Bella and I had a fantastic afternoon on Saturday when we were invited to have a delicious meal at Pizza Express in Dean Street, Soho followed by the opportunity to watch the latest Ice Age movie, Ice Age Collision Course at the 20th Century Fox head office in nearby Soho Square! How cool is that – we love invitations to new Film and TV related events! Bella was so excited about this that she was asking me all week beforehand if it was Saturday yet, LOL, Bless her! She watched a couple of the previous Ice Age movies during the week to get in the mood so come Saturday, she was really looking forward to watching the 5th Ice Age movie!
I was really happy to be able to spend some time alone with my eldest daughter. We are always with little Sienna so when we have an opportunity to do something together, just her and me, we really grab them. It was going to be some amazing mummy-daughter time. We are lucky because we are not far from Central London so it only took us about 20 minutes to get there. We didn’t rush at all but left on time.
On the tube Bella and I took a few selfies together. She really wanted to have some photos of us together so we took a few shots. We only had to do change train once and then we were in Soho. It was such a beautiful day. It was super sunny and warm – I think it was about 25 degrees. It felt lovely especially after the generally gloomy summer we’ve had so far! The sun was burning hot that day!
I know exactly how to get to Dean Street and Soho Square as I used to work in the opposite side of the square to where 20th Century Fox is. It’s an area I know pretty well which is handy when you are travelling with your daughter without your partner. We made it okay with perfect timing!
When we arrived at Pizza Express we were greeted by a nice lady who took us to our table. It was all set up for us so we sat down and got comfy. They had the new Piccolo Menu on the table with a Piccolo Activity Pack which had some colouring ane sticker activities that Bella was able to do.
There was also an Ice Age Activity Sheet which had a lot of interesting things for her to do too, such as puzzles, spot the difference, perfect partner match, find the correct names of the planets, unscramble words, some facts and best of all it had an amazing competition which is running at the moment. If your child draws or colours a picture of their favourite character from the movie with their favourite pizza, then takes a photo of it and uploads it to the Pizza Express website you could win a Family Trip to Hollywood & get a VIP Tour of the World Famous Fox Studios! Plus you could also win amazing goody bags with gift cards, Ice Age Toys and Pizza Making parties. This competition is open until the 16th of September so you have plenty of time to upload your photo. Who knows, you could be that lucky winner! There are also prizes to win every week! How AMAZING is that? Yaay!
The Piccolo Menu is fantastic. You can get a kids 3 course meal for only £6.95. This is great! Bella chose the famous Baked Dough Balls that come with garlic butter and a fresh salad of crunchy red pepper, cucumber and baby tomatoes. Bella finished this very quickly.
Then she had a Margherita Pizza for her main course and then for dessert a Creamy Gelato with their famous Bambinocchino. This was just so cute. Bella ate half of her pizza but as expected, finished all of her dessert. For her drink she had an Apple & Summer Berry juice.
I chose garlic bread for my starter. For my main meal I ordered the amazing Leggera Padana which was a pizza under 600 calories. It has goat’s cheese, mozzarella, tomato, caramelised onions, spinach, red onions and in the middle a tasty salad (lettuce, tomato and pepper). This pizza was to die for. I went to heaven and back! Wow! I loved it!
Finally, for dessert I ordered the Leggera Raspberry Sorbet which was under 200 calories. This was really nice. Even Bella who had already finished her dessert helped me with it. She thought it was yummy! I was really impressed with the summer menu and the choice healthy alternatives. We all want to eat out and enjoy our dinner but at the same time we don’t want to feel guilty about it. Well let me tell you that with these options at Pizza Express, you can eat like a Queen and not feel bad about it! Hurrah to Pizza Express for that! 🙂
The whole meal was really pleasant. Bella was entertained between courses with the activity sheets which was fantastic. With a well behaved and entertained child, I had the opportunity to go around and take some photos of the Dean Street Branch. It was all really cosy with bright colours and funky decoration. It was a perfect place to eat out with your family. It is not always easy to find places like this so I highly recommend you to try Pizza Express!
Ice Age Collision Course
After our meal we headed over to 20th Century Fox for our private screening of the latest Ice Age movie. When we arrived, Bella couldn’t believe that Sid and Scrat were there! This was a really nice welcoming! We couldn’t resist having a photo taken with them outside the iconic 2oth Century Fox building!
Inside they had an open bar with different options to drink and on each seat a bag of popcorn had been left for us. Bella got a bag sweet popcorn and I got a salted one. The room was lovely with the 20th Century Fox logo on the floor. The seats were super comfy too. We also had another chance to take more photos with Sid and Scrat before the movie started.
The movie was super fun, with lots of famous people doing the voices, including Jennifer Lopez, Queen Latifah, Ray Romano, Niki Minaj, Josh Peck, Simon Peck, Drake, etc. Bella was so concentrated watching it. The story was interesting and cute. I won’t tell you more than that because I don’t want to spoil it for you. I would definitely recommend to go and watch it.
We really had an amazing time. Having a meal in a great child friendly restaurant like Pizza Express and then heading to the movies is the perfect match. So you know, if you are running out of ideas of what to do with your kids during the summer holidays or if it happens to be a horrible rainy day, this is a GREAT option. You aso get the chance to win a fabulous trip to Hollywood, so why not? 🙂
I would like to say thank you so much to Pizza Express, 2oth Century Fox and the lovely Katy from Modern Mummy and Ruth from Rock ‘n Roller Baby for organising this amazing experience for Bella and me! It was amazing!
What do you think of the new summer menu at Pizza Express? What about the Piccolo menu? Have you tried it? Have you been in Pizza Express before? What do you think of their competition? What about pairing a nice meal with a trip to the movies with your kids? Leave a comment below as I would love to know what you think.
*Disclaimer: Bella and I were invited to have a 3 course meal at Pizza Express and to watch a movie at 20th Century Fox in exchange for a blog post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thanks for stopping by,
Love you all ❤️
Franca 💋
Ruth Davies says
I am SO jel! I love the look of that cinema and that particular Pizza Express is a very special one which plays JAZZ music! I want to GO! 🙂
Donna says
This looks like such a great event and you cannot beat Pizza Express for a family meal x
bad DAdu says
My son likes the cinema too but only because he gets to eat a load of popcorn. Once he’s finished he normally asks to leave #KCACOLS
Lydia C. Lee says
I’m a big fan of something in it for everyone – so if we do endless kid things, they have to suck it up and do something for us. So grown up meal with kids movie sounds like a win/win to me! #KCALCOLS
Shelly says
I’m so glad you and Bella had a good time! She is absolutely adorable; she looks just like you! #KCACOLS
Jen @Practical, By Default says
This is so cool. I am so glad you got to go. We are looking forward to seeing this. I love ICE AGE!!! Thanks for not including any spoilers. Your daughter looks so cute. I hope you are all on the mend soon. #KCACOLS
Claire says
How cool! It looks like you had a great day and your pictures are beautiful! #kcacols
Fran @ Whinge Whinge Wine says
I used to HATE Pizza Express with a passion until I had children and realised it’s about the only choice now. I suddenly understood why people go there! I still try and use independent places but it’s nice to know there’s a place the kids will definitely eat and people won’t be expecting a classy child-free meal haha! #KCACOLS
Emma Plus Three says
I love Pizza Express. Looks like you both had a great time x #KCACOLS
Samsam S. says
It seems like such a fun day with your daughter and that Raspberry Sorbet looks delicious .. I can’t wait for my son to get a little older so I can take him to the movies#KCALCOLS
Emma me and b make tea says
aw fab opportunity and 7 quid for a three course kids meal IS good! and it looks delicious! pleased you enjoyed the film too – cute pics 🙂 #KCACOLS
Amanda says
Looks like a great day out and how nice for some Mum daughter time. Your pizza looks amazing goats cheese is my favourite topping though you don’t see it that often. Glad you had a fab day.
Amanda. #kcacols
Jane Taylor says
How lovely to have some quality time, just you and Bella…Never mind having a meal and a cinema experience. We like Pizza Express because of the cute little things they do for the kids menus like the babicinno! Glad you had a great time. #KCACOLS
Life as Mum says
I love Pizza Express! We don’t have one local but when we see one, we stop there most times!
#KCACOLS
Cathryn - Little Paper Swans says
It looks like you had an amazing day. The menu sounds amazing and the bambinochino is so cute!
#KCAKOLS
RaInbowsaretoobeautiful says
Wow, what a great day. The menu looks good, our eldest loves Italian food. It’s defiantly popular in or home! #KCACOLS
Paranoid Working Parent says
I love Pizza Express for family time – it is place that you can have fun, good food and not worry if your child is being a little loud. Haven’t been for a while, so this has prompted me to schedule it in once back from hols. 🙂 #KCACOLS
Rebecca TAYLOR says
What an amazing Mummy and daughter day for you!! How lovely. I haven’t been to Pizza Express for a couple of years now but we do enjoy it when we go. Must get there soon. So pleased you enjoyed the movie – it looks fab! Thank you for sharing. X #KCACOLS
Becster says
This looks like such an amazing day out for you both! The film looks great! Love the selfies! <3 #KCACOLS
oddhogg says
I love pizza express (the dough balls….mmmmm…) and the ice age films. Very jealous that you’ve been! cinema is a while away for us with piglet!
Emma (Upside mum) says
Love pizza express. Looks like you had a great day, great that you got some time just you & your girl too. #kcacols
Toarizonaandbeyond says
The film sounds great, Ice Age is a favourite in our household! Love the idea of pizza with salad, more restaurants should do this! #KCACOLS
Joanne Mallon says
What a fantastic day out. I think you and I share the same taste in pizzas – I always get that one too! #KCACOLS
Katy - Hot Pink Wellingtons says
You can’t beat Pizza Express for a family meal out, can you? The kids meals are just such great value. I used to work on Dean Street, so this one used to be one of my regular after work stops with a friend – seems ages ago now! #KCACOLS
Mackenzie Glanville says
Looks like so much fun, I love all the pics, she’s so adorable! #kcacols