Last Updated on December 1, 2022 by Suzy McCullough
We are both self-employed and we have been for the 23 years that we have been together. Every Christmas, without fail, we take ourselves out for our ‘works’ Christmas lunch. For a couple that has eaten out probably more than most, this isn’t unusual for us. However, everyone needs a special Christmas lunch out right?
Last Year year we sampled the festive menus at Zizzi’s. The menus that I am reviewing are the same across the country with 3-course menus. Of course, we now take our little boy along with us for our work do Christmas lunch so we will also be reviewing the kid’s menu at Zizzi’s. Please note the menu this year may be different to last year.
Christmas Set Menus at Zizzi’s
Inside Zizzi’s
We arrived much earlier than our booked-in time as we were freezing outside. The staff were welcoming and didn’t mind that we were almost 20 minutes early. They knew who we were and that we were eating from the Christmas menus.
The Festive Menus
All the tables were set up with the Christmas set menu on them and also their festive drinks menu. You can still eat from their regular menu if you don’t fancy three courses.
There was a choice of two starters one was a vegan starter for one and the other was an antipasti-sharing platter. Now Mark was quite insistent that he wanted the more expensive menu so I was left with a sharing starter to myself. I asked for a portion for one which they said was fine, I have to say it still looked like it was for two. I was not complaining as it looked great. There was tomato pesto bread, calamari, cured meats, olives and garlic bread with mozzarella and caramelised onions.
By far my favourite thing on the platter was the garlic and onion bread. The taste was really good. The calamari rings were also superb. I must admit I gave a little bit of everything to Mark to try as I wanted to make sure that I had room for the other two courses.
There was a choice of 8 main courses. They will have vegan and vegetarian options. There are pizzas and calzones with ingredients such as spicy chicken, sausage, caramelised onions and more. I was very tempted by the Pollo Prosciutto – Chicken breast wrapped in prosciutto ham and sage with a white wine sauce, Tuscan potatoes and green beans.
I fancied something spicy though so I opted for the king prawn linguine in a hot roquito chilli, tomato, white wine and lobster sauce. It was certainly spicy and everything tasted fresh. It was just the right size portion-wise to save some room for dessert. I would have perhaps liked a couple more prawns, other than that it was very good.
On the table, they had photos of a few of their different Christmas dishes. My eye was very much appreciative of the clementine sticky toffee pudding but it was only available on the more expensive menu. So we did a swap. Mark had my ice cream and I had his clementine pudding.
The Christmas menu
I’d say this menu was more Christmassy in its ingredients than my cheaper menu. The bonus for me is that it included a glass of prosecco. As Mark isn’t a fan I kindly offered to drink it for him.
There was a choice of seven starters on this menu. I loved the sound of the festive special of beetroot-cured salmon gravadlax. They have vegan and vegetarian options for all courses. Mark opted for the butterfly king prawns that also came with a supplement.
He was a little disappointed that the shells were on them as they were not easy to prise apart. The garlic butter, smoky pepper pesto and white wine sauce were given the thumbs up.
There were 11 main meals to choose from on this menu. I loved the sound of the roast duck Festivo – Roast duck leg and herby pork sausage. Served with a pancetta, mushroom and red wine bean stew, green Savoy cabbage and roasted winter root vegetables.
The squid ink lobster tortelloni also sounds especially good. Mark opted for the pulled beef and venison strozzapreti – A rich beef brisket and venison ragu with mushrooms, red wine, garlic and tomatoes. Strozzapreti pasta and riserva cheese. I think he would have liked the meat to be a bit more plentiful but he said that he would have it again.
Dessert includes an extra three things not on the cheaper menu. There was the festive special clementine sticky toffee pudding. Plus a sticky chocolate and praline torte and a zingy citrus torte.
The clementine pudding is what I had my eye on for the duration of the meal. I was delighted when Mark said that I could have his. It was utterly fabulous and I think he regretted his decision. The flavours were so Christmassy and worked really well together.
Zizzi’s described it as a warm and gooey clementine-topped sticky toffee pudding made with dates, ginger and orange blossom. Served with boozy custard, white chocolate curls and strawberry powder.
Children’s Menu – Otherwise known as the Bambini menu
For £7.95 children can have 3 courses and a chocacino, which we forgot to ask for sorry Jamie! You can get them an additional drink of milk or Robinson’s squash for a little extra or choose from the main drinks menu. There were starter options. Jamie had the carrot, cucumber and mini garlic bread which was all eaten like he hadn’t eaten all day.
For the main course, there were a number of mini pasta dishes to choose from or mini pizzas with a choice of toppings. He opted for his favourite pepperoni pizza and wow it was really big. Much bigger than most kids’ menu pizzas. He ate the lot. It was really light but even so, it was big.
They also get a pot of ingredients to add to the pizza themselves. There was ham, tomatoes and olives.
Dessert was two scoops of ice cream or a fruit pot. I don’t know how he managed it but he managed to fit all of the ice cream inside him as well. This came with 3 mini cones and some popping candy. He didn’t ask for any more food for the rest of the day which is unlike him.
Jamie and I gave two big thumbs up to our lunch. Mark is always the fussier one but he would return. If you’re looking for an alternative to turkey when you are out for lunch this winter then I can personally recommend the festive Christmas menus.
Disclaimer: We were given a complimentary meal by bookatable for the purpose of this review. They also compensated us for our time. All words, photos and opinions are entirely our own and have not been influenced in any way.
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