Review of Vapiano - June 2010

Where: Vapiano, Oxford Circus
With whom: Various colleagues
How much?: A range of fresh pizza, pasta and salads, generally £8-£10 with drinks
Vapiano is an institution in the US, the Middle East and mainland Europe, and it appears we're a little slow to get the franchise. The first London outpost appears slightly belatedly in the scheme of things, there are already 35 in Germany and assorted other global outposts from Sweden to the UAE. 
It's a simple enough concept. You order a range of Italian food from different counters along the walls. The counters surround a central section of tables. You get given a buzzer that goes off when your food is ready for you to collect. So far so blah... 

The styling is clean and refreshing. It feels a little like an upmarket shopping centre food court, but in a good way. The staff are friendly, polite and unobtrusive (not surprising considering you do everything yourself). Sadly though the food is little better than alright. It's fresh certainly, something they highlight with the pots of basil sitting on every table and they don't start cooking or preparing until you arrive at the counter so everything is cooked to order. On the last visit I went for the Diavolo pizza, a spicy, less than authentic combination of Italian sausage, peppers and red onions. It was fine, though nothing special. The dough was fairly tasteless and the topping needed the additional zing of a spoon of chilli flakes. Another irritating niggle, I got it fast, but it hadn't been left in the oven for long enough (or more likely the oven was cooler than their timings were set for) and the dough was still a little too soft in the centre. 
It's a passible option (and better than most chain restaurants in central London) but we're not exactly short of upmarket pizza / pasta chains in this country,so I do struggle to see the differentiation between Vapiano and the more established Pizza Express, Ask or Strada chains. It doesn't strive for an authentic menu and other than being close to the office and big enough to guarantee a table I don't think that the 'innovation' of letting me collect my own pizza will be forcing me back for a repeat visit.