Café Antipasti

This review appears in the The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 – in the shops now or buy online.

Between the fairy lights and rustic pine tables and fittings, you might be surprised on first impressions to learn that Café Antipasti on Byres Road (not to be confused with the branch on Sauchiehall Street, which has different owners) is an Italian restaurant at all. Scan the functional and descriptive menu though, and you'll realise that the place doesn't intend to give customers a lesson in Italian culture but simply a taste of the country's cuisine in agreeably unpretentious surroundings. Spinach salad tossed with goat's cheese, pine nuts, ciabatta crust and balsamic dressing is a light, fresh starter. Even better are the chunks of grilled Italian sausage served in a small pot of tangy Roma tomato sauce. As a main course, it's hard to argue with a big, flaky slice of charred swordfish steak, served propped up on roast potatoes, surrounded by a full quartered lemon and drizzled with roasted garlic butter. Finishing up with one of Café Antipasti's fine coffees is recommended, as is snaring a perch on the edge of the balcony, so as to enjoy the view out of the restaurant's floor-to-ceiling glass frontage. The city centre branch is almost identical in décor and the menu is similarly unassuming. Try the pan-fried gnocchi dumplings in a creamy pesto sauce for a starter, followed by their 'fantastic' beef and Italian sausage lasagne, which really lives up to its billing.

• High point: No gimmicks
• Low point: A little cramped