Prezzo

I usually try not to review chains for a couple reasons, firstly because plenty of others (I imagine) have already done so, and secondly, because I like to support local restaurants as much as possible.

That being said, I haven’t done a restaurant review in a while, and found myself at Prezzo this week for a friend’s birthday, so thought I’d share my experience.

Before I visit a restaurant I like to get in touch with them beforehand to see if they can suggest any vegan items on the menu. This is generally first done via Twitter, and then done through the website if I don’t get a response. With Prezzo I didn’t get a response until today, after I had already eaten there.

Luckily, I found an “allergen” guide online that tells you if the dish is vegan or not. It does not, however, tell you if the dish has a vegan-option. For example, if I get a pizza without cheese, is it vegan? How about the salads? The other thing I found strange was that the ceaser salad says it contains milk but is suitable for vegans, whereas the house salad contains no meat, dairy or eggs, but isn’t suitable for vegans… very strange indeed. You can check out the nutritional info here.

So onto the meal. From the guide above, I decided to go with the penne arrabiata but substitute spaghetti in place of penne. I went for the light option which includes a smaller portion of pasta plus a side salad. Andrew opted for the Fiorentina pizza sans grana padano (not vegetarian-friendly) and the tricolore salad as a starter (mozzarella, tomato, avocado and rocket). I had a few bites of the tomato and avocado from his starter, and it was terrible. The salad was undressed, the tomatoes solid and flavorless, and the avocado was rock hard and completely inedible. I did let them know, and the manager said the cook was just being lazy because they did in fact have ripe avocados. We  still didn’t get it comp’d though.

The main was a bit better. My salad was fresh and varied with peppers, onion and cucumber and came with a zesty Italian dressing. My pasta was also tasty – just the right amount of spice and the sauce was well distributed. It was good, but certainly nothing to rave about.

Andrew loved his pizza and said it was probably one of the best he’s ever had in Leicester. I did try a bite, and have to say that the sauce was flavorsome and the crust was really light and nicely charred from the stone oven. Best in Leicester though? Close but debateable.

All in all is was a pretty good meal. The restaurant has a really nice ambiance, and the wine went down quite nicely with dinner. I would recommend Prezzo to vegetarians, but not necessarily to vegans. However, if you do find yourself here, at least you know there are some ways to create a vegan meal for yourself.