Restaurant critic Jay Rayner lashes Pizza Hut in his column in The Observer. He describes their "sweaty, oily duvet of fat-soaked dough" as an "abomination that deserves to be whipped with a cat-o'-nine-tails as a warning to others".
Anybody who doesn't agree with him, adds Rayner, should go to the shops and buy a different newspaper other than The Observer because they would be happier that way.
Pizza Express, on the other hand, is reliable while the service is spot on, although, says Rayner, their product is hardly top dog.
Rayner wasn't all that impressed either with the pizzas at highly-recommended Donna Margherita in Lavender Hill, London. His Romana was "merely OK" and he suspected it had lingered too long after leaving the oven.
The menu also featured two creations called Gay and Lesbica, which were "half-and-half pizzas". Rayner suggests Hermaphrodite might be a more appropriate name.
But he adored the restaurant's garlic bread, which was hot, light, thin and crisp, littered with smoky bubbles that crunched against the roof of the mouth to release sudden puffs of the smoky oven's flavour.
The Independent on Sunday's Terry Durack recommends Bincho Yakitori in the Oxo Tower by the River Thames for doing the sort of cheerful Japanese street food that "even the most sushiphobic child or adult could handle".
Bincho is a prized highly-carbonised charcoal used for grilling, while Yakitori means grilled chicken, although the term can be stretched to encompass other birds.
The restaurant is based on the izakaya concept, which is the closest Japan has to a pub, and even feels a "bit pubby" with its warm, woody floors, tables and columns.
The Observer 05/08/07 (Magazine) pages 56&57
The Independent on Sunday 05/08/07 (The New Review) page 49
