Rating: **** A previous visit to the Italian restaurant in Bridgnorth ended ignominiously when I impaled the front of my wife’s car on a half-buried object at the side of a parking area.

This week’s visit to the riverside premises, now under new ownership, was concluded without incident.

Il Brigantino is now Leno’s Italian Bar and Restaurant, run by Len Hawthorne and his Sicilian-born wife Joanna. They have only been there a few weeks and during most of that time have been under threat of flooding from the Severn a few feet away from the front door.

However, Len was well-prepared. He barricaded the entrances with hardboard and plaster board and then sealed them with plastic and silicon and reinforced everything with copious supplies of sandbags. Not a drop got in, and diners continued their meals while sitting below the waterline.

The flood defences were vital because the premises, which reopened in November, have a smart new look with swish, beechwood furniture and tasteful prints on the walls.

Calling on a frosty Wednesday evening we did not expect many people to be about, and so it proved, with only one other table booked.

We were greeted by Joanna and immediately made to feel welcome. The hospitality got even better when we were given a complimentary hot baguette – spread with butter it was gorgeous.

The colourful menu offered 11 starters including calamari, cozze, melezane and gamberetti. Thankfully these items were also identified as squid, mussels, aubergine and prawns, so no chance of embarrassment there.

I chose the gamberetti cocktail (£4.25) while Libby settled on duck paté (£3.95). I was happy with my prawns, they were firm and tasty and the paprika-tinged mayonnaise was good. The buttered brown bread came without crusts – I do hope they weren’t wasted. My mother would not have approved.

The duck pate and toast was smooth and possessed a depth of flavour without being stridently so. There was bags of salad, too.

I felt strangely guilty ordering a fillet steak for my main course; somehow I wanted to show appreciation of the Italian flavour of the occasion. But this was Bridgnorth not Bologna, and it was cold, and I was hungry, and real men don’t eat lasagne . . . well, not if some one else is paying.

So I spent £15.95 of my expense account on a tournedo Rossini and was extremely glad that I did. It was a generous, thick slice cooked just a shade over rare and easily cut with a vegetable knife (they didn’t need to provide a steak knife). Extra flavours came from the bacon and chive potato base and the mushrooms and paté . Stunning.

A steak of this calibre deserved a good red wine, the £15.95 Valpolicella filled the bill, as you might say.

My wife was delighted that spigola Veneziana (£13.95) translated to TWO large fillets of sea bass; and doubly delighted at the taste. I was offered a forkful and happily confirmed it was the most tender rendition. Len had grilled the fillets perfectly and flavoured them expertly with butter, lemon and white wine.

The accompanying prawns were all eaten and between us we ate nearly all the al dente broccoli, courgettes and potato Lyonnaise. They were most palatable, particularly the sliced courgette which Libby found was flavoured with tabasco sauce, olive oil, green pepper sauce and dried chilli.

We were also provided with a (free) jug of iced lemon water, most welcome.

Desserts on the chalkboard that night were tiramisu, fresh fruit salad, Italian trifle and ice cream. I fancied the tiramisu but decided to see if Italian trifle (£3.25) matched the sort my mother made. It was most enjoyable but there were no chopped almonds and only a sniff of sherry (there’s probably an EU law now about sherry in trifle, under the same category as rohypnol in vodka). So mother won that one.

Libby’s fruit salad (£3.25) was cool and crisp and came with orange juice so she had no complaints.

We finished with an espresso, hot lemon drink and chocolates, and a bill for a reasonable £63.80. Top class. Leno’s can seat about 27 and has 27 main courses on the menu, so undoubtedly something to suit all tastes. It is open evenings Tuesday to Sunday, and open from midday on Saturdays and Sundays.

And remember, no matter how high the river gets, you will not get your feet wet.

ADDRESS
Leno’s Italian Bar & Restaurant, 13 Bridge Street, Bridgnorth.
01746 765201

MENU SAMPLE
Starters
Calamari alla Siciliana (£3.95), Bruschetta (£3.95)

Main courses
Tagliatelle carbonara with bacon, egg yolk, cream and Parmesan (£9.95); Chicken breast marinated in garlic, tomato sauce and wine (£10.95)

Sides
French fries (£1.50), Mushrooms (£2.25)

Desserts
Tiramisu (£3.25), Ice cream (£2.25)

ATMOSPHERE
Very convivial and informal

SERVICE
Efficient and professional

DISABLED FACILITIES
Special toilet for the disabled, wheelchair accessible and ramp to be provided after flood season

SMOKING POLICY
Smoking allowed in porch. No smoking in restaurant

By Rex M Key