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hand picked restaurants

Pizza Express remains a hugely popular bedrock of casual eating. Its popularity is testimony to the fact that across the country, they have restaurants where you will always be guaranteed a good nosh, with children's tastes being well catered for.

Pizza Express has gone even more Roman, and following the success of that particular example of listening to their public have introduced Romana pizzas, including the scorching Etna and the hearty Siciliana.

These pizzas are now thinner, bigger and crispier, and if that sounds like a marketing line, it is. However, unlike many such lines, this one is true, and their quality is always consistent, though cleverly they have still managed to retain a homemade feel to their pizzas.

As an alternative to pizza, try their pollo pesto - cavatappi pasta with torn chicken breast, mushrooms, red onions and mozzarella in a creamy gruyere, parmesan and pesto sauce and finished with grana padano - or the niçoise salad with mixed leaves, yellowfin tuna, free range egg, green beans, potatoes and tomatoes with olives, anchovies, capers and house dressing.

Many of the big chains have come a long way, and Pizza Express is certainly amongst them. One of the first to be quoted on the Stock Exchange - in 1993 - Pizza Express is not a franchise operation and retains tight control through its own staff.

Their wine list - though short - contains some surprisingly good offerings, especially their intense Australian Chardonnay, and a big, full-bodied Merlot from Cusumano, Sicilia.

Michael's is a cosy, candlelit, neighbourhood restaurant in the heart of Birkdale with Chef Michael Wichmann at the helm. This is his first solo venture after a career spanning thirty years in some of the world's top hotels and restaurants, including the Michelin starred La Truffe restaurant in Frankfurt, the Savoy Hotel, London and most recently the Sheraton Dubai Creek Hotel and Towers, Dubai. Michael aims for a relaxed, unpretentious atmosphere in which diners can enjoy top quality food.

Since its opening in 2005 Michael's has received an excellent response from both customers and the media, having been listed in The Times Top Ten Warm Welcomes being voted through to the final three restaurants in the prestigious Restaurant of the Year Awards 2007/2008 by Lancashire Life Magazine. Michael has also often been invited to be the resident chef on BBC Radio Merseyside on Sunday afternoons cooking dishes from the restaurant menu live in the studio.