Buongiorno

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• Average price 2 courses:
   £10 (lunch)
   £13 (evening meal)
• House wine: £11.95 (1 litre) per bottle

• High point: Varied daytime menu
• Low point: Lack of ingredients in pasta dishes
• Food served: Mon-Sat 10am-11pm; Sun 10am-10pm
• Open since: 1994
• Also offers: Childrens portions, Childrens high chairs, Take away, Pre-theatre menu

The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 is now in the shops.

This review is from the 2007 edition.

This café-restaurant on one of the Southside's main arteries may be small - despite a clever use of mirrors in its modern, white-tiled interior creating an illusion of greater space - but it's big on choice. There's an extensive brunch and lunch menu during the day, a separate dinner menu in the evening, and pizzas and pastas to take away throughout. The range of starters is varied, and includes several filling home-made options such as focaccias and minestrone soup. However, some choices, such as breadcrumb-coated mozzarella sticks served with a plastic tub of tomato sauce, leave a bit to be desired. A main course of penne pollo carbonara suffers from economic portions of chicken and mushroom and a heavy-handed heaping of parmesan, while the tomato-rich lasagne, apparently based on a traditional recipe from Bologna, is nevertheless a little dry. Any thoughts that Buongiorno may be spreading itself a bit thin, or resting on its decade of local laurels, are assuaged by its desserts and café treats such as raspberry cheesecake, home-made scones and caramel shortcake. The daytime menu also serves up salads, sandwiches and baked potatoes alongside a selection of pasta and pizza. And at £2.95 for a meal plus juice, children get a great deal here.