I'm going to start this post by saying that we very rarely eat out as a family. My delightful children are very unpredictable when it comes to their behaviour and my anxiety is already high enough that we just tend to avoid it to have a peaceful life. We were recently invited by Britmums to visit our local Prezzo to try a new dish on their menu for the #PrezzoLaFamiglia Challenge.
I live in Northern Ireland and Prezzo only just opened two stores here within the last four years. I do love Italian food so it was definitely on my wishlist of places to eat. I put my big girl pants on and decided to visit, children in tow!
We visited the Belfast, Boucher Square location as it's close enough to walk to so the kids should have been in good spirits as we wouldn't be travelling far. As soon as we arrived, we were seated promptly in a booth and supplied with menus. It was a beautiful, sunny Friday evening and the sun shone in through the glass windows - it was a lovely, relaxing setting. For the #PrezzoLaFamiglia Challenge, we were there specifically to try one of their new La Famiglia sharing pasta bowls.
You are able to choose from Penne Arrabiata, Spaghetti Bolognese, Spaghetti Carbonara or Penne Alla Rusticana. We opted for the Penne Alla Rusticana and two large garlic breads. We were told, "the garlic breads are the size of dinner plates - I hope you guys are hungry!" but we were so ready for the challenge. The garlic breads came out first and by God, they weren't lying! Our four year old son C loves garlic bread so I knew he'd probably eat more of that than the pasta! The pasta followed and the bowl was huge. We each had our own small bowls so we could take as much pasta as we wanted.
The kids had small bowlfuls but Chris and I went all out. We are both oversharers and I know for a fact that our portion sizes are too big 99% of the time! I think I filled my bowl three or four times - it was to die for! The pasta itself was perfect, the tomato based sauce was delicious and I loved the chicken and bacon lardons that were mixed in. I honestly couldn't get enough! Having a big bowl in the middle of the table is a great idea. It really made me think of a proper Italian family, dishes in the middle of the table for anyone to pick and choose what they wanted to put on their plate. It's so easy and I honestly felt it to be a bonding experience. Usually I ponder over a menu for a while, changing my mind constantly then we receive our meals and I end up thinking Chris's looks better than mine. This eliminates all of that.
C is a very fussy eater, especially if it doesn't come from his "list of OK'd foods" and decided that he wasn't a massive fan of the garlic bread, simply because you could really taste the balsamic vinegar - this was actually something I loved but the kid has his creature comforts! E, on the other hand, absolutely demolished almost all of hers and I lost count of how many slices of garlic bread she reached for. Between the four of us, we really didn't leave much at all!
To finish, we had to have a dessert! All four of us chose different flavours of Prezzo's Selection of Gelato, Ice Cream and Sorbet. You could choose two scoops of either chocolate and sea salt gelato, vanilla, strawberry or chocolate ice cream, melon and lime or blood orange sorbet. C stuck to his usual two scoops of chocolate ice cream, his daddy joined him in that, and E went for a scoop of chocolate and a scoop of strawberry. I would usually do the same but I felt that I wanted to branch out and try something different. Unfortunately, they were out of chocolate and sea salt gelato so I substituted that for chocolate ice cream and tried the melon and lime sorbet too. I have to admit that I'd never tried sorbet before and I will definitely be getting it again. It's so flavoursome and a great palate cleanser. Of course, the children and Chris has no issues with their ice cream - C even got stuck in with his fingers!
I live in Northern Ireland and Prezzo only just opened two stores here within the last four years. I do love Italian food so it was definitely on my wishlist of places to eat. I put my big girl pants on and decided to visit, children in tow!
We visited the Belfast, Boucher Square location as it's close enough to walk to so the kids should have been in good spirits as we wouldn't be travelling far. As soon as we arrived, we were seated promptly in a booth and supplied with menus. It was a beautiful, sunny Friday evening and the sun shone in through the glass windows - it was a lovely, relaxing setting. For the #PrezzoLaFamiglia Challenge, we were there specifically to try one of their new La Famiglia sharing pasta bowls.
You are able to choose from Penne Arrabiata, Spaghetti Bolognese, Spaghetti Carbonara or Penne Alla Rusticana. We opted for the Penne Alla Rusticana and two large garlic breads. We were told, "the garlic breads are the size of dinner plates - I hope you guys are hungry!" but we were so ready for the challenge. The garlic breads came out first and by God, they weren't lying! Our four year old son C loves garlic bread so I knew he'd probably eat more of that than the pasta! The pasta followed and the bowl was huge. We each had our own small bowls so we could take as much pasta as we wanted.
The kids had small bowlfuls but Chris and I went all out. We are both oversharers and I know for a fact that our portion sizes are too big 99% of the time! I think I filled my bowl three or four times - it was to die for! The pasta itself was perfect, the tomato based sauce was delicious and I loved the chicken and bacon lardons that were mixed in. I honestly couldn't get enough! Having a big bowl in the middle of the table is a great idea. It really made me think of a proper Italian family, dishes in the middle of the table for anyone to pick and choose what they wanted to put on their plate. It's so easy and I honestly felt it to be a bonding experience. Usually I ponder over a menu for a while, changing my mind constantly then we receive our meals and I end up thinking Chris's looks better than mine. This eliminates all of that.
C is a very fussy eater, especially if it doesn't come from his "list of OK'd foods" and decided that he wasn't a massive fan of the garlic bread, simply because you could really taste the balsamic vinegar - this was actually something I loved but the kid has his creature comforts! E, on the other hand, absolutely demolished almost all of hers and I lost count of how many slices of garlic bread she reached for. Between the four of us, we really didn't leave much at all!
To finish, we had to have a dessert! All four of us chose different flavours of Prezzo's Selection of Gelato, Ice Cream and Sorbet. You could choose two scoops of either chocolate and sea salt gelato, vanilla, strawberry or chocolate ice cream, melon and lime or blood orange sorbet. C stuck to his usual two scoops of chocolate ice cream, his daddy joined him in that, and E went for a scoop of chocolate and a scoop of strawberry. I would usually do the same but I felt that I wanted to branch out and try something different. Unfortunately, they were out of chocolate and sea salt gelato so I substituted that for chocolate ice cream and tried the melon and lime sorbet too. I have to admit that I'd never tried sorbet before and I will definitely be getting it again. It's so flavoursome and a great palate cleanser. Of course, the children and Chris has no issues with their ice cream - C even got stuck in with his fingers!
All in all, we had a fantastic experience dining out as a family at Prezzo. C may not have eaten much, E may have had meltdowns over not being able to pick the pasta up properly on her fork or the ice cream on her spoon (resulting in her setting it down on the table, Chris leaning his elbow on the end and catapulting it onto the back of the booth - cue me dying of laughter) but that's all the fun of eating out with children!
This post is an entry for the Britmums #PrezzoLaFamiglia Challenge, sponsored by Prezzo.
Yummy! Commenting for myself and on behalf of BritMums and thanking you for taking part
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