A couple of weeks ago we visited one of the Prezzo restaurants in Nottingham to try out their brand new La Famiglia sharing pasta bowls.
As a family, we go to Prezzo quite often, as the kids menu is brilliant value and we feel comfortable taking Ava there, plus we can use our Tesco vouchers to pay and have a little treat occasionally.
The new La Famiglia bowls celebrate the joy of trying dishes as a family. There are currently four sharing bowls to choose from – Penne Arrabiata, Spaghetti Bolognese, Spaghetti Carbonara or Penne Alla Rusticana – all big enough to feed up to four people.
I love the idea – food can really bring families together, and I think it’s really important to sit down together at the end of a busy day and have dinner. Our lives are so bloody busy and it’s great to have that time to chat and spend quality time together, whilst enjoying some good food! Food for me is so much more than just sustenance; it is a huge part of my life and eating is something I really enjoy spending time doing! I love it when we have something like tapas at home and we can all dig into everything and enjoy it together.
I really enjoyed the experience of sharing a big bowl of Pasta with my family at Prezzo. It did feel like it made the meal more interactive almost, and we seemed to chat more. All of us reaching into the big bowl in the middle made it feel more relaxed, and more of a casual dining experience, perfect for families.
We decided on the Spaghetti Carbonara as we thought it was something we would all enjoy, and it was nice – Ava in particular really enjoyed it and ate lots. She loved that we allowed her to serve herself, and she felt very grown-up. We did enjoy our main course, but to be honest, it wasn’t the tastiest carbonara I’ve ever eaten. I would have liked a bit more flavour and seasoning – but obviously, the slight downside to the sharing bowls is that they have to appeal to all members of the family, including potentially fussy kids.
I’d love to see more meals added to the La Famiglia menu for more variety. None of the four dishes that are available would be something I would ever choose to eat at a Prezzo if it was just me. So it does feel like a bit of a shame to be going out for a meal and not having what I want. I’d love to see the Spaghetti with King Prawns or anything with lots of flavour on there – I know not all kids would like that, but mine does, and always steals some of mine when I have it! Having perhaps all of the pasta dishes on the normal menu included in the La Famiglia would mean that the dishes would appeal to a lot more families with varied tastes I think, and I would be a lot more inclined to go for the sharing option.
There was loads of food and unusually for us gannets, we didn’t quite finish it all. I think there would have been plenty of food still if we’d had another child with us. At around £17 the sharing bowls are pretty good value and I would think you’d save a bit of money choosing this option. My usual meal of choice costs £12.10 so based on that a main course for two adults and two kids would be at least £30, so choosing a La Famiglia dish is a great saving.
We sat in one of the booths in the Low Pavement Prezzo in Nottingham, perfect for sharing the La Famiglia bowls and had a great time together.
We had a great time eating together and sharing our meal. It was lovely seeing Ava being completely in control of how much she ate and keeping going until she was full (except for when she stole all the big bits of parma ham from the top of the pasta!). Sharing a big bowl of pasta meant that Ava wasn’t constantly trying to steal mine, and I wasn’t constantly eyeing up my husbands! The whole meal and experience was lovely for us all and I’m sure we’ll be there again soon!
This post is an entry for the BritMums #PrezzoLaFamiglia Challenge, sponsored by Prezzo.
Delighted you had a fun time – commenting for myself and on behalf of BritMums and thanking you for taking part