Santa Lucia

The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 is now in the shops. This review is taken from the 2007 edition.

Santa Lucia offers a menu of predominantly Italian-influenced cuisine with an emphasis on seafood and meat dishes, but also containing a number of pasta staples and a few, sometimes seasonally available, specials. The décor also has an Italian flavour: the walls are painted with pastoral, pastel-coloured scenes. Staff are helpful, relaxed and informal, greeting you warmly and finding time to talk and laugh with regulars and newcomers, recommending dishes from the menu, or, as they arrive at your table, bearing huge plates of food. Starters of slightly browned, but not over-cooked, grilled scallops or baked meatballs in a rich, tasty tomato and basil sauce with garlic bread are large enough to be mains. Main courses, such as a platter of assorted lightly grilled fish served with a lemony, buttery sauce, are vaster still and served with two types of roast potatoes (traditional and whole in their skins) and a selection of other vegetables. A heap of sweet, cream and custard-laden home-made trifle lies in wait at the end for dessert lovers.

• High point: Big portions and frequent promotions represent good value
• Low point: Unless you are an aficionado of 80s pop, the music may grate