Appearances can be deceptive and at first glance the Ital looked like a pebble-dashed shack perched on a hill overlooking Bradford city centre.

But once inside the bustling restaurant, it was easy to see why it's so popular.

It was only just after 6pm but already the place was starting to fill up and there was a delicious whiff of garlic coming from the kitchen.

Lively Italian music was playing in the background and the waiters were chatty and helpful. All three of us were ravenous after a hard day at work so we tucked straight in to our starters which thankfully arrived quickly.

Isobel went for the garlic mushrooms (£4.40) which were smothered in a creamy garlic sauce and Funmi chose the prawns and avocado (£4.40) which arrived on a huge plate with a side salad. I chose the prawns in garlic (£4.50) which came in a lemon and parsley sauce and were very tasty.

The menu held no surprises but nevertheless all the main courses sounded delicious and there was a reasonable choice of pasta, pizza, meat, fish and a few vegetarian options.

All three of us were very unoriginal and went for pasta dishes which were big portions and very filling. Two of us had the penne arrabiata (£6.20) which was pasta with olives, garlic, vegetables and chilli which was delicious especially with lashings of parmesan and black pepper.

Isobel went for the penne amatriciana (£6.20) which was a tomato sauce jam-packed with onions, mushrooms and bacon which also went down very quickly.

We found that our eyes were bigger than our stomachs and two courses were enough to leave us all with no room for dessert. The bill, with two glasses of red wine and a gin and tonic, came to a reasonable £36.

The Ital is a lively restaurant and seemed like the ideal place for a group celebration or a family meal.

Catrina Dick

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