HEREFORD'S Zizzi Italian restaurant has reopened to customers with a new look and refreshed menu after a refurb.

Zizzi said it had rolled out its fresh new look to the Old Market Shopping Centre restaurant, with new unique artwork designed by artist Charlie Rallings which nods to the famous Museum of Cider and the local farming and agricultural community.

Inside the revamped restaurant, Zizzi said guests will experience touch points including the iconic Zizzi tree, neon signs, hanging planting with lighting, checkerboard black and white tiles and an updated colour palette throughout which makes the restaurant feel warm and cosy.

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The latest dishes on its menu at the 128-seat restaurant include vegan rainbow lasagne, black truffle salami and mushroom rustica pizza and vegan aubergine and pesto rustica pizza. We were quickly shown to our table by the friendly staff and offered drinks and a look at the new menu.

The Hereford Times was invited to try out some of the new dishes, and senior reporter Charlotte Moreau said she had been an occasional visitor to Hereford’s Zizzi restaurant for years, with their DIY pizzas and hats with stickers always proving a hit for my now not-so-little one.

But she really liked the new look, which definitely gave the place a much cosier vibe, with the murals on the walls and racks of vintage plates offering something a bit different to look at while waiting for your order to arrive.

Hereford Times: A sharing platter at Zizzi, HerefordA sharing platter at Zizzi, Hereford (Image: Charlotte Moreau)

She had never ordered more than one course before, but would definitely give the sharing platter another go. The mini arancini with a smoky chilli jam and calamari with lemon and rosemary aioli are right up my street, while garlic bread and tomato bruschetta are always a hit.

For mains, we all decided to try one of the new offerings on Zizzi’s menu, with both the rustica parmigiana, featuring grilled aubergine, sunblush tomatoes, and smoked mozzarella and the black truffle salami and mushroom pizzas catching my eye.

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The latter won the battle on the day, and I would absolutely recommend it, even if I did only manage to finish half of it!

Pizzas are all about the toppings for me, and this was no disappointment, with the crust rolled out very thin and topped with plenty of salami, mushrooms, crispy prosciutto, riserva and mozzarella cheeses, truffle oil, and sage.

Audience and content editor James Thomas plumped for the new signature beef and chianti ragu. The fresh Creste di Gallo pasta went well with the hearty beef, red wine and slow-roasted tomato sauce, topped with crispy sage and riserva cheese.

Happily Zizzi staff were more than happy to provide a box to cart the rest of my pizza home, where it quickly disappeared!

The blend of flavours was spot on, and it was a good serving. Sometimes I find Italian restaurants can serve a mound of pasta without enough meat to go around, but the ratios were spot on in this case.

Being on a working lunch, he went for a softail, a cocktail without alcohol. The passion fruit punch somewhat lacked a punch, but more flavour could have been overpowering. All in all, the Hereford Times felt the service was spot on and there were some great additions to the already impressive menu, with the refurb breathing fresh life into the unit, which opened after the Old Market was built in 2014.

Thank you, Zizzi, we'll certainly be back!