Loki does Pizza

Sometimes I think that Millies are bit like buses. You wait for ages and ages for a sighting and then two come along at once.

Mrs The Millbrooker and I met up with my rarely spotted mother-in-law in Totnes only last Friday (interestingly my report of this momentous occasion has made it into the top ten things that happened in Totnes last week on the fascinating website totnesonline.com ). I know this because I keep getting hits that have been referred from that illustrious town and website.

And here we were again on Tuesday just gone, meeting up with the ever-youthful septuagenarian Milly in Plymouth. She'd travelled down from her Bathonian homestead to see Dozybean and The Lord of Chaos in lieu of seeing them in Totnes, so Mrs The Millbrooker and I took advantage of the occasion to get together again.

Milly quickly found herself at floor level within Smallington Towers as she used all her long years of professional teaching experience in explaining to the young Lord of Chaos (or Loki, God of Mischief, as I like to think of him) how to turn a bowl upside down and pretend it's a hat.Loki also indulged in a little rolling around and being tickled by mummy as his Nana (that'll be Mrs The Millbrooker, then) looked on.You'll doubtless be pleased to note that Loki has managed to progress to some intelligible vocabulary, his repertoire now includes "Dah..........deeeeee" and "taaaa" to accompany the almost ceaseless old favourite "diah".

The weather was almost kindly, in that it didn't actually pour down, so en-famille we trotted off into Plymouth centre to find a spot of luncheon. Dozybean suggested Pizza Express on the grounds that it's infant friendly. So Pizza Express it was.

Here are Loki and Dozy about to tuck into their respective Italian style dough jobbers.

Being a bit on the hungry side, I opted for one of the establishment's larger offerings; a Romana (i.e. very thin crust and stretched out) "Etna" (i.e. very hot and spicy) pizza. Just in case you're unsure what a pizza looks like, I've helpfully included a shot of my lunch below.
Milly opted for a cast iron skillet of vegetable and cheese gunge, whilst Mrs The Millbrooker had a pizza with its middle removed (does this make it a doughnut?) which apparently (and logically if you think about it) makes it considerably lower in calories.Now - a quick thought about Pizza Express. I last ate in one of this franchise chain's establishments something like ten years ago, when the best I could think to say about it was that it wasn't Pizza Hut. Since those long ago days, it seems that the Express mob have improved considerably. My "Etna" was very tasty, suitably spicy and its accompanying garlic bread was fresh, hot and delicious. The service was friendly (if slightly tardy) and young Loki was looked after very well.

Would I choose the place for anything other than a decent lunch? Probably not, but as a very decent alternative to, say, a Wetherspoon's pub lunch (albeit slightly more costly), I'd have to give them a thumbs up.

As would Loki as he waved bye-bye to the restaurant at the end of our lunch stop whilst wearing his newly acquired pizza chef's hat.

A short walk back to Smallington Towers, a quick cuppa and it was time to see Milly back to the train for her homeward journey. Mmmmm, now when can I find another excuse to eat out?