Written by Andrew Shaw.
Everyone knows you have to take out another student loan if you want to be able to afford Domino’s or Pizza Hut and the cheaper pizzas almost always taste like cardboard painted in cheap cheese. But is there a middle ground? Obviously – you have already clicked on this article. The answer is Prezzo – open from 12 noon to 11:30pm.
Until a friend decided he was having his birthday meal there, I had always avoided this popular Italian restaurant out of fear for my little-earned money. But it was the end of term and I had (a little) money to throw around so I figured I could treat myself. First impressions are everything, and mine of Prezzo was that there was no way I was escaping the place without dipping into my overdraft. That worry was only amplified when the water I had asked for came in an old fashioned whiskey glass. Just what were they expecting of me?
With a heavy heart I finally glanced at the menu. Or specifically the pizza section of the menu. Everything else looked delicious, but like practically everyone else at the meal I was there for pizza. But which type? See Prezzo has three choices for your pizza: Classic, Light and something called V.I.Pizza. Classic and Light were essentially exactly what they said on the tin but with claims of being “the ultimate Prezzo pizza” the V.I.Pizza intrigued me.
So I threw hell to the wind, ignored the pleas from my wallet to be sensible and ordered a V.I.P Vesuvio – a double pepperoni pizza with a choice of either red chillies or sweet roquito chilli peppers. I naively chose the latter, thinking the tagline of ‘sweet’ would prove less fiery. It did not. Do not let Prezzo fool you for a second into thinking that there is anything sweet about those demon chillies.
The pizza itself was excellent. You do not spend 300 words writing a restaurant review and then reveal the food was no good. Thankfully I do not have to: the Vesuvio was the best pizza I’ve had at Uni. Forget about the more mainstream pizza chains, the pizza at Prezzo surpassed them all. And for £11.75 for the V.I.Pizza (£10.25 for the Classic and a pound more for the Light) it was not even too dear. It was not that cheap either, but good pizza comes at a price.
As does a fine dessert. A McFlurry may only cost 99p but I knew the desserts at Prezzo would be worth it. Just like with the pizza, my eyes were instantly drawn to the Honeycomb Smash Cheesecake. And just like the pizza, it tasted incredible. Because the pizza had not been greasy I had felt like I could have eaten another as soon as I finished, but the dessert was just sweet enough that I realised that would have been a mistake.
My biggest regret of eating out at Prezzo was that I did not order a starter. Whilst I did not think I would have been able to justify spending £6 on a small serving of bruschetta, I forgot about the 20% off discount you can get with a student card. So make sure you bring yours if you visit – then when you can go all out on a three course meal you do not have to eat ramen noodles for a week to compensate.
Oh, and before I forget, its pronounced cal-zo-nay, not cal-zone.