined to feel that way. Alas giant 22inch pizza box in the uber it was.

So no hard feelings. Over all I went home fed and not too out of pocket. It was a nice space but unfortunately perhaps your Chefs and Staff were not on top form that night and we would...

Very disappointed in my visit yesterday. I attended with a group of friends for my first time and the customer service was absolutely shocking. We all ordered drinks at the bar, and I was the only one to be ID’d which I found strange but I understand the under 25 policy so that was fine, let her know I had my ID in the car. I went to my car, got my ID and ordered the drink online using the QR code on the table since my friends were all on the table with their drinks at this point. Everything was okay, My drink came, I drank it, but noticed that staff kept pointing at me and staring which made me feel very uncomfortable, even noticed a staff member (female, with short hair) pointing at me with the bouncer. At this point I knew they just didn’t want me in the restaurant. Nearly finished my drink at this point and another staff member (female, short black curly hair) marched over to me, very aggressive, may I add and pulled up my receipt and explained the situation to me regarding the ID. This was done in a patronising way with a lot of attitude as she clearly felt like I was underage. She made me feel very uncomfortable and embarrassed even the way how she was talking to me, I showed my ID and everything was fine after this but the way how the staff members went about this was very wrong. When my drink came, you should have asked for ID and it would have been provided, instead of constantly staring at me and pointing at me making me feel uncomfortable to be there. Would not recommend due to this service however the drinks and pizza were nice, just not the customer service. My problem is not being ID’d, it is the way how I was spoken to and looked down upon for whatever reason,...

So I decided to give Nell’s Pizza another go at their well known Kampus branch.

The venue was busy and had a great atmosphere. We were greeted on arrival by a friendly lady who took us to a nice table. The decor is party bar style, colourful and fun. However they only have one door which was constantly open - it made the bar very very cold, although staff kept shutting it. I ended up putting my coat on and we decided to leave as soon as our food was done and go for a drink somewhere warm!

We ordered at the bar and a Australian/Kiwi lad served us - he very friendly and helpful. I had a New York sour and it was very tasty. Also tried the watermelon Marg which was nice too.

We ordered a half and half pizza and the STRACCIATELLA + STICKS. Perhaps I read the menu incorrectly but I thought we were getting mozzarella style breaded sticks. But when it came it was dipping cheese with focaccia. It was really tasty! I loved it so much. Bread was nice and crispy and well seasoned. Cheese was perfect too.

Onto the pizza. We got the massive one and it was HUGE! I have to be honest, it was disappointing. It was a bit over done, with large burnt bits on my side of the pizza. I ordered the n’duja pizza and tbh I couldn’t see or taste any. I got the impression that the pizza wasn’t fresh. However because we’d ordered half and half it must have been! Last time I tried Nell’s I pondered if the dough was fresh. It has a brittle texture. The dough was very heavy and not that tasty. I did enjoy the Jalepeno and Lime Crema though, very tasty.

Overall I would go back but probably just get snacks and drinks. Would also make sure I’m away from that...