Like myself, you might well be asking: why go to an Italian-themed restaurant to have a Christmas meal? It is a very good question – though the answer became far clearer after discovering the festive menu which Prezzo are offering at the White Rose in Leeds.
Firstly, the price has to be good – two courses are priced at £22.00 with three courses costing £25.50. The Christmas menu has been curated from the new winter menu, though ordering the items individually is less expensive if you go for the set menu offerings.
Rather than expecting a pizza topped with turkey or Christmas pudding on the dessert menu the references to Christmas are quite tenuous – I am still unsure of how goat’s cheese and roasted peppers pizza relates to the festive season – perhaps it’s a Neapolitan tradition!
There are however some tempting choices that will warm you up on a cold winter’s night such as the Tuscan vegetable and pasta soup which came with a generous helping of house flatbread. More like a broth than a soup, the combination of vegetables, beans and pasta complimented one another, a really comforting and enjoyable winter warmer.
There are other choices for starters such as crispy fried mozzarella, king prawns and gnocchi or how about burrata with tomatoes and pesto?
A slightly off-kilter but appetising menu
From the mains the only slightly festive item seemed to be the chicken cacciatore which is basically a fillet of chicken slowly cooked in white wine with tomato and herb sauce which comes served with buttery mashed potatoes and broccoli.
I decided upon the gorgonzola and prosciutto pizza as I liked the idea that £1.00 is donated to Feeding Britain, a charity that helps those in need across the country – very laudable in this particular season of giving.
Whilst the pizza might have not much to do with Christmas, I was impressed with how it came loaded with creamy gorgonzola dolce, mozzarella and prosciutto though the addition of balsamic onions did not seem to compliment the rest of the toppings.
Other options including crab and lobster ravioli, beef in chianti with porcini mash or truffle burgers with beef or chicken.
When is a sundae not a sundae?
Desserts include Biscoff cheesecake with banana, what they say is their best-ever chocolate cake – I didn’t try that so we’ll just have to take their word for it! I did, however, enjoy the chocolate and cherry sundae, though it arrived in stainless steel vase – maybe a sundae is not a sundae unless it comes served in a proper glass? The links to a traditional British or Italian Christmas might have been tentative there was no denying the quality and value of Prezzo’s festive menu.
