One of the side effects of the pandemic has been the number of chain restaurants that have licensed some of their menu for supermarket shelves. Unable to welcome customers to their own outlets they have managed to save their businesses by getting their good to us for home consumption.
Pizza Express has been doing this for years with their pizzas and their garlic doughballs. But in the past few months they have expanded their line to include pasta, side dishes, and a few of their desserts. I've seen salted caramel tarts, and recently I spotted their new vanilla cheesecake slices on the reduced shelf at Tesco! Since it was only £1.50 I decided to give them a try. I love cheesecake and I'm always happy to try a new brand when it comes out.
Important note: These were on the reduced shelf because they were on their "best before" date. However we ate them that night, so I don't think the quality will have been too affected.
Packaging
These cheesecake slices are in a bright pink box with a small clear plastic window in the top. The cheesecake slices are sitting in a moulded plastic stand, with thin plastic strips around each slice to help them keep their shape.
The plastic certainly did a good job as these had managed to get through the transport process without being squashed or damaged.
They also came with a small sachet of raspberry sauce. Me and my husband decided to go without it as we just wanted vanilla, but it looked like there was enough for both cheesecakes.
Cheesecakes
I know, this bit is far more important than what kind of box they came in!
The cheesecake itself was quite nice. Very sweet, and a bit creamy, with a strong vanilla flavour. The texture was quite soft and slightly gelatinous. Personally I prefer a slightly more solid texture but I know not everyone feels the same.
I wasn't impressed by the base as this was very crumbly and soft. I don't think it had been baked long enough, or possibly hadn't been mixed with enough butter or sugar before being put on the bottom. I did buy these on the day of their Best Before date, but I would still expect the base to hold up better.
Final result
I got these for £1.50, reduced from £3.50, and to be honest I'm not sure the higher price is worth it. You can buy Tesco Finest slices for £3.00 and you'd get something a bit bigger and better quality. In my opinion the extra 50p isn't worth the brand label.
This is a shame as I like Pizza Express restaurants, and they do excellent desserts in their branches (seriously, the honeycomb cream slice is always amazing, as are the salted caramel profiteroles). I'll certainly give the salted caramel tarts a try if I see them on the shelves in the future. But I can't honestly say I'll be seeking out these cheesecake slices again.
Overall I'd given them a 3 out of 5 - tasty enough at the time, but not a repeater.
1 comment:
What a shame! It's been ages since I ate at Pizza Express but I know so many love it. I won't be looking for these on my next shop. Great review!
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