pizza express – the joy of five

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Creating Your Own Pizza With Pizza Express

June 4, 2019June 7, 2019by thejoyoffiveLeave a Comment

[AD] During half term we had the pleasure of heading along to the Pizza Express test kitchen in West London for a very special pizza making party.

In usual fashion we arrived once the party had started to a room filled with plums of flour and happy little faces; the boys couldn’t wait to get stuck in!

The dough was kneaded and spun like true professionals and they were then given a whole host of toppings to fill their base with.

A smiling face seemed to be a running theme amongst a lot of the children and it was lovely to see their creative minds at work; this leads me on to letting you know about a fab competition that allows the little ones to use their brilliant imaginations to create their own pizza that if selected could end up on Pizza Express’s very own Piccolo menu.

All you need to do is head over to the Pizza Express Site and select four toppings from a choice of 20 for your very own pizza and then give your creation a super special name to make it stand out from the crowd!

I know that my little ones would be over the moon to be able to visit any of their restaurants and order their very own creation.

The competition is open until Monday 17th June 19 and is open to all children up to the age of 13.

Once the children had finished their pizzas they were popped into the oven to cook whilst they took part in a game of pin the moustache on the waiter which proved to be very popular.

With the smell of pizza in their air everyone got scrubbed up and ready to eat. The meal obviously started with their infamous dough balls, followed closely by their very own pizzas.

For me Pizza Express is the only restaurant we visit that Frankie and his allergies are completely catered for. He doesn’t have to put up with a completely separate/bland menu but instead he can indulge in exactly the same food that the rest of his family and friends enjoy without any worry. From the soft and squashy dough balls to pretty much any pizza he fancies and to finish it’s not just a bowl of fruit or a boring lolly; he can have a ice cream…well sorbet that he never notices the difference with and even a gooey chocolate brownie!

It’s has been one of our top restaurants for family dining for a while now and after our pizza making extravaganza it will remain there for a long time to come I’m sure.

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Exploring Stories With Pizza Express And Puffin Books

June 5, 2018June 5, 2018by thejoyoffive7 Comments

If a poll was taken with my family on which was their favourite restaurant I know that Pizza Express would win hands down!

The children love the delicious food that is served quickly to quash those all to familiar ‘I’m starving’ moans and as a parent I love the family friendly vibe that you get in each and every restaurant. The hustle and bustle means I don’t feel I need to be continually asking the kids to be quiet and with the great activities that are always on offer there is actually not much chance for fidgety bums and fingers to get restless.

It was in fact an exciting new activity pack and competition that Puffin Books have created for Pizza Express that saw us making our way to one of their Brighton branches last week.

We were taken to our seats by our super friendly waiter that handed the children their activities packs and they got started on them straight away. The Story Explorers Adventure Journal was full to the brim with activities and games inspired by different books and it really got the children’s creative juices flowing.

After trying to create their own Grey Huffley from their favourite series – Diary Of A Wimpy Kid they feasted on a starter of dough balls and vegetable crudités while I indulged in some delicately battered calamari that I had to keep Izzy away from!

Actually if you are a fans of Diary Of The Wimpy Kid too then there is a brilliant competition you can enter where you can design your own book cover and submit it online for your chance to win a family portrait down for you by Jeff Kinney, the author of Diary Of A Wimpy Kid himself.

As we waited on our mains we were treated to a visit from caricaturist Sean Savage who created a fantastic portrait of us all. The kids absolutely loved it and found the size of my teeth hilarious!

With our special memento safely tucked away we ate a delicious selection of pizza and pasta that didn’t fail to disappoint.

Aside from being so family friendly another highlight of Pizza Express for us is the way they cater for Frankie and his multiple allergies. The kids menu can be adapted perfectly which always makes him feel inclusive rather than having to have something completely different which can happen in so many other restaurants.

We had a quick break between courses where it was Izzy’s job to make up the chatter boxes that came in the activity packs. These are always a hit with us and they played for ages asking each other questions to unveil the final answer.

A meal out isn’t complete without desert and at Pizza Express you really are spoilt for choice. The children dived into ice cream sundaes and brownies whilst I went for the mini biscoff cheesecake dolcetti which I told myself was a lighter option!

Full to the brim and bursting with ideas on stories they were going to create and illustrate when they got home really meant that Pizza Express has been a feast for our minds as well as our bellies and we highly reccomend a trip there soon so you don’t miss out on all the fun!

*Collaborated post

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Ice Age Collision Course Meets Pizza Express

July 18, 2016August 16, 2016by thejoyoffive3 Comments

What more could children want than than scrumptious meal and a trip to the cinema!

This is exactly what I got up to with three of my little ones on Saturday when we hit a hustling and busting Soho to attend a special screening of the brand new Ice Age film Collision Course and to try out the great Ice Age themed children’s activities Pizza Express have to offer.

We arrived at the Dean Street branch of Pizza Express where we were shown to our table where the children dived straight into the colourful Ice Age themed sheets that had plenty for all ages to do from colouring to puzzles and of course the usual stickers that mine love to stick in any available space.

The highlight for number three was to get the opportunity to take part in a competition to win a family holiday to Hollywood!

She selected her favourite Ice Age character and pizza and got set on creating her masterpiece.

This competition is running until the 5th of September so there is plenty of time to get yourselves in their over the summer holidays to take part.

Pizza Express is always a top choice for us as the family friendly approach is so appealing for our noisy brood and little allergy boy. Number four is always easily catered for with a good selection for him to choose from.

The Piccolo children’s menu offers scaled down sized meals of some of the firm favourites from the main menu which allows the children to enjoy all three courses just like the adults.

Number three started with the famous dough balls as did number four with the gluten free option.

I went for the calamari that was coated in a delicious, crunchy batter and complimented perfectly with a tart ceasar dressing.

This was followed by mains of a gluten and cheese free pepperoni pizza for number four and a margarita for number three.

I am more of a pasta fan so I opted for the pollo pesto which is a scrummy combination of chicken, mushroom and red onion in a super creamy bechamel and pesto sauce and a mixture of tasty cheeses.

Pudding couldn’t be left out and we just about managed to squeeze in a raspberry sorbet for number four and a goey gluten free brownie for number three.

I’m a sucker for the New York style vanilla cheese cake with its crunchy biscuit base and fruity raspberry coulis.

Number two who normally avoids these types of events was itching to get along to have a slice of his favourite honeycomb cream slice.

With full bellies we managed to unweld ourselves from our chairs and make our way round the corner to the Fox Studios HQ where we were greeted by the friendly faces of Sid and Scrat that were only to happy to pose for a quick photo!

Once inside the studio we grab some drinks from the bar and took to our seats were I was rather taken with the glitzy, Hollywood style curtains.

Popcorn in hand we settled in to watch the movie where the scatty Scrat begins to burry his acorn and in the process activating a long abandoned alien ship that sends him hurtling into space, catapulting asteroids towards plant Earth.

I won’t let on anymore about the film; instead I will let you add a trip to the movies to find out what happens to your list of things to do over the long summer holidays. And of course this has to be finished off with a trip to Pizza Express grab some delicious food and to try you luck at winning that trip of a lifetime to Hollywood!
*this event was put on by pizza express and we were invited along by the lovely Ruth and Katy.