Metropol

James H wrote:What is the consensus on Papa John's??

Nice idea, shame about the quality. I'm yet to get a PJs pizza NOT burned to a cinder, and/or stone cold.

I wouldn't mind but the branch they deliver it from is three minutes away.

lukey wrote:I do love Pizza Express - it's a shame the name undersells themselves.
I was so sure there used to be one in dearest Dunders, but everyone I've tried to verify this with has accused me of being a mental.

Perth has one and we don't, I find this abhorant.

lukey wrote: dearest Dunders,

Didn't he do the music to Click Online?

I've just been reminded of my truly awful Stephen Cole song... ugh.

so, armed with my £20 of free vouchers i went to pizza hut tonight with two others. we decided on the "for a few" meal thing where you got a starter platter, a large pizza and a sharing pasta for £24. Not bad we thought.

Well, the starter platter was pathetic, a scab of salad, some rubbery mozerella, three chicken things and a bruscetta made with garlic bread? what a joke.

then we had the salad plate where we could go get food from the salad bar, except this fat bitch then addled up to the salad bar and emptied her leftovers into one of the tubs. lovely.

the pizza itself was a greasy load of shit. the "zigzag of yummy bbq sauce" appeared to not exist whilst the bacon was all lardy.

as for the pasta, it was cold, soggy and had too much sauce. oh and it really was "pasta", because you had to pay £1 extra to get meat put in it.

and as for trying to get refills from the loud lady, well. at least if nothing else the meal was over in about 12 minutes. hardly a night out to savour the atmosphere.

suffice to say, another letter is heading their way. if we get more vouchers we think a safe bet would be to spend it all on wine and desert.

I always try to avoid the restaurants themselves. Despite the fact they've clearly tried to class up the insides, they still look tacky as shit and the service is always crap. Also, if you look in to the one at the Gate, it's always full of screaming kids or Jeremy Kyle rejects which puts me right off any food at all.

They've built one at the Boldon Cineworld right next to Maccy D's and Frankie and Benny's. I dunno what clientelle they're aiming for - something of a middle ground? Too snobbish to go to McDo but too scabby to go to F&B's?

Ooooh that's just reminded me. Frankie and Benny's pizzas are absolutely lush. Service is always ok and they do wonderful desSerts (not deserts, Hyma ) which will indeed, as Grindon said, take you one day closer to heart disease.

I have to agree - whatever I've even at Frankie & Bennie's I've ALWAYS enjoyed. The only thing that annoys me is the REPEATED dimmed lights and happy birthday song that always seems to occur five times when I go out and eat there. Still I'll get my own back one day and have my own birthday there with a really big cake. You're all invited.

I am a pizza-holic, and as such I am the most qualified person to speak on this matter.

Pizza Hut - have never had problems with service or interiors - be it Oxford Street or Cardiff High Street. In fact we've had a few family birthdays there. I don't think it's meant to be "classy" in the same laughable way McDonald's is attempting to be. I just think it's meant to be a pizza restaurant. If you're expecting anything over that, go to....

Frankie & Benny's - superb service, tasty food, excellent value and I don't mind the birthday moments - they're quirky, fun and so long as you don't spend ages eating and pick a quieter night like Tuesday, they're not too frequent. I like Americana so F&B makes a viable alternative to TGI Friday's, which while nice, I've not warmed to as much.

Pizza Express - I only buy their chilled pizza from the supermarket, their American Hot is superb.

Oh now you see I'm not a fan of Frankie and Benny's at all. The couple of pizzas I've had from the one next to my work in the past have been decidedly meh. The constant sight of chavvy girls pulling up in pink limos on their birthdays puts me off, too.

I find Bella Italia to be much nicer.

Their lasagne was distinctly brake brothers ready made when I went. Luckily vouchers resulted from that too and a nice free steak made up for it, but generally its a bit meh.

I find the small independent places are nicer. Papa Joes in Dundee is particularly scrummy, their steak fajitas being a favourite of mine.

James H wrote:They've built one at the Boldon Cineworld right next to Maccy D's and Frankie and Benny's.

Frankie and Benny's interests me because they really have the monopoly on cinema cuisine. In fact now I think about it, Cinemas are the only places I've seen them. I think I went to one at someone's birthday party about 10 years ago, and I don't remember it being particularly good. After this spate of free advertising though I may, just possibly, visit them again, on the grounds that it's clearly not completely crap.

I just slagged it denman, does my word mean nothing to you anymore?