Pizza Express: St Martin’s Lane

There are two key things to bear in mind when visiting the Pizza Express on St Martin’s Lane: timing and books.

Being in the heart of theatreland, the St Martin’s Lane outlet gets very crowded at the peak times shortly before evening plays start – and the staff are so focused on quick service during them that they were even clearing away the starters and starting to serve the main course whilst I was still eating my starter. And that was despite our table’s inaccessibility due to being so wedged in with others that it would have been quite possible to use a neighbour’s elbow as a headrest. (Some of that Euston Road crowd clearing skill worked its magic again however.)

As its capacity is designed for these peaks, the rest of the time it is pleasantly spacious. Which means that if you do visit at another time, try to head to a table downstairs against the far wall, where you get to sit next to a wall of books with some rather fun titles:

It is, of course, therefore advisable to visit with dining companions who do not mind if you find the books more interesting than themselves, especially given the proximity of knives at the point at which they discover this.

A final note – the St Martin’s Lane outlet has not (yet?) had the new style makeover save in the most superficial of respects (the health and safety tabletop nightmare is present), which means there is nothing of note to say about the toilet signage. Everyone is clothed and proportioned normally on them.

So that is 33 down, 105 (or thereabouts) to go.