Pizza Express, Wardour St February 19, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Cafes & Restaurants, London , trackbackAfter a hard couple of hours shopping lunch was essential. It was starting to rain as I wandered down from Oxford St through the back of Soho trying to avoid the crowds. Chinese New Year was still in full swing, but with most of Chinatown dug up for roadworks and the drizzle, the lanterns blowing in the blustery wind weren’t really enough to add festive cheer. It’s interesting that while Europe celebrates the dead of the year, just before the coldest time, China, which is at much the same latitude, waits another few weeks until there’s a hint of renewal in the air.
Pizza Express is a London institution, born here in Wardour St and a year older than me, another child of the sixties. Although the food is not stunning, it is unfailingly reliable, and a good pizza with a decent quaffable red plonk is all that’s required. They’re in some ways an upmarket macdonalds - clean, predictable and everywhere, at least in the UK.
I had a rocket and parmesan salad, four seasons pizza, a big glass of something from Montepulciano and some fizzy water, topped off with a cheesecake and a coffee, sitting in the window with the paper, watching the cold, damp people rush about their Sunday afternoon business. When I accidently tipped the waitress the entire amount of the bill rather than my normal 10% she noticed, told me and immediately started reversing the charges. Unobservant that I am, I’d probably never have picked it up, so I was very grateful.
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