Sharing a Family Meal at Prezzo with La Famiglia

Like many families we have a dining room table where we eat all our meals, but during the week there is never more than 3 of us sitting down together. It’s more usual for only 1 or 2 of us to eat at a time. Even at the weekends when we do eat together I get up countless times each meal. Requests for drinks, more food and grabbing replacement cutlery as the original set falls on the floor punctuate my meal.  It’s a real treat to go out and eat together because someone else gets to do the running around and we can enjoy some quality time together.

A Dad and 2 children sitting at a table in front of a window surrounded by wooden beams

We were invited by Prezzo and Britmums to have a family meal out celebrating some special new dishes on the Prezzo menu. La Famiglia sharing dishes are big bowls of pasta and we found them the perfect size for the four of us. You can choose from a steaming bowl of Penne Arrabbiata, Spaghetti Bolognese, Spaghetti Carbonara or Penne Alla Rusticana. Placed in the middle of the table with a big spoon to scoop the pasta out into smaller bowls you can choose how much you want to eat.

A young girl helping herself to pasta from a big bowl in the middle of the table at Prezzo

As Little and I don’t eat dairy the only one of the pasta dishes we could have was the Arrabbiata (we discovered their Bolognese sauce contains dairy). The waitress was great with helping us choose dishes so that we would all be happy. The Arrabbiata is a chunky tomato sauce with crushed chilli flakes, parsley and garlic. We decided to have the chilli flakes on the side so it wasn’t too spicy for the girls. To start we ordered 2 garlic breads: one just plain bread and the other with garlic butter. I dipped my bread in balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Delicious.

A young girl cutting garlic bread at Prezzo

A meal feels more special when you are sharing. If everyone orders different food off the menu the first few minutes after it arrives are spent peering at each others plates to see who made the best selection. When our food arrived we had collective appreciation for mea in front of us. I’m used to sharing my food as for some reason my daughters always seem to want what is on my plate, one of the great things about La Famiglia Sharing Dish is I didn’t have to sacrifice any of my meal because there was plenty for all of us.

A large bowl of arrabbiata pasta in Prezzo with a young girl eating the pasta in the background

Prezzo restaurants are child friendly and the girls happily coloured in their placemats while waiting for our meal to arrive. This allowed me and G to have a chat and it wasn’t until dessert was finished that the little ones started getting bored. G and M both had ice cream for dessert and I had scoops of 2 sorbets: lime & melon and blood orange. I ended up sharing a little bit of my sorbet with Little, but I didn’t mind. I couldn’t eat it all anyway.

Two bowls of ice cream being eaten

In our family I tend to be The Boss in charge of meal times: it’s normally me who decides what we are eating, makes and serves the food and how much everyone has. 
My partner is The Finisher. Any leftovers are happily hoovered up, unless there is ketchup on the plate (he’s not a fan). He helped me finish of the left over sorbet.
Big Sister is The Fidgeter. She loves her food, but struggles to stay still long enough to eat much. You are unlikely to find her sitting fully on her seat, she would rather eat standing at the table or bouncing up and down.
Little Sister is The Inconsistent one. We never know what she is going to eat or how much. Pasta, rice and scrambled eggs are normally a safe bet, but anything else will be devoured one day and not even touched the next.
All of us enjoyed our meal at Prezzo and the plates were taken away scraped clean.

A toddler with a pink bib on sitting in a highchair in Prezzo eating pasta

Other than the food my favourite thing about Prezzo restaurants is the buildings. Lots of the branches are in beautiful old buildings which they had turned into restaurants. I love that instead of the buildings being knocked down they are maintained so the community can enjoy the history. I think it adds to the warm atmosphere too, although friendly staff definitely contribute to the great atmosphere at Prezzo. We went to the Epping Branch which used to be a 17th century coaching Inn, picture old wooden beams and panelling. One of the other branches we go to is in the basement of a listed building and has beautiful brick arched ceilings. You can find out what the restaurants near you are like on the Prezzo website, they have over 280 across the UK.

Bottles of soft drink including fanta, diet coke and blackcurrant squash and a young girl grinning in the background

***Disclosure: This post is an entry for the BritMums #PrezzoLaFamiglia Challenge, sponsored by Prezzo.  ***

A couple of Prezzo menus with a drinks menu on top

1 comment

  1. Looks like a lovely family event - commenting for myself and on behalf of BritMums and thanking you for taking part.

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