Zizzis Restaurant, Theatre District, Milton Keynes

I came to Zizzis with my fiance, Richard, Mother-in-Law, Gerry, Father-in-Law, Chris and Daughter, Keri on a Sunday evening in January. Our table was booked for 6pm. The restaurant had an open kitchen, an upstairs and a downstairs, and looked pretty good. The waiting staff were friendly and well presented.

For starters we ordered; dough sticks from the Bambini menu, Dough Sticks from the regular menu (£3.75), Crostini Formaggio De Capra (£4.85), and Tomato Pesto Bread (£3.85). The starters were great, very well presented and tasted lovely. It was there it went down hill :-(

As each of us finished our starter, the plate was whisked away - rather than the server waiting for everyone to finish. My mother-in-law was the last to finish, and as she put the final mouthful into her mouth, she hadn't even had time to chew before her plate was taken away from her!

While we were waiting for our main courses, we could see the food coming from the kitchen and waiting on the side for the servers. And waiting. And waiting. Some of the food was there so long it must have tasted awful by the time it was served.

After finishing our starters, we waited 40 minutes for our main courses - which seemed ages because were were trying to entertain a hungry 7 year old, and the restaurant started filling up. However, the downstairs was the only section being used, and it got no more than 3/4 full. For some reason, rather than using the upstairs or back end of the restaurant, the staff moved a table of 2 so close to us that you couldn't fit a side plate between our table and the next table! At this point, there were 4 spare small tables across the other side of the restaurant! It was really uncomfortable because it felt as though this other couple were sat with us!

When the mains came (Penne Della Casa £9.15, Seabass Al Vino £13.25, Pollo Prosciutto x2 £12.25 each and Polpette from the Bamibini menu, and Roasted vegetables x 2 £3 each), the seabass was cold and missing the sauce, the fine beans with the Prosciutto were cold and the Pollo Prosciutto itself were both cold. These 3 meals went back, and the seabass was the last to return - with sauce this time. By the time the seabass arrived, the rest of us had finished our meals.

We ordered our coffees and Keri's hot chocolate at the same time as our desserts, as we thought (accurately) that they would take a long time to come out. Keri was offered a choice of Gelato before we had even seen the dessert menu, and by the time we had the menu, she had pretty much finished her dessert. We ordered; Torta Zizzi (£5.10), Crema (£4.15), Cioccolato Gelato (£4.15), and Fior Di Latte (£4.15), plus 2 Cappuccinos and 2 Americanos, and 1 Hot Chocolate. My Torta Zizzi came with Gelato, and was only luke warm. The Cappuccinos were also luke warm, and the drinks took absolutely ages to come out!

Overall, the food was below average, the restaurant was crowded because they packed up all in so close together and the staff were run off their feet. We won't be going back in a hurry.