As regular readers of the blog will know, The Boy and I love a good pizza. Consequently, Monday evening’s cancelled dinner plans led us to improvise somewhat and instead, rendezvous at the Whiteladies Road branch of Planet Pizza where we hoped we'd find just that...
Date and Time: Monday 4th July 2011, 18:45
Name of Establishment: Planet Pizza*
Location: 83 Whiteladies Road, Bristol
Reason for Visit: Impromptu start-of-the-week treat!
Initially, I couldn't decide whether I enjoyed the infantile arrangement of the menu or felt a little patronised by it. This is a venue that has taken its theme to a new level of thorough; from the rocket cut-outs and cosmic blue fairy lighting that adorn its cave-like interior to the circular, galactically-inspired doodled menu on which pizzas are named after elements within our solar system – Uranus anyone?!
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| Planet Pizza's Menu |
Opting to sit amidst the outside buzz on the pub-style benches, The Boy and I were brought a jug of iced water at our request (well, it was a school-night!) We proceeded to peruse the menu, delighting in its apt content, (the design-your-own ‘plan-it’ pizza and rocket salad were personal favourites) and after a short wait, our pizzas arrived, his; the 9-inch Meteorite and mine; the 9-inch Mars. From five until seven Sunday to Wednesday, pizzas are buy-one-get-one-free but outside of these margins, there is also a two-for-one-deal available courtesy of 'Voucher Cloud'* – hardly astronomical pricing I'm sure you'll agree! Furthermore, it can be said that the pizzas themselves are satisfying and tasty with an abundance of toppings. The Mars combines herb-infused sausage, spicy pepperoni and red onions which, creating rich bursts of flavour, are complimented by fresh-tasting tomato and oregano as well as the cooling pull of mozzarella cheese – yum!
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| Pizza - Mars |
The Boy's pizza can only be described as a meat fest – straddled with enough carnivorous matter to sink a (space) ship and luckily, constituting ingredients of a good quality. Featuring ham, chorizo, salami, pepperoni and sausage as well as the punchy heat of jalapeño peppers, this pizza certainly kept The Boy on his toes!
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| Pizza - The Meteorite |
I think that the only sticking point in regards to the food was the style of the pizza bases which were comparable to ‘Chicago Town’ in terms of their crisped batter effect and yet, rather than being light on the palate, proved to be quite the opposite; heavily textured and oily. In fact, both The Boy and I were glad that we had not opted for the 12-inch equivalent because, as it was, we both left nursing very full stomachs! It is also to be noted that service here is a little aloof, polite enough but in my opinion, not completely in keeping with the 'playful' ambiance that this venue tries so hard to achieve, (seriously, I almost expected to be served by a smiley someone in a NASA jumpsuit!)
In conclusion, I wouldn't banish this restaurant to a black hole but neither was it a shooting star. Being of a fickle temperament, I decided that I was in favour of its child-like quirk after all, (especially when the bill arrived weighted with an ample measure of jelly beans) and considering how lightly we’d been hit in the pocket, The Boy and I certainly left feeling fed! In my view, the quality of the toppings carried Planet Pizza into the realms of acceptable and if this hadn't have been the case, I'm not sure I'd consider coming back. After all, there are a multitude of pizza restaurants to choose from in Bristol’s City Centre, although I'm pretty sure that Planet Pizza is the only one that offers such a far-out approach to Italian cuisine.
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| Wouldn't Flying Saucers be more appropriate?! |
And now for the male opinion...
The Boy gave Planet Pizza a rating of 6/10 and in three words, described his meal as 'stodgy yet satisfying'.
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