Prezzo, Bond Street, Chelmsford: Review

Chelmsford has two Prezzos, one near the river, next to Loch Fyne, and the other on Baddow Road, near Strada. This review is of the one by the river.

Yesterday was hot. My stash of Spicy Rice (see the nest post for the recipe) was depleted. I decided to eat out. We had a voucher for Prezzos so decided to go there.

It was surprisingly busy for a Wednesday evening, the staff seemed quite overstretched.

We opted to share a starter of oven roasted chicken wings with rosemary salt and a tomato and chilli dip. When they arrived they didn't strike me as being especially good value; £5.10 for 6 chicken wings, some of which were tiny. This niggle aside, they were very tasty. The skin was crisp, and the rosemary was subtle enough to be delicious. (Used with a heavy hand, rosemary give dishes a soapy, medicinal taste.) It was nice to receive wings without a diabetes-inducing sticky glaze, or deep fried in breadcrumbs. The sauce was pleasant, spicy and fresh tasting, my only gripe being that it was a little to vinegary.

For the main course I ordered the Wild Mushroom Girasole. It consisted of some large flower-shaped ('girasole' is Italian for 'sunflower') mushroom-stuffed ravioli, with mushroom, cherry tomato, rocket, buffalo mozzarella all tossed in pesto. It was very good, just not mushroomy enough for my taste. The pesto and mozzarella makes quite a rich dish, but the sharp tomato and peppery rocket compensated for this.

My partner's pizza was another story. He had the 'Tre Gusti', which is a pepperoni, chicken and pancetta pizza. It arrived with an anaemic crust- I prefer a pizza with a bit of colour round the edges because a pallid crust signifies a soggy middle. The pepperoni and pancetta were fine, but the four, count them, four large chunks of chicken were dry and rubbery. My partner removed them from the pizza, wrapped them in a napkin and took them home for the cat to eat/bat round the kitchen floor.

It amazes me that a large chain can get away with serving such a lacklustre pizza. Perhaps the pizza was undercooked because they were busy, but I can always vote with my wallet and go elsewhere. I have had some very good pasta dishes at Prezzo, but find the rest of their menu disappointing. The pizzas have stingy toppings, and the grill menu is hardly worth the bother with a couple of chicken dishes and some crab cakes. Where are the steak, lamb or fish? I went to Strada a few weeks ago, which is very similar to Prezzo in their pricing and menu, and had a delicious saltimbocca whilst my partner had a delicious steak. It can be done.

I'm just glad we didn't pay full price for it. Does anyone pay full price at Prezzo?

Spicy Rice Recipe

It's been pretty hot here and I've lost the will to cook. Spicy Rice is a recipe I concocted as it requires one pan, is good cold and reheats well.

Serves 4 as an accompaniment, or two for a really slutty dinner.

1 onion, chopped
Slug veg oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2tbsp curry paste
250g basmati rice, rinsed
1 tin chick peas, drained
500ml stock
1 handful of random veg, eg. frozen peas, chopped peppers, frozen spinach
1 handful nuts of your choice

Fry onion in oil for 3 mins , add garlic and curry paste and cook for 1 min. Add rice, stock, chickpeas and cook until stock is absorbed. You will have to use your discretion when adding the veg- the cooking depends on the veg and how cooked you like it. Live a little and experiment!

Serve sprinkled with the nuts. Some coriander would be nice.

I reckon it would go well with a fried egg. Yum.