Vegan pizza at Zizzi | Review

Since Italian restaurant chain Zizzi launched their separate vegan menu in March, everyone seems to be going crazy for their pizza! They were the first major chain to introduce vegan cheese, so it's little wonder everyone got excited. But is it worth the visit? I've managed to eat there twice since the opening and thought I'd share my opinions.

Their starters include olives, which can be served plain or in garlic and red pepper oil, although we decided to skip these. Instead, we chose the new garlic bread (above left). This is a traditional flat bread baked with whole garlic cloves, garlic oil and rosemary. Despite all of the potential, both my boyfriend and I found it to be a little bland, which I found very disappointing because garlic is my life. Roasting the garlic seemed to completely destroy its flavour. However, it's lovely with the chilli oil they provide on the table, and is excellent value for money as it can be shared between two. They also offer a bruschetta, which is essentially the same thing but with tomatoes added on top, although we are yet to try this.

On to the main attraction - pizza! The standard pizza at Zizzi is a plain margherita, which you can then add toppings to if you choose. On our first visit, I chose a plain pizza on a rustica so that I could really test out the flavour of the Mozzarisella, their cheese alternative. I've had many bad experiences with vegan cheese in the past so was a little apprehensive, but I was pleasantly surprised! It was exactly how I remember real mozzarella to be; a cheesey but relatively subtle taste. It's melting power is very impressive too, as it's virtually a sauce when brought to the table, although this can make things a bit messy. I'd recommend waiting a few minutes before starting to eat, as it solidifies into a soft texture very reminiscent of the real thing. On the second visit I added mushrooms as a topping, which I highly recommend as it perfectly compliments the delicious flavour of the cheese.

Our only issue was that the topping quantity can vary wildly. On our first visit, my boyfriend got next to no tomato base, which left his pizza somewhat dry, whereas we were both given excessive amounts of cheese the next time. This didn't matter too much, as they were delicious regardless of topping quantity, but the inconsistency between visits was somewhat strange. We also found that the staff could be a little abrupt, although this may have been due to the timing of our visits, as both restaurants were very quiet and I can imagine the staff were bored!

In addition to pizza, they also serve spaghetti pomodoro, a classic tomato pasta dish. You can also add veggies such as artichokes, peppers and spinach to this, so it's a good alternative for those who don't like pizza. However, if you do like pizza, there's not much point in trying it - this is something you could very easily make at home. There are also a number of sides available, including Tuscan potatoes and Italian slaw.

Together, the garlic bread and pizza are very filling, so we haven't yet tried any desserts. However, they look absolutely delicious - coconut and mango gelato, lemon sorbet or strawberry sorbet are available, with the possibility of adding prosecco & passion fruit coulis and caramelised pecans. Alternatively, the coconut and mango gelato can be served in nectarine halves. I'll definitely be trying the coconut & mango gelato with caramelised pecans if I have room on my next visit!

OVERALL SCORES

• Food quality - very good. The vegan cheese is revolutionary, I'd honestly recommend visiting just to try it.
• Value for money - excellent. Because the food was so filling, we managed to both have two courses and a drink each for £25.
• Service - average. The servers did their job, although didn't seem particularly enthusiastic about it.

TOTAL: 8/10