Zizzi

Recently we decided to give our regular haunts in Brighton Marina a miss and venture into pastures new. So on a wet Autumn night we arrived in Zizzi's to try their new menu. We were cordially greeted and shown to a table.

After perusing the menu I settled for the shoulder of lamb dish and my partner ordered a seafood risotto. We had a bottle of wine to start while we waited for the main course to arrive.

When the dishes arrived the look on my face would have said it all as instead of the shoulder of lamb I was expecting, I was greeted by a dollop of mash, some green beans and some overcooked meat which in porting size would have been the equivalent of 3 fish fingers stacked one on top of the other. There really was no style of finesse to the presentation of the dish and the flavour was equally lacking. Needless to say without rushing my meal I was finished way before my partner had eaten her risotto due to the small portion size.

To say the main meal was a disappointment would be a huge understatement.

In comparison the deserts menu was fabulous.

Before settling our bill for the evening we asked to see the manageress who apologised most sincerely and explained that they could only serve what they were supplied as pre-prepared meals.

She said that the pizza menu was by far the best choice and adjusted our bill accordingly.

The staff of this particular restaurant were exemplary on the night but were clearly let down by Zizzi's supply chain.

Were it not for the staff I would not even contemplate returning to this establishment.

Zizzi as a whole entity clearly need to review their menu and re-balance it accordingly either by reducing the price for the portion size they offer or to provide portion sizes that are value for money.

On entering Zizzi in Liverpool One, my partner and I were half-heartedly told by a waitress that she would be right with us, but once she had finished the job she had been doing, came back in the restaurant to walk straight past us and find other jobs to do, leaving us standing up for 5 minutes. We had to be attended to by a waiter who showed us a table but did welcome us or even take a drinks order, we had to wait 20 minutes to order drinks when we ordered our food.

Me and my partner had our orders taken after two of the tables that had come in AFTER us, even though we were ready to order almost straight away. This meant that one table got both starters AND main courses before we had even got our main meals (we only ordered one course). We ordered two drinks and the cold drink came after a few minutes but the coffee that we ordered was left (in plain sight) for more than five minutes on the bar, whilst the bartender busied himself with tasks such as cleaning glasses, letting our coffee go cold. Also, the latté was tiny and was definitely not worth what we paid for it. Admittedly, the waitress did say sorry when she brought the lukewarm coffee over to us but this was the only time that she was polite to us.

When our food arrived, both dishes were only slightly warm, yet no one asked us if everything was okay with our meals (the dishes were just dumped down) so I had to walk around the restaurant to ask someone to warm up my meal, since it was unsatisfactory. However, maybe I annoyed the chef by wanting a hot meal because my pizza returned not only hot, but also burnt.

Once we had finished our meals, the waitress took our plates (again, she did not ask if everything was okay) but she did ask what else she could get me and I asked for the bill. She informed me that she would 'be right back' with it, but I watched her clear my plates and then find many other tasks to do, such as wiping tables, even though there were no waiting customers. This meant that after 5-10 minutes, I had to go find a different waiter to get the bill. When he gave me the bill, he ran off midway through serving me to go sort out another table, and left me waiting to pay the bill. Again, I was not asked if everything was okay with my meal, so I did not leave a tip and promptly left after paying, walking past a couple members of staff who did not even say goodbye, and did not thank us for our service.

I will not be going to Zizzi's in Liverpool One again, and not only will I not recommend it to my friends and family, I will tell them not to waste their money there because the staff were very rude and did not care about the satisfaction of their customers.

Fiorentina pizza gave me the runs - and the wine was poor, aside from that OK, not bad for what we paid but any more and it would have slipped into overpriced.

I'm always looking for a bargain and that usually means I don't leave a tip at restaurents as I feel that they charge enough as it is - I did leave a tip at Zizzi's though.

The service was excellent, the wine very good quality considering it was reasnonably priced and the food outstanding.

We went in around half 7 on a wednesday and it was brisk there but food still arrived promptly and very well cooked so definitely recommend.

On a cold day in Charlotte Street - I was looking for somewhere to eat. Everywhere seemed to be booked, but because there's a Zizzi's in my home town I thought I'd chance it and I'm glad I did. The food was great (I had a Calzone)and the staff very were attentive (despite clearly being very busy). I know it's a chain restaurant and that might put some people off, but as chain go (especially for Italian food) this one is up there with the best!

I was not really looking forward to the trip to the branch in Reading, but i was pleasantly surprised. Food is authentic and delicious, staff were pleasant and there was a nice relaxed atmosphere.

Zizzi, part of Gondola who also own and operate ASK Italian and Pizza Express, is the more "upmarket" brand in the chain.

The Gnocchi with gorgonzola sauce with spinach and nut meg is to die for

The Pancetta risotto is quite simply the best risotto I have ever had, not like the usual muchroom risotto rubbish, the rice even had bite

Good choice of good quality desserts too, the dessert we had was lovely.

Disappointed with some of the pizzas considering you can see them being made fresh and they looked good, far too much dough not enough of the tomato base

Upon arrival, there was no-one to greet us, so we had to find a table ourselves. After sitting down and waiting for around 10 minutes, some menus were shoved across the table by the Waiter who never even spoke.

After deciding what we wanted to order, we again had to ask for a member of staff to come and take our order. The waiter was rude, short tempered and complained that he'd got a bad shoulder! We ordered our food which arrived quite promptly, but again was delivered by the same surly waiter. The Coke's which we'd ordered arrived as Diet Cokes.

As for the food. My Spaghetti Bollognaise was basically just Spaghetti being completely devoid of any meat! My partners Chicken Pizza had around 3 small pieces of chicken on it.

Due to some outside issues, we did not have the desire or the time to complain about this in the Restaurant, so filled in an online feedback form on the Zizzi website and was promised a telephone callback "within 48 hours"

This has now elapsed and we have had no such communication from Zizzi.

Zizzi's has recently been refurbished, it really looks lovely inside, bright fun and loud, lots of party's going on and this was a Tuesday night. The teenagers love it.. We haven't eaten here since last year as we had a few to many bad meals, but cooks and servers do change, so they all deserve a second chance.. Zizzi's was busy but they managed to find a table straight away. Our drinks order arrived promptly. The calamari starters was lovely at £4.99,also the vegetable antipasti at £5.99 served on a piece of wood was yummy. The pasta dishes are good , but if you want pizza go to pizza express as Zizzi's suck! its the fault of the stodgy bass used... The service was very good, and the table was kept clean and tidy.. I would recommend this Zizzi's for family's and for older children's party's (12-16). I enjoyed the night, I would be happy to go back again. If you look on the net your can find vouchers e.g.: two meals for £12. but make sure you read the small print, as it doesn't included their special meat and salmon meals. The car park is on the side of the building.

THEY HAD GREAT FOOD, THE ATMUSPHER WAS GREAT EVERY ONE AROUND ME WAS HAPPY, THE STAFF REALLY POLITE. I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMEND THIS RESTARANT TO EVERY ONE MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY, AND THE FOOD AND DRINK WERE GREAT VALUE FOR MY MONEY, I ONLEY WENT THERE FOR A QUIET MEAL. BUT WOULD LOVE TO TAKE MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS THERE ON A REGULAR BASE'S.