Zizzi (Earls Court)

Having enjoyed dropping in for lunch on occasion we chose Zizzi for dinner.

The first time, a Monday we enjoyed a quick dinner, I, casareccia pollo picante, my wife the rigatone con pollo e funghi with a couple of glasses of the excellent Humboldt Coast zinfadel rosé. The sevice was excellent, atmosphere relaxed,pasta dishes to die for and prices quite reasonable.

A Thurday evening the next week was a different story. Choosing the same dishes we had previously enjoyed we found them to be far from the wonderful rich sauces we had encountered previously, but still palatable and thought we-ell, maybe someone had an off night, the Humboldt Coast rosé is always great and difficult to find (except on-line) we may give them another chance.

A couple of weeks later we visited again, booking in advance this time as we had a short wait the previous visit, and our daughter visiting us, and it was a Thursday evening again.

Fortunately, we got lucky and the food was excellent, I again chose the casareccia pollo picante, a wonderful rich, spicy chilli, spinach and tomato sauce coupled with juicy tender chicken pieces. My wife and daughter both enjoying the rigatone con pollo e funghi, both commenting on the rich fresh tomato, mushroom and onion sauce. We finished with desserts, I, the tiramisu, which I found to fairly run-of-the-mill, no better than a supermarket bought tiramisu, but my wife and daughter both raving over the sublime panettone al forno, a light, fluffy and creamy bread pudding topped with cinnamon icecream. A bottle of the zinfadel rosé and we had a lovely dinner.

Sadly, last Sunday, mothers day, we decided to dine at Zizzi again. Although, as usual, busy, having booked for 8pm it was not so busy as to stop the waiter from using such lines as 'the wine may run out, would you like to order more now?' Ouch.

It was an 'off' night. Again, both pasta dishes were dry, the sauces in both thin and much less, leaving dried out pasta. the chicken in my casareccia pollo picante was still quite juicy and tender, while my wifes chicken with the rigatone was dry and stringy - even to my eye from across the table- and she commented on it as tasting old and dry. I did comment on this to the waiter at the time, remarking that the dishes seem to suffer the busier they are..his reply (quite true) that this should not be the case, but we could have coffees on the house.

Thinking of our waistlines, we decided to share the panettone al forno -the menu does describe it as 'makes great for sharing' and ordered one serving, asking for an extra spoon so we could share. The waiter said he could not provide this - some gobbledygook about you can order two desserts but not two spoons to share, so I said 'fine, I'll just sample from my wifes dessert. As it turned out the manager arrived with two spoons, and accompanying napkins while we waited the advised 15 minutes preparation time for the panettone- perhaps the waiter had mentioned my comments. I did mention to the manager that the food had so far not been up to the usual standard. 20 minutes later the manager unceromoniously clumped the panettone al forno on our table with a curt 'careful, it's hot' and whisked away. What a disaster.. the panettone was dry and burned far too much on top ...a dark brown crusty top is delicious, burned is not! Even the Humboldt Coast zinfadel rosés smooth, crisp, fruity delightfulness could not save this meal.

We will not be dining at Zizzi, Earls Court again. It is too much of a lottery!
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Squyre - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Thursday, March 18, 2010

My mother has been coming to zizzi's since it first opened and love's the food and wine.

The service is good and my mother over time has got to know most of the people who work there which gives it a nice community feeling. I myself have been to zizzi's a dozen times as it is my local.

It's got good lighting for some of us lady's that dont like to show our age!! The atmosphere is cosy with an open oven area where my daughter, as it is child friendly, likes to look at the chef's making the pizza's.

So if you fancy a tasty meal washed down with a glass of wine at good value 'Zizzi's is the place.
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10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, November 27, 2009