Pre-Cinema Dinner At Zizzi, INTU, Derby
Published On Sunday 5 Jun 2016 by Sticky Beak
See Recent Dining Out Reviews | See All Recent Reviews
It was one of those rare occasions in the half term break where The Man Bird and I weren’t abandoned by The Chick, so we grabbed the opportunity for a family evening together. We agreed on a film we all wanted to see and booked the tickets at Cinema De Lux and reserved a table at Zizzi to have dinner before the film.
We were shown to our table and told that Lia, our server, would be with us shortly to take our drinks order. Sure enough, the lovely Lia appeared within a few seconds and we ordered our drinks and looked through the menu.
For starters Chickadee had the Mushroom Brindisi, I had the Bruschetta and His Nibs had the Arancini. The Mushroom Brindisi is creamy mushrooms and smoked mozzarella oven baked on Zizzi’s dough and garnished with parsley, grated riserva, crispy sage and smoked garlic oil; my Chick said it was very tasty indeed and judging by the clean plate I think it got a thumbs up.
The Man Bird was tucking into his risotto balls with his usual enthusiasm and with the mozzarella, peas and rice coated in breadcrumbs done to perfection it was easy to see why he loved them so much. The chunky tomato pepperonata dip was superb as well; it gave a great flavour to the dish.
My own Bruschetta was crammed full of fresh flavours thanks to the confit baby plum tomatoes, garlic brushed bread, riserva cheese, smoked garlic oil and fresh basil. All the starters were a nice size portion that sated the initial appetite but left you with room for the main courses.
For my main I had a classic pizza (also available on a gluten free pizza base) called Zucca; this has a creamy pesto base with mozzarella, roasted butternut squash slices, caramelised balsamic onions and spinach which once it’s been baked is topped with crumbled goats cheese, pine nuts and rosemary.
The flavours were nice and subtle and I loved the fact that the squash still had its natural firm texture, it hadn’t gone mushy as sometimes happens and the pine nuts provided some lovely crunch in the mouth.
The Boy Wonder had a Pizza rustica; stretched a bit more to make a crispier, larger base (for more toppingsJ), called Sofia. The Sofia has spicy chicken, pepperoni, spicy sausage, mozzarella, green chillies and rosemary on it, and it wasn’t too spicy either (unless you bit directly into a chilli!) so it would appeal to most taste buds. As was stated, the base was light and crispy and he really enjoyed his choice.
The Chick tried one of Zizzis pasta dishes, the King Prawn Linguine which is King Prawns and Courgette ribbons in a hot roquito chilli, tomato, white wine and lobster sauce. There was pleasing amount of Prawns in the dish, much to The Chicks delight, and she said that the sauce wasn’t too spicy but still had a nice kick to it.
We would gladly have had dessert, but unfortunately we were perhaps going to be pressed for time if we did indulge. Still, it’s a good excuse to go back next time and have the full Zizzi experience. If you haven’t been to Zizzi before, next time you’re in Derby Intu pop in, you won’t be disappointed.
| Lunch At The Old Smithy At Beeley Normally when His Nibs books a days annual leave, you can pretty much guarantee that it'll tip it down with rain! For once, though, it seemed that the weather gods were smiling down on us Read The Article | |
| Dinner At The Orangery At St Elphin's Park, Darley Dale The Man Bird and I always love being invited back to a venue that we've previously reviewed; whether it's for a change in Chef, owner, a refurbishment, change in menu, or just because Read The Article | |
| Dinner At The Greyhound Hotel in Cromford Recently, His Nibs and I were invited along to try the menu at The Greyhound in Cromford, under its new owners. Miraculously, we bagged a space in the car park right in front Read The Article | |
| Sunday Lunch At The Lion By Olivers in Brinsley My favourite day of the week, Sunday (for obvious reasons!) had come round again, and His Nibs and I had been kindly invited [by manager, Hayley] to visit The Lion by Olivers in Brinsley to Read The Article | |
| Dinner At The Recently Opened House Boat Restaurant In Derby Kerala to Derby: so says the eye-catching mural on the far wall in Derby's hot, new eatery, House Boat; and that's exactly what John Geo and his team do: they bring Read The Article | |
| A Return Visit To Endeavour Cafe, Newbiggin, Northumberland I swear I'm going [even more] bonkers! If you'd told me that it's been a couple of years since we've been to the Endeavour Cafe in Newbiggin-by-the-Sea Read The Article | |
| Sunday Lunch At The Horseshoes, Long Lane Village near Ashbourne I'm gonna blame the good ol' Menopause for the crippling brain fog that had me pleading for help from you guys for suggestions where to go for a Sunday Roast! Read The Article | |
| Back For Lunch At The Manor House Hotel On Holy Island Why is it that time seems to be passing by quicker and quicker? Sitting down at one of the tables in The Manor House Hotel on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, manager Sara and I Read The Article | |
| A Seven Course Tasting Menu At Ye Olde Bell Hotel, Barnby Moor When you come back from a holiday abroad, it's always a sad time, isn't it? Imagine, then, my happiness as The Man Bird read out an invitation from Ye Olde Bell Read The Article | |
| Dinner At The Salt Water Cafe In Beadnell, Northumberland Tucked opposite the church, at one end of Beadnell Village, is an absolute gem called Salt Water Cafe. During the day, both indoors and in its beautiful outdoor seating area Read The Article | |