I hope you’re all having a good week. Today I wanted to tell you about the new spring menu at Zizzi. Last week Phil and I were invited to our local Zizzi in Leopold Square by the lovely folk at UNiDAYS to give the new additions a try. We’re both big fans of the restaurant so we were delighted to be invited. If you’re lucky enough to be a student then you’ll be delighted to know that UNiDAYS are offering up to 30% off food with Zizzi. If you’re not familiar with UNiDAYS days then quickly change that, you don’t want to miss out on awesome discounts. Not only do they work with Zizzi but I’ve also spotted fab discounts with Topshop, ASOS and Canon recently. It’s a free platform which is quick and easy to sign up to. Simply hit join now and fill in your details or download the app from Apple or Google.
When we arrived we had our choice of tables! It was the long Easter weekend and we’d opted for a lunch time date. We decided to sit in the window, for good lighting and so we could have a nosey towards the kitchen. I love that Zizzi restaurants have open kitchens and their big pizza ovens look fantastic.
The restaurant quickly filled up and there was a lovely atmosphere of couples and families enjoying their food. The staff were as friendly as ever throughout our meal. If you have any special dietary requirements then just let them know or you can check their handy menu filter which I discovered today. The staff are always very helpful and I can confirm that this has been the case on each of my trips to Zizzi in both Sheffield and Cambridge.
There are lots of new spring additions to the menu including vegan and veggie options. If you didn’t already know, you can switch out the cheese on your pizza for the dairy free one (Mozzarisella) and they also have a full vegan menu. You can find out more about their dairy free and vegan options here.
As with most of our visits to Zizzi we kicked off the meal with a bowl of mixed green and black olives. They were full of flavour with a strong garlic and herb oil.
We opted for a jug of tap water to share and then order a couple of drinks. As we were there to try the spring menu I thought it was only fair that I try the Pink G&T. Zizzi have taken the traditional G&T and added a little strawberry, cucumber, mint, raspberries and rosemary. It was lovely and I particularly enjoyed how the cucumber and berry notes complimented each other. I can’t wait to go back for another one.
Phil usually goes for really dark beers but decided to give the Peroni Gran Riserva a try. He really enjoyed it and said it was a little bitter with sweet fruity notes.
We ordered a starter to share and although both the Bruschetta and Mozzarella & Pepper Pesto Crocchettes sounded good we ended up going for the Prawn Zucchini Bites. They’re lightly battered balls of prawn and courgette with a lemon and rosemary aioli. They have a good crunchy coating and the inside is soft and very tasty. If you pick these then make sure you squeeze the lemon on top, it gives them a really zesty kick.
We were both delighted with our decision and will 100% be ordering them next time.
If I go to Zizzi then I’m usually going with pizza in mind. That was the case on this occasion but I must say that I was very tempted by the Green Goddess Salad with Salmon and also the Lamb Verdura Spiedini (hanging skewer of lamb and roasted veg). Both sounded delicious but we’ll have to go back again to try them as we decided to stick with our original pizza plan.
I opted for the Prosciutto Fresca Rustica Pizza. Some of you may be aware that I can’t eat large amounts of dairy (or egg) and I’d normally pick to have Zizzi’s dairy free cheese but on this occasion I was already taking allergy tablets so I thought I’d simply roll with it. This pizza was a real treat and not one I’d have normally picked. It felt much lighter than some of my other favourites and I was delighted to find that it was covered with little figs and caramelised balsamic onions. They worked so well with the prosciutto and addition of buffalo mozzarella was delightful. I would totally order this pizza again, especially because of those cute little figs.
After a lot of back and forth between the Lamb Verdura Spiedini and pizza Phil ended up going for the Capia. This normally comes as a Classic pizza but they were more than happy to do it as a Rustica style. We both prefer this type of pizza base as it’s much thinner. This pizza had a smoky pepper pesto and tomato base with smoked mozzarella, fire-roasted peppers, olives and much more. He also opted to add the crumbled picante Basilicata sausage. Phil really enjoyed it and has already said he’s looking forward to having it again.
I’m not normally one for desserts but you know, for research purposes we had to give one a try. Just like all other parts of the menu there were lots of new additions. The menu offered everything from Vanilla Pannacotta to Chocolate & Pistachio Sundae and Baked Lemon & Raspberry Cheesecake. We decided to go for the vegan dessert which is of course also good for anyone with a dairy allergy/intolerance. Normally, the only dairy free/vegan desserts are sorbet and as much as I like sorbet it’s nice to see some different options from Zizzi.
The dessert we picked was the Sticky Chocolate and Praline Tart and it did not disappoint. It’s a rich and gooey chocolate torte with a date, hazelnut & walnut base. The base has such a good texture and even if you can eat dairy I really recommend giving this a try. There’s a scoop of coconut and chocolate gelato on the side which went down very well. I think this may have turned me into a dessert person.
We finished off our meal with a round of espressos because how else do you end a good Italian meal? I hear you shouting limoncello and I totally agree, luckily you can also get a shot of that too.
Thank you to the team at Zizzi and UNiDAYS for inviting us down and do the lovely staff at the Sheffield Leopold Square branch. Don’t forget that students can currently get up to 30% here.
Location: 8 Leopold Square, S1 2JG
Leave a comment below and tell me what your favourite pizza topping is.