Prezzo (Upminster)

The place is visually attractive with tiled floors and marble pieces lining the walls. All of these hard surfaces lead to the main problem, NOISE! I found this made conversation very fatiguing and therefore shall not return.

The food was not very inspiring; the crab cakes starter were 2 very small disks of fried mush and could have been anything. My main course of a polpettine pizza was sparsely covered with a narrow smear of tomato snaking around. About 4/5 small meatballs (halved) spread widely with a poor covering of caramelised onion and pepper. The overall impression was of scrimping of ingredients. It was too noisy for dessert.

The staff were clean and smartly dressed and the waiting service was good.
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Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Friday, August 22, 2008

Weekend is allways a busy time in any restaurant. This Calzone branch (Folded Pizza Oven instead of Roasted Chicken). Without a garden, the further you're seated at the back of this larger coverage footprint the noiser it gets.

The Bruschetta is served more traditional than other italian chains though at 4.50 is priced for the market. My Vegetarian choice of Funghi Pizza was above average except for the wasted bread fringe. Traditional Italiano but insufficient base covering. Plus points also for the Mixed Salad, good VFM. No complaints on the staff except from the menu-to-1st order felt you fell between the cracks, with staff making tables. Worth a tip, though limited to a quid because of this. The Unisex toilets, starring from the 1st step of the staircase was worth photographing.

Seating was plush along the walls, Outside tables & full-length opening windows overlooking the park made for a good location without hearing the main road traffic, thought with stiff competition form 3 close-by italian eateries. Booking advisable.

[Note My mother has eaten chicken at the Epping Branch (Calzone) & she won't be returning! See their website to find out which Oven is at which branch!]
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stevo (part-time food critic)
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Friday, August 15, 2008

Nice place with good service. I went on a Friday evening and it was very noisey, not the place for an intimate diner. It was full with couples, and families which did make conversation across the table difficult without having to raise your voice. The service by the waiting staff was excellent; attentive without being intrusive and annoying. The presentation of the food could have been better. I felt it was rushed (probably due to the numbers of customers at that time) in that my pasta dish felt like it hadn't been stirred completely and all the meat was concentrated in one corner of the dish. Also, a lot of the dishes were padded out with a lot of lettuce. The tomato and red onion salad consisted of half a large tomato and two slices of onion presented on a thick bed of lettuce. (As you guess, I'm not a lettuce eater!).

I would recommend Prezzo. Good table service, good menu choices, reasonably priced food though noisey at busy times.
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SJR
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 8
Sunday, January 20, 2008