Caffe d’Italia, Telford : Shropshire Star:

As a location for top-quality restaurant food, the centre of Telford is a little barren.Although I have lived in the town for over 30 years, there has never been anywhere that could hold a candle to the rest of the county.

There are, admittedly, many fine pubs that serve tasty bar food - but the restaurant sector is a little undernourished.

Attempting to redress the balance is the Caffe d’Italia, which is nestled within the sprawling Telford International Centre.

Although the location suggests something rather nondescript, the owners have done an admirable job of creating a cosy and inviting atmosphere.

Indeed, this is what my fiancee Claire and I found when we arrived with a group of friends just a few days before Christmas.

As a bunch of mostly thirty-somethings who have known each other for years, this was always going to be a fun evening for the entire gang.

It almost felt like a Hugh Grant rom-com.

But for all the laughs and giggles that were to come over the next few hours, there would be little point if the food was not up to scratch.

For my starters, I went with the group majority and chose the Crostini di Fegati - or in English, toasted Ciabatta with Italia pate.

Although I am fairly familiar with the concept of pate, there remained just the tiniest doubt that I had got my first order wrong.

Thankfully, I was proved right and enjoyed a delicious combination of liver, smoked bacon and herbs.

Even my faint worries about encountering an excess of garlic were soon gladly dismissed.

Claire, on the other hand went for the Minestrone alle Verdure - or rather, tomato and herb broth.

Although she enjoyed the depth of flavours, there was some concern that it was a bit too spicy as she grappled with the steaming bowl in front of her.

Nevertheless, we all decided to move on and concentrate on our upcoming main courses - but not until we had sampled the extensive wine list.

As a group, we decided to plump for red and white.

Predictable, I know - but with Claire and I being the only white wine lovers on the table, it was an added festive bonus.

At just under £12 a bottle, the D’Istonto Chardonnay was a joy to savour and served us well throughout the meal.

And with positive noises flowing from the other side of the table, the decision to go for red suited the other members of the group just as well.

In fact that was the case for much of the evening - the quality of the food was more than matched by the rather jolly pre-Christmas mood.

For the main courses the English translations of the Italian dishes once again came in handy.

I went for the Pollo alla Pizzaiola - or, rather, chicken supreme atop a tomato and herb sauce.

As with previous visits, I found my main course to be rather small - the tradition, I was later told, is to order two smaller main courses.

As insurance, therefore, I also ordered a heap of potatoes.

The chicken was everything I expected and was drizzled with just a touch of melted mozzarella cheese.

But without any sort of accompaniment, the tomato and herb sauce seemed just a tad lonely and perhaps even unloved.

Claire’s choice was the Insalata di Pollo - chicken breast with white wine, herbs and bacon salad.

Bearing in mind Claire’s aversion to many things green (and mine, for that matter) the staff were more than willing to swop the ingredients around to suit her tastes.

Much like her other experiences with chicken, she sang its praises from the rooftops and told me that the blend of flavours was delicious.

Indeed, it is a telling sign that despite the changes she had asked for, the overall taste of the dish was still worthy of much praise.

It is, perhaps, worth mentioning at this point the quality of service.

We have visited the Caffe d’Italia on a number of other occasions - including in its previous guise as the Cafe Mondial.

Indeed, the welcome from the staff has always been top notch, and this occasion was no exception.

It may, perhaps, have been the fact that there were few other customers present - but at no point did we feel rushed to make a decision or even to sit down to eat.

To finish our meal, the whole group felt unhealthy enough to round things off with a selection of chocolate fudge cake and tiramisu.

As expected, Claire and I asked for the chocolate fudge cake, although the serving was again a little smaller that I would have expected.

Nevertheless, the cake was light, spongy and nowhere near as stodgy as I had initially feared when I placed my order.

But the evening, of course, was not quite over.

Bearing in mind that it was just a few days before Christmas, the staff were more than willing to let us stay behind and finish our drinks without disturbance.

ADDRESS

Caffe d’Italia, Telford International Centre

01952 281666
MENU SAMPLE

Starters

Prawn salad (£4.50);

mussels with rustic breads (£4.95)

Main courses

Spaghetti bolognese (£7.65);

slow-braised lamb shank (£11.95)

Desserts

Home-made pannacotta (£3.95);

tiramisu (£3.95)