Vapiano Italian Restaurant (Review)

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Vapiano

When we were in London for Britmums Live! we were invited to try out a very different Italian restaurant chain called Vapiano. There are two Vapianos in London, and we decided to visit the branch on Great Portland Street, just north of Oxford Street.

Obviously this was a prearranged meal and therefore it could be considered that the experience we had was vastly different to reality. Both TripAdvisor and the three thousand people who eat at this branch every day clearly indicate that that is not the case. Yes, three thousand people. The Great Portlant Street restaurant is the busiest in the world. We visited at a peak time on a busy Sunday afternoon; no table was reserved for us (standard practise) yet we found a seat instantly on the upper level, and we stayed for two and a half hours. During that time the tables around us changed parties several times, however we didn't see anyone hanging around waiting for a seat and nobody appeared to feel rushed.

Vapiano is a chain of restaurants that originated in Germany in 2002, and now has over 120 branches in twenty six countries over four continents. The supervisor that greeted us was so genuinely enthusiastic about the company that I could feel his passion for their ethos, ensuring good, fresh food is delivered to the patrons quickly and in a friendly manner. The best bit of news he shared with me is that in Vapiano's five-year plan, there will be a restaurant opening in Cardiff!

I've digressed from the factual parts of this review.

Upon arrival at the restaurant, customers are given a card which has a chip embedded in it. Once customers have found their seats and looked at the menus, then they go and order at each food station (antipasti & starters, pizza, pasta, a bar, desserts). The order is made, the card is 'scanned' and the details of the order are added to the card (this happens for every item of food and drink ordered). The chefs prepare and cook the food to order while the customer waits, receives their food and then returns to their party to enjoy their meal. Once the meal is finished, the customers take their card (which has a £50 limit on it) to the cashdesk, which is situated on the way out, and pays.

Vapiano

This is an incredibly fair system as it means that if a party of friends is visiting together, then there is not the awkward moment when the bill comes and individual amounts are calculated, which often causes arguments. If a family party is having a meal, then the bill can be spread over several cards which the adults have; children do not have cards as alcoholic drinks can be added to the 'credit' on the card.

Seating is mainly in long benches and tables which allows for large parties to sit, chat and enjoy each other's company, there are booths, tall tables and smaller tables. We sat on a high bench and tall table at the back of the restaurant, watching everyone enjoying themselves and soaking up the atmosphere, before I went and ordered.

Antipasti & Starters

We decided to order a variety of starters so that the three of us could pick and choose:

  • Piatto antipasti (Parma ham, salami, pepperoni, roasted vegetables, mozzarella, bruschetta) = £9.00
  • Insalata Caprese (tomatoes, mozzarella, basil) = £6.50
  • Bruschetta (toasted bread, tomatoes, garlic, olive oil) = £2.80

Vapiano

As I carried the food back upstairs on an overladen tray, I anticipated the look on my husband's face and I certainly wasn't disappointed! When he saw the plate of mixed cold meats, with bread, bruschetta and mozzarella, his face lit up and in all honesty that could have been a light meal in itself; there was so much choice!

I've had a lot of Insalata Caprese (including on Capri itself) and this was one of the best as the mozzarella was so smooth and virtually melted in my mouth. The brushetta was perfectly toasted meaning the middle didn't go soggy and the edges weren't too crispy and hard.

While the Insalata Caprese was a little more expensive than I'd have normally been prepared to pay, the quality of the mozzarella more than made up for that. The bruschetta was incredibly well priced for a starter.

A definite 10/10 for the starters.

Pizzas & Pastas

We decided to both go for a vegetarian main meal so that we could mix and match:

  • Pasta: Rucola Ravioli (ravioli with rocket, ricotta cheese filling, butter, pine nuts) = £8.75
  • Pizza: Dell’Alpe (Gorgonzola, Grana Padano D.O.P., smoked cheese, dried tomatoes and figs [I didn't have these on mine], rocket, mozzarella) = £9.75

Pizza and pasta

This pizza has gone up there as one of the best I've had, and I've had a lot! My husband cites the one we had in Pompeii as the best he's ever had, I liked the one in Rome more, but this was just as good as either. Vapiano make their pizza dough on site every day from fresh ingredients, and the recipe that they use for the dough means that it doesn't get soggy in the middle underneath all the cheese. The flavours blended perfectly and the crust was suitably volcanic in appearance. I couldn't manage it all though due to the size, and I'd suggest this would be a good dish to share in the party.

The ravioli was very tasty and the pasta was again freshly made on site in the morning. There is actually a section of the restaurant which is encased in glass walls and contains the pasta machine. Here customers can watch the pasta being made, shaped and bagged into perfect 180g portions before being dispensed to the pasta chefs who cook the sauces to a given recipe but can personalise each dish.

Main meals receive a 9/10, mainly for portion sizes, but that might be more to do with the fact that we were pretty full from our starters!

Children's Menu

When we were seated we were given a children's menu and a packet of colouring pencils for The Boy. There is a range of simple, and slightly more adventurous pizza and pasta dishes available for the grand total of £3.50 each. That is one of the cheapest children's meals I've seen. The pasta dishes are half the weight of the adults' at 90g and the pizzas are slightly smaller.

The Boy went for a ham pizza which the chefs shaped into a rabbit's head.

Vapiano children's menu

The Boy really enjoyed his pizza and was completely amused by it being shaped into a character. It would have been a good size portion for an older child of around 7-10 years, but for a 4 year old it defeated him and he managed around a third of the pizza. And what was worse was that daddy couldn't even help him as he was too full himself!

9/10 for the children's meal, purely down to the size of the portions for younger children.

Desserts

This was the part of the meal I was really looking forward to; I'm a big dolci fan and Vapiano didn't disappoint me at all. I went for my standard Italian dessert (it's the one I hold as a true measure to the chef's ability to cook Italian), while The Boy and Mr. TBaM went for their usual as well:

  • Tiramisu (small) for me = £1.90
  • Baked cheesecake (classic lemon & vanilla cheesecake) for Mr. TBaM = £3.00
  • Ice-cream (Green & Black's white chocolate and raspberry swirl) for The Boy = £2.50

Vapiano desserts

I was really impressed with my tiramisu which was light and fluffy, smooth and really very tasty of coffee, while not being at all sickly. I sampled the cheesecake as well and it was so delicately flavoured with lemon that it was really enjoyable; there was none left on the plate at all by my husband. The Boy really enjoyed the ice-cream and I was pleased that the prices of all three were so reasonable = 10/10

Long Drinks

As we weren't driving, we decided to try out a few of the long drinks that Vapiano has to offer:

  • Aperol Spritzer (Prosecco, Aperol orange liqueur & soda water) = £4.50
  • Strawberry Bellini (Prosecco, strawberry puree) = £4.95

I've never had a bellini before and I absolutely adored it! The conventional bellini is peach, but this was sweet and light making it a perfect Summer drink. My husband really enjoys citrus drinks and was pleasantly surprised to find that the aperol spritzer is the trendiest drink in Italy at the moment, one of the few times he's been fashionable!

vapiano long drinks

I thought that the cost of each cocktail was very reasonable actually; especially as I've paid £20.45 for two vodkas and cokes in London before. They are something I will definitely have again.

We really enjoyed our meal at Vapiano, reflected in the length of time that we stayed there (two and a half hours). We've already said that it is the restaurant that we will actively seek out in future when we go to London, regardless of whether we have The Boy with us or not. It is a great family-friendly restaurant with reasonably priced meals for all which can easily be shared, likewise I can see it is a brilliant place for a group of friends to visit and enjoy the good food and company.

We received this meal for free in exchange for this review, my opinion is honest and unbiased.

'Fun Food For Children' Pinterest Collaborative Board

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A little over a year ago I sent a desperate plea out on twitter for some assistance in trying to get The Boy to eat his food. He was messing around at mealtimes and doing as much as possible to avoid eating. I soon discovered that it was a control issue as well as partly boredom. Time to start getting creative with his meals!

Steam Train children's meal

Since then I've had to use this technique every so often to engage him in his meals and get him eating properly. It helps and if I'm honest it's quite fun trying to come up with new ideas.

However as I'm not very inventive with 'food art', I've started a collaborative Pinterest board where members can 'pin' fun and engaging presentational ideas to entice our children to eat.

Fun Food for Children Pinterest board

If you'd like to follow the Pinterest board, you can find the link here. If you'd like to join the board and help create a catalogue of presentational ideas on 'Fun Food for Children', let me know in the comments below and I'll add you. The ideas don't need to come from your own blog, they can be pins from other sites or repins internally.

Let's get those children eating!

Weekend Breakfast Ideas

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The depths of Winter make us hanker for warmth. We turn up the heating, cover ourselves in thick layers of clothing, subject our sensible self to the likes of slankets, etc., all in a bid to keep warm.

And yet the one thing that so many people neglect to do is eat regularly and properly; keeping enough fuel in our bodies to stoke the internal fires. We all have our own personal central heating system, why do we neglect it so readily by not bothering to eat breakfast? Breakfast is one meal that is missed by too many people; favouring an extra ten minutes in bed to eating after a twelve hour fast is not a good option. There's a reason why it's called 'break'-'fast' you know? Eating a really good breakfast can set up the digestive system, and metabolism, for the rest of the day and prevent gorging later on.

I've been lucky enough to have been sent two beautiful hampers of breakfast goodies recently; one from the National Breakfast Week campaign and one from Warburtons. Both contained a plethora of breakfast ideas from granola, fresh fruit, porridge pots, crumpets, a range of bread and breakfast buns, and crumpets. There was certainly something to suit everyone!

breakfast ideas

It got me thinking of ideas for breakfast; ways to engage adults and children in eating what I consider to be the most important meal of the day. I always eat it (I'm one of those that needs to eat within half an hour of waking up or I feel ill), but on weekends I have more time to be creative. So here follows some weekend breakfast ideas.

Basic Pancake Recipe

  • 110g/4oz of plain flour
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 200ml/7 fl oz of milk
  • sweet pancakes: 1tsp vanilla bean paste, 1tsp of cinnamon and 1tsp of nutmeg (all optional)
  • savoury pancakes: black pepper and parmesan (both optional)

There are plenty of convoluted methods of whisking this and that first, but I tend to find that as long as the eggs are done first, then all the other ingredients can just be thrown in and whisked together. Melt a knob of butter (oil is disgusting when cooking pancakes) in a hot frying pan and keep the pan hot with a high gas to cook the pancakes quickly. For savoury pancakes I add black pepper and parmesan, occasionally spinach or pesto, and then use fillings like goat's cheese, stir-fried pepper, ham slices (or Quorn if veggie like me). My favourite sweet filling is cherry sauce and chocolate drops, with Lyle's Golden Syrup drizzled over the top (just don't tell my Jenny Craig consultant).

pancakes

 Breakfast Sundae

  • fat-free vanilla yoghurt
  • granola
  • fruit (I choose cherries and a banana)

Layer the granola, fruit and yoghurt in a sundae dish with multiple layers of each. Finish with a sprinkling of granola and fruit.

breakfast ideas

Breakfast Cups

  • a slice of wholemeal bread (one for each cup)
  • 1 egg
  • sausage
  • bacon (or Quorn)
  • black pepper

(I first saw this recipe on Domestic Goddesque's blog and adapted it to suit our tastes)

Cut out a circle from a slice of Warburtons' wholemeal bread and roll this flat using a rolling pin. Press into a muffin tin and fill with slices of sausage and bacon. Whisk an egg and pour over the top to below the surface of the cup. Sprinkle some black pepper on and cook on 180°C for 15-20 minutes.

breakfast ideas

Children's Cooked Breakfast

  • slice of bread with a hole cut out the middle (perfect if making the breakfast cups!)
  • 1 egg
  • sausage
  • grated courgette
  • baked beans
  • knob of butter for frying

Cut out a circle from a slice of wholemeal bread and place in a hot frying pan. Place the grated courgette at the top of the space, lay two sausage slices as eyes, and half a sausage cut sidewards as the smile. Carefully and gradually, pour the whisked egg in to fill the gaps, taking care it doesn't run outside the hole. Cook lightly through, carefully flip to cook the other side. Serve with warm baked beans.

breakfast ideas

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Warburtons have conducted a study into the chaos of breakfast faced by multi-tasking mums. As a result of their findings they would like to combat the weekday stress and are asking you to share your tips on Facebook to help create a Breakfast Rush Hour book.

I was sent two hampers of products to help promote National Breakfast Week and the Warburtons Campaign. I was also sent some golden syrup for pancake day but missed the boat! My opinions and ideas are my own.

Link up your recipe of the week

McVitie's Breakfast Porridge Oats Biscuits (Sponsored Post)

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If there is one meal of the day that I will always make time for, it is breakfast. I'm one of those people who can't wait around for an hour or two, nonchalantly getting on with a few chores before leisurely chowing down on a carefully crafted feast; I need to eat breakfast pretty soon after I've woken up or I feel grotty.

Therefore I've never really understood people who don't eat breakfast at all. "It's the most important meal of the day!" is the old adage, and while some people may roll their eyes at this, I do believe it to be the case. If the previous night's evening meal was consumed at 6.30pm (the case in most families) then it's more than likely to be twelve hours, possibly longer, since eating. Making the metabolism work in peaks and troughs is no good for the general workings of the body, something I've recently been learning a lot about.

However, modern day family living (where more often than not both parents are working) means that there's not a huge amount of time in the morning to prepare a breakfast, at the minimum to even eat cereal. With almost four billion breakfasts eaten on the go, McVitie's have recognised that time is of the essence in the morning and have created breakfast biscuits which provide a delicious and balanced meal on the go.

The new McVitie's Breakfast Biscuits come in three different flavours (Red Berries, Oat & Honey and Apple, Sultana & Cinnamon) and in each box there are six packets of four biscuits each. They are fortified with vitamins D, B, Iron and fibre, each pack (of the Red Berries, the flavour I tried) contains 229 calories and 1.9g of saturated fat. They are a great alternative to cereal and toast, and I've tried them one morning this week with a banana and a yoghurt; I was certainly full well into the morning, past mid-morning break in school. As filling as my conventional breakfast.

photo

For more information on McVitie's Breakfast Porride Oats biscuits, visit their Facebook page here, or follow them on twitter.

McVitie's Breakfast Biscuits

Sponsored Post

Perfect Brussel Sprouts

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At Christmas time I have to have Brussel sprouts on my plate. However this year I was reluctant to boil them, they just taste like old socks that way! I'd seen some recipes for them roasted with pancetta, but as a vegetarian that wasn't much good. I adapted the recipe, served them and my 67 year old father declared them the best he'd ever had. And he's had a lot!

Ingredients:

  • Brussel sprouts
  • Unsalted butter
  • Parmesan cheese
  1. Chop the stumps off the Brussel sprouts, peel the outer layers, and cross the bottoms.
  2. Melt a sizeable knob of unsalted butter in a frying pan on a low heat. Toss in the Brussel sprouts and coat them with the butter.
  3. Transfer to a baking tray and sprinkle parmesan cheese over the top.
  4. Cook for 20 minutes on 200°C.

Brussel sprouts

Byron Bay Cookies (Review & Giveaway)

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I have an incredibly sweet tooth and am a bit of a sucker for anything biscuit shaped. I normally refrain from buying them apart from for a coffee session, and because our baby and toddler group is a) a bit rubbish and doesn't get how these things work and b) full of working mums, no-one ever turns up so I'm forced to eat them all myself. FORCED!

Therefore when Byron Bay Cookies asked if they could send me a selection of their finest, I scrambled to my keyboard to say, 'Yes please!' and then eagerly awaited their delivery. Turns out they don't appear instantly though, so I was pleasantly surprised (because I have a memory like a sieve and forget) to see 'a selection' had been delivered a few days later.

Byron Bay Cookies

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The Perfect Hot Chocolate

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I recently saw mention of the perfect hot chocolate recipe and a quick Google returned a whole load of recipes to use. I've combined the basic ingredients to perfect my own mixture which has gone down a treat in this house.

You'll need:

  • whole milk (enough for each person)
  • drinking chocolate (I use Galaxy Bubbles which gives a frothy, bubbly finish)
  • 1/4 small bar of chocolate (either plain or milk; plain chocolate tastes richer, milk chocolate is creamier)
  • 1tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 1tsp cornflour
  • small marshmallows (my one hypocritical act as a vegetarian; can't find veggie marshmallows anywhere!)
  • squirty cream
  • saucepan
  • balloon whisk
  • grater
  1. Heat the milk slowly in a saucepan with 2tsp of drinking chocolate per 200ml of milk whisked in, continue to whisk as the milk heats through on the lowest setting.
  2. Grate in most of the chocolate and whisk it into the milk, slowly allowing it to melt in.
  3. Add the vanilla bean paste and stir it through.
  4. Mix the cornflour in a separate pot with a small dribble of milk until it forms a white liquid and add to the milk mixture, slowly whisking in.
  5. Pour into the mug, stopping an inch below the surface.
  6. Place a layer of marshmallows on top of the hot chocolate; this creates both a surface for the squirty cream to sit on, and the heat of the chocolate melts the marshmallows directly.
  7. Squirt cream over the top, decorate with marshmallows and grate a small amount of chocolate over the top for garnish.

hot chocolate

Slow Cooker Rice Pudding

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I've owned a slow cooker now for a year but the one thing that I rarely try to cook in it is a pudding. Stewed fruit always seems the most obvious but I've never been confident enough to try anything more adventurous. One thing that has been niggling away at me to try though is rice pudding, perfect for Winter time, and when I saw a packet of pudding rice on the shelf in the supermarket it seemed I could avoid it no longer.

I got home to discover the recipe on the packet called for three eggs which needed separating. As I don't do eggs, I panicked until I found this incredibly simple recipe online. I decided to give it a go one evening, and even though it was quite late already to put the slow cooker on, I carried on.


Ingredients:

  • unsalted butter
  • 150g pudding rice
  • 40g of sugar (I actually used sweetener)
  • 1.5l of milk (I used whole milk for a creamier taste)
  • 2 teaspoons of spice (I used cinnamon and nutmeg)
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste
  • 30g of raisins or sultanas
  • 2 measures of Baileys's (optional and clearly not to be added if giving to children!)
  1. Use the butter to grease the inside of the slow cooker pot to prevent the rice from sticking.
  2. Add the milk, spices, sugar, vanilla bean paste and pudding rice and stir thoroughly.
  3. Put the lid on, turn the slow cooker onto 'high' and leave for two hours, stirring occasionally. (Every time the lid is lifted off the slow cooker, 15 minutes has to be added onto the cooking time, so keep this to a minimum).
  4. The rice will suddenly swell at around 1hr 45, it may need more milk added. This was also the point that I added the Bailey's and the fruit (30 minutes before the end of the cooking time).
  5. Serve immediately with grated chocolate sprinkled on top

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Also linking up to Funky Foodies

Prezzo Lighter Menu (Review)

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prezzo banner

I was invited to sample out the 'Lighter' menu at Prezzo this weekend, and it was a very much welcome intermission from snowball fights and building an army of snowmen using rapidly freezing snow.

We often visit Pizza Express for a family treat on the weekend as the children's menu is such good value, but I'm not too keen on their lighter options as they seem a little uninspiring. As we're creatures of habit, we'd never ventured into a Prezzo restaurant before, I must admit that I'd thought them to be more of an adult restaurant, and hadn't realised that they had such a good children's menu with an extensive selection of child-friendly meals available.

I was there to sample the lighter options menu, which was launched to kick off the New Year for a limited period and comprise a starter, four main courses and a dessert, each under 600 calories each.

prezzo banner

This limited edition menu (available until 4th February 2013) comprises of: a starter of chunky tomato and oregano soup; four main courses – buffalo mozzarella flatbread, super detox salad, grilled vegetable flatbread, chicken Andria; and a dessert of a choice of sorbets.

I was really pleased to see that the main courses contained four vegetarian options, it's often the healthier option anyway, and although I am not a fan of tomato soup I was happy to give it a go.

prezzo starters

Starters:

  • Me: chunky tomato and oregano soup (130 calories)
  • The Boy: Garlic bread with cheese (from children's menu)
  • Mr. TBaM: Mozzarella in Carrozza (Mozzarella cheese deep-fried in breadcrumbs served with pomodoro sauce)

I was really pleasantly surprised by the taste and texture of the soup. The tomato soup I've had in the past has usually come from a tin, or of a similar consistency: like thick passata, gloopy and overwhelmingly strong in one taste. This soup was so far removed that it was a pleasure to eat. The chunkiness proved that it had actually once contained whole tomatoes (something I am normally left wondering!) and the oregano really added an extra dimension to the dish. I suspect that there may have been some form of spice or chilli in there as well because, as well as it retaining its warmth, it also had a mild, spicy glow. It was a huge portion and I managed two-thirds of it before having to admit defeat.

prezzo mains

Main Course:

  • Me: grilled vegetable flatbread (482 calories)
  • The Boy: Penne Carbonara (children's menu)
  • Mr. TBaM: Pollo Carbonara (Seasoned chicken, pancetta bacon and spaghetti in a creamy grana padano cheese sauce)

I was astounded with my main meal. The quality of all three was excellent, but mine was really superb. The flatbread was the perfect size and depth with the right amount of tasty vegetables; aubergine, courgette, peppers, onion and mozzarella drizzled with basil pesto, served with a side salad and low calorie Italian dressing. The pesto over the top added another layer of flavour that made the pizza-style bread lip-smackingly delicious. It was also beautifully presented on a wooden board that I knew my woodturner father would have approved of!

As an aside, it's worth nothing that quality of the meat in the other main meals was excellent; the ham and bacon were thick quality like gammon, and off the bone not processed. The chicken in the Pollo Carbonara was large chunks that were tenderly cooked.

prezzo puddings

Dessert:

  • Me: Lemon sorbet (129 calories)
  • The Boy: chocolate ice-cream
  • Mr. TBaM: Honeycomb Smash Cheesecake (Blended and topped with crunchy honeycomb pieces coated in chocolate)

I tend to find that sorbets can be either wishy-washy in flavour or basically an ice-cream labelled incorrectly. Lemon sorbets can be so sharp to eat that I normally admit defeat amidst a gallon of water trying to revive my tastebuds. Not the case with this one which was delicately flavoured to truly clean the palette after a delicious meal. It was very enjoyable. I'll admit that I only ate half of it before having to surrender it to Mr. TBaM, as lemon sorbet is his favourite pudding.

While I was not there to review the restaurant as a whole (my remit being the 'Lighter Menu') I do need to point out how impressed I was with the branch we went to (St. Mary's Street, Cardiff). The blanket of snow over south Wales ensured that Cardiff's trade experienced a quiet day generally, and this obviously meant that there were more staff to serve the tables in the restaurant. However all staff were friendly and courteous (even when I had to answer a phonecall at the table), chatting easily to The Boy. Yes, they knew I was there to review the menu (and yes I felt like the food critic in 'Mystic Pizza'), however I could see from the surrounding tables that the quality of the food and service was consistent across the board. It was a pleasure to find a decent selection of healthy meals for children, food that didn't patronise their young appetities.

The value of this meal and drinks was approximately £59.00 which is a little more than we would normally spend on a three course meal for the three of us. However, the quality of the ingredients and cooking combined with the excellent service and pleasant surroundings means that we will be returning to Prezzo in the future. And I will be trying out the lighter options which are available on the normal menu because this has proven to me that it's the calories that are reduced, not the taste!

The meal and drinks were complementary in order to review the lighter menu; this does not affect my opinion in any way.