Pizza Express, Oxford

Call it mob culture or peer pressure, call it appeasement or people-pleasing, call it diplomacy or democracy, but when taking a gang of teenagers out for dinner I let them choose where to eat.

They chose Pizza Express, the one on Cornmarket, and like the good girl that I am I obeyed.

This was before ‘halalgate’, I might add, and funnily enough no one asked if the chicken on the menu was halal or not.

I still had to book however to make sure the Golden Cross site could fit eight endlessly chatting teens in, plus me. Brave? Ignorant? Definitely. It’s an education in itself because there’s so much you forget. The noise level for one because they all talk at once, the constant chatter which never stops, and I mean never – like a radio that's been left on, it just flows around you – and their obliviousness to everything else around them.

I had also forgotten how accommodating Pizza Express is, leading us quickly to our table which was unsurprisingly at the back, where the pack pushed past the waiter to sit as far away from me as possible, leaving two reluctant mates having to make polite conversation with mum.

I saved them by studying my menu fiercely, until they were all involved enough to forget I was there. But actually I was reflecting on how much the menu had changed and how much more was on offer now. For those of us who can’t burn off the calories like a 15-year-old, and are looking for something slightly healthier, Pizza Express has come up with a new option called the leggera – basically pizzas with the middle cut out and replaced with salad.

My first thoughts were that it was a big con, and my second that regardless it was still a more waist-friendly option and that I’d give it a go. Our poor waiter then had to navigate the remaining 10 pizza orders, with the diplomacy skills of Kim Kardashian’s wedding planner, which of course changed countless times before he scurried off to the kitchen mopping his brow.

And as the laughs and gossip reached new levels and the surrounding diners stared in amazement, I shrugged my shoulders and just enjoyed the evening for what it was, a fascinating insight into the lovely next generation.

In fact, I should have taken notes but couldn’t because our pizzas arrived at that point, and were demolished in an indecent time. It’s amazing how skinny girls in skinny jeans can eat an entire pizza without any sign of discomfort, but they did.

I went for the Pomodoro Pesto Leggera, pictured – 401 calories for all you gym bunnies out there – which came topped with light mozzarella, marinated Santos tomatoes, fresh basil, pesto and garlic oil. And while I’d been worried I’d be left with all crust and a few salad leaves I really enjoyed it. There was plenty of pizza to go round and the salad, rather than detracting from the dish, complemented it with its ripe, juicy ingredients and lovely dressing. It was also a generous portion, so you didn’t feel as if you were missing out. I think I might have even bolted mine down quicker than them.

The pack had a wonderful selection of pizzas, from the padana (goats cheese, mozzarella, spinach, red and caramelised onions, garlic oil) to the toscana (crumbled sausage with chilli and fennel, mozzarella, tomato, baby mozzarella, Gran Moravia cheese, fresh basil and extra virgin olive oil), the rustichella (crispy pancetta, roasted tomatoes, rocket, Gran Moravia cheese, Caesar dressing) and the american hot (pepperoni, mozzarella, tomato, and green, roquito or jalapeno peppers) and with vouchers, which knocked a good £20 off, it came to £68 for nine of us.

In fact I think I got away quite lightly, no pun intended. It could have been much worse.

Pizza Express branches are in Oxford’s Golden Cross, Bicester, Witney, Abingdon, Wallingford and Oxford Castle
pizzaexpress.com