Review: Prezzo – Victoria Square

When La Tasca in Victoria Square closed last year it was met with great sadness at the Pastiebap Bunker. It was a favourite of ours for 5 years and we had many great dinners, meetings with old friends and family birthdays at it. But alas now it is gone and from the ashes rises a Pheonix in the form of Prezzo.

The Italian chain has been a mainstay on the “mainland” for many years now and has a combo of traditional Italian dishes and some modern remixes.  Basically Pasta, pizza and all things Italian.  Prezzo in Belfast opened on Friday 8th March and so the Monday after we took the whole family out to see what the fuss was about.

You can book online (which is always nice) and so an e-mail and sms (do people still say sms?) message of confirmation later and we were on our way. As we entered the glass front doors the first thing I noticed about the décor is that it is certainly aesthetically pleasing. Tasteful but comfortable looking. Whites and dark woods complement each other nicely and make you feel at ease while you peruse the options on the menu, and what a lot of options there are on that menu. But I digress. As we entered we were greeted and swiftly shown to our table. A brilliant big round table that seated 8 well. I find round tables are the best for groups as you can see and talk to everyone; eating out is as much a social experience as it is a culinary one. They seemed to have a lot of round tables and as we walked through we noticed 2 couples with babies and children, so it’s certainly family friendly I have to comment on the staff who were nothing but wonderful throughout. They sorted out the heat (too high but soon sorted) checked back regularly and were witty and pleasant the whole night.

So to the food. All the usual are here and that’s no bad thing. The pizzas fall into 3 categories – Classic, light (for the dieters) and VIP. The VIP is described as “Our bigger and crispier pizza, with more toppings, served on wooden boards with your very own pizza cutter.” They also helpfully offer that as the pizza is quite large you can take 2 sides for a fiver and split the pizza between two. One of our group got the VIP and it was delicious and huge. I’m a massive pizza fan but decided to forgo it this time knowing that I could taste some-one else’s 😉

Helpfully for their pastas they offer the option of having 2 smaller sized portions of your choice incase you can’t decide which one you want. Although not adventurous I chose Spaghetti Carbonara and Spaghetti Bolognaise. I found the Bolognaise pleasing but a tad bland, although others on my group that tried it enjoyed it thoroughly. The carbonara however is probably the nicest I’ve ever tasted. Silky with a smokey creamy taste. To finish off they offer a mini deserts range, which is a small desert and a hot drink. I had the profiterole which was filled with chocolate cream and drizzled in liquid chocolate, it was light, airy and a great finish to the meal. I had a coffee as well and with that it was done.

Overall Prezzo was an excellent experience all round and for a place that has only been open 4 days it was impressively efficient.  I look forward to going back and I think it’s a great addition to the already excellent selection in Victoria Square.