Dear old Pizza Express. It’s reliable, familiar, consistent and seems always to have been with us. Indeed, if you are aged 45 or under, it always has been, for it was in 1965 that the first branch opened in Soho’s Wardour Street. These days, more than 300 restaurants serve 16 million customers every year. Now half a dozen dishes have been added to the oh-so-familiar menu by Francesco Mazzei whose high-end Calabrian cooking at L’Anima in the City has been widely praised. Some of them are tasty and novel, but really, why all the fuss? Pizza Express is still Pizza Express, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

The Venue
This is one of the chain’s largest branches with full-length windows taking in the busy junction of Euston Road and Great Portland Street. The long, shallow room is cleverly broken up with mixed decor materials and different levels. Chairs are simple, pale bentwood or curvy and upholstered. There are stools at a long, high table, like a communal breakfast bar. Table tops are Pizza Express trademark grey flecked marble. Need one mention that chefs toil in an open kitchen? Flooring is a mix of wood and beige tiles. A single red tulip adorns each table.

The Atmosphere
Diners are uniformly casual and of all ages. The vibe is warm and relaxed. Service is interested and generally sound, thought it could be smilier. Waiters indulge in that annoying modern affectation of not writing anything down. Sure enough, one has to return to ask a neighbouring table to run through their order again. The lighting is moody, the musak mildly jazzy and at low volume.

The Food
Unless you’ve spent the last few decades living on Jupiter, you are surely familiar with most of the starters, sides and nibbles, and pizza, pasta and salad mains. Yes, the dough balls are still going strong and, yes, you can still help save Venice to the tune of 25 pence by ordering a Veneziana pizza.

You may not yet be familiar, though, with Signor Mazzei’s six creations, two of which are starters. Tricolore (£5.45) is a rather ingenious take on the classic tomato, avocado and mozzarella salad, served on a rectangle of grey slate. The tomatoes are roasted and marinated (think sun-dried) whilst the avocado has been mashed into guacamole (which is not, as promised, spicy). They and the cheese sit atop a crisp, thin, pizza-type dough. A pizza cutting wheel is provided in addition to a knife and fork. It’s novel and attractive, and there’s a good hit of garlic from the dressing. The Calabrian maestro’s other appetiser is insalata semplice (£4.95), a pleasant enough assembly of toasted ciabatta, tomatoes big and small, rocket and mozzarella. If only the tomatoes tasted like the ones grandpa used to grow, this would be sensational but, of course, this being 21st-century Britain, they are just so-so. The rocket and some diced red onion add punch, though, and there’s a lovely sweetness and oregano fragrance to the dressing.

To the mains, Signor Mazzei has added three pizzas and a pasta. Rustichella (£8.95) isn’t a bad pizza, if not the thinnest or crispest ever encountered. Slices of fried pancetta give meatiness and saltiness – twice as many wouldn’t go amiss – whilst crumbled grana padano cheese fails to make much of an impact. Rocket appears again and there are more of those sun-dried – sorry, roasted and marinated – tomatoes. Dish of the night by some considerable margin is Mazzei’s only foray into pasta. Tagliolini funghi (£9.45) is perfectly al dente square-sided spaghetti and juicy mushroom pieces in just the right amount of creamy sauce generously redolent of the flavour and fragrance of truffle. This dish would sit happily on the menu of a considerably more upmarket Italian establishment.

Puds-wise, Pizza Express is still knocking out the old favourites like chocolate fudge cake, banoffee pie, profiteroles and tiramisu. Ice cream features strongly. Dolcetti are a comparatively new addition for sweet-toothed diners with a less than huge appetite; they are half-size desserts served with a coffee of your choice, and will surely fly out of the kitchen. Lemon tart (£4.90) is a reasonable example of the genre. The filling is satisfyingly lemony and creamy, though the pastry could be shorter and thinner. It arrives angled artfully on a blob of mascarpone. Toffee fudge glory (£4.80) is vanilla ice cream, fudge chunks and toffee sauce. Burying bits of fudge in ice cream isn’t the best of ideas as the coldness makes the fudge bullet-hard. You can add a slug of liqueur for £1.60. The coffee flavour of Tia Maria works a treat.

The Drink
Only a couple of the bottles on the almost wholly Italian wine list nudge above £20, the most expensive choice, a solitary Champagne, just breaching the £30 barrier. Description throughout is brief, the Champagne being described merely as ‘Champagne’. Wouldn’t you want to know a little more before shelling out £30.10? Commendably, well over half the wines are available by the 175ml or 250ml glass though, strangely, none of the sparklers are.

The cheapest white, Insolia-Chardonnay (£3.75/£4.80/£12.95) from Sicily is definitely a vin ordinaire. At least there’s a bit of fruit going on in the rose Merlot from Veneto (£4.10/£5.50/£15.65) but it could do with a longer finish. Reds fare better; Montepulciano d’Abruzzo (£4.20/£5.50/£15.55) is peppery and fruity whilst a Merlot from Sicily (£4.35/£5.70/£16.15) is rich, round, warm and tingly. There are two Italian beers plus low-alcohol lager, a fairly modest range of aperitifs, spirits and digestifs, and plenty of juices and soft fizzies. Still and sparkling water is £2.30 for 500ml, £3.85 a litre.

The Last Word
Pizza Express, ubiquitous, consistent and familiar, has had newcomers like Ask!, Strada and Prezzo to contend with in recent years but sails blithely on. The new dishes by Signor Mazzei may provide a useful addition for frequent diners but are more about gaining attention than changing direction. And quite right, too; Pizza Express ain’t broke, so don’t fix it.

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