Prego

This review appears in the The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2009 – in the shops now or buy online.

This restaurant, which opened in early 2009, looks directly on to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery, with floor to ceiling windows making the most of the beautiful view. Inviting leather sofas and a sign gently reminding customers that ‘coffee is available all day’ make passers by feel just as welcome to pop in for a quick latte as they do for a three- course meal. If opting for the latter, the menu is a trove of fantastic Italian treasures. Starters such as figs wrapped in parma ham with a creamy, pungent gorgonzola sauce is a wonderful dish that marries simple flavours that harmonise beautifully, yet this is a this gem of a dish is not seen too often. The main courses cover pizzas and pastas, but offer a handful of alternatives. In one such dish, a chicken breast is wrapped in parma ham so that the meat is juicy and tender and absorbs the flavours of the gorgonzola and spinach stuffing. This is served on a perfectly smooth bed of polenta and a sweet pepper dressing. The 21-day matured sirloin with marsala cream comes highly recommended, and the wild mushroom risotto is full of fleshy, earthy-flavoured Strathspey fungi for less carnivorous beasts. Staff are affable, and, like in all good Italian eateries, truly appreciate the value of good food and wine.

• High point: Staff who know their stuff
• Low point: The Budvar wasn’t cold!