Paying a visit to city’s Zizzi
There's nothing like tucking into a tasty pizza to banish the winter blues.
In Newcastle you’re spoilt for choice when it comes to Italian cuisine, but when it comes to wanting a quick bite to eat before seeing a show at the city’s Theatre Royal you wouldn’t be blamed for looking no further than chain restaurant Zizzi.
Situated on Grey Street, it couldn’t be any closer to the theatre and conveniently close to Monument Metro station. We paid a visit during the city’s Restaurant Week and hadn’t booked, but as luck would have it we managed to nab a table upstairs.
We decided to go for the three course Restaurant Week menu for just £15 – for that price it would be rude not to.
We kicked things off with bruschetta and a garlic bread to share.
The bruschetta was laden with tomatoes, red onion and garlic with green pesto and basil. While the garlic bread focaccia was simply brushed with garlic and rosemary.
Both were a great start to the meal, but it was the garlic bread that came out on top.
Not only do you feel as though you get more, if quantity is your thing, but it was just a classic starter that Zizzi do extremely well.
Moving on to the mains, I opted for a margherita. But although the base and cheese were spot on, it was somewhat lacking in flavour.
The menu said it would feature basil but mine just has a single basil leaf on it and I think it may have benefited from some tomatoes.
Having said that, the second pizza we ordered – the classic pinoli – was packed with flavour from its hearty topping of goat's cheese, mozzarella, caramelised onion and tomatoes.
For dessert we opted for the chocolate melt, a chocolate pudding served with vanilla gelato, which was the highlight of the meal. We also chose the passion fruit cheesecake, which went down a treat, with the fruit coulis bringing a touch of summer to the table. It may seem like an obvious choice, but Zizzi certainly delivers and will have you going back for more.