Why do we repeatedly choose Pizza Express for our special celebrations? (And for the not so special but we just fancy a meal out as a family?) Well, because they do it SO well that’s why! They cater for adults of course but they also cater for children in a way which makes them feel grown up and special. Often times restaurants can be a fraught experience with little ones but at good old Pizza Express they never are.

We always find it’s guaranteed great food, a brilliant atmosphere and then we always come away wanting to go again. It used to be that we would take the children because we liked it so much and it was the place that they were so warmly welcomed. These days however and I don’t think we could dare go on our own for fear that the children would never talk to us again! Ask them for their perfect outing and it will ALWAYS include Pizza Express! Actually ask me for my perfect outing and I’d include it too.

Like lots of restaurants they have crayons for the kiddos but what sets them apart is that they really think about what the children would like and it’s not JUST a pack of crayons to keep them busy until their equally as delicious as their parents food arrives. They have stickers, an activity pack, a chef’s hat to decorate… And the staff make a real fuss of them. I like that they actually seem to always talk to my children not about them and on many visits when they are not busy the children have been allowed to help make their own desert. The Piccolo Menu (which costs £6.95 for a starter of dough balls with garlic butter, a main of pizza or pasta and a desert) comes with the famous bambinoccino at the end of the meal and for mine, though it may only be frothy milk in a tiny cup, it’s the cherry on the cake for that grown up experience!

From the olives at the start (I really need to start ordering two bowls, I got ONE single olive on our last visit) to the end of the meal everything is exactly how we like it and now that Pizza Express have teamed up with the new Ice Age film, ‘Collision Course’, there’s even more to love! There’s a new Ice Age Collision Course activity pack which (after you’ve completed it) offers a chance to win a holiday to Hollywood! Wowsers! We’ve entered as Florence did a brilliant picture on her pack and before I even knew about the competition myself she had read EVERYTHING and decided she needed to enter!

We went for a visit on Friday night partly to celebrate my birthday and partly to take a look at the new collaboration; as per usual we had a brilliant time! We ate, we laughed, we chatted and it was another perfect Pizza Express jaunt. Florence LOVES the Piccolo menu but she also LOVES my own usual starter choice of a mushroom bruschetta. When she found out that the grown ups for ths visit instead were going to share the anti pasti (OH MA GOSHNESS IT’S GOOD!) she begged me to allow her, instead of the usual dough balls and for a little bit extra, to have her own starter… And I can’t believe it but she ate the whole thing AND then managed her pasta and pud! That girl, where DID she put it all?

And onto the mains we had everything we love from the polenta chips to the new Hawaaian which has an oozy pineapple spiced chutney with salty ham on a base of bechemal sauce. IT IS OUT OF THIS WORLD GOOD and I’ve not met anyone who doesn’t love it. It’s not QUITE as good as the old Monte Bianco (I say it every time but PLEASE bring it back Pizza Express) but it’s a pretty good alternative! Just look at our table of food!

And would we leave without desert? Not on your nelly belly! To wash mine down I drank Prosecco (which is delightfully crisp and not at all tarte) as a slight differentiation to my usual glass (es – if I’m hones – hic) of the Gavi white and we all went home with tummies about to burst and smiles on our faces!

Another gorgeous meal at Pizza Express under our ever expanding belts and we’re happy, happy, happy! The new Ice Age activity pack is muchos fun and the fact that you can enter the competition to win a holiday is even better! Here’s Florence’s entry, keep your fingers crossed for us, I’d LOVE to go to La la land!

We received this meal as a gift in return for an honest review.