Passable Italian food from a restaurant that's lost its way

This is an interesting one, tucked away behind Queen Street. We discovered this restaurant on a work outing (Christmas meal) and absolutely fell for the place. Not only did it feel a bit secretive but it delivered on good wine, quaint decor, wonderful atmosphere - it's a favourite for hen nights - and good food. However, eighteen months on, things are very different. The decor's not so bad, some cute pictures upstairs, and although it's full of plastic tablecloths and canteen-style chairs, they do somehow add to the nostalgia. This time though, it just didn't work. On a romantic night out, you don't want a restaurant which serves you so quickly you're out of the door in less than 30 minutes. And that included two courses!

We tried the olives for starters, which was a decent-sized portion and satisfying enough. It would have been better if we had had time to enjoy it before the main course turned up; yes, you heard me, the main meal arrived seconds after the starter had been placed in front of us. Things were not looking good. The meal was OK, we had cannelloni and penne arrabiata although, honestly, it was no better than a supermarket ready meal. The penne dish was 'beefed up' by stuffing an unbelievable amount of mushrooms on the plate and I couldn't find the promised peppers, chillies or garlic anywhere. Just chewy mushrooms and something red. On a more promising note, the house wine was cheap and actually rather good.

A word of warning: do not come here before 7 o'clock in the evening. The waiting staff had nothing else too do and committed the worst crime of all - being far to attentive. It was so incredibly annoying to have the staff constantly walking up and down past our table, especially since we were the only customers on the entire floor. They kept looking at us, waiting for us to do something and watching the food to see if it would spontaneously combust. The number of times we had to stop our conversation due to the girl 'arranging' the cutlery on the table next to us. Not entirely the right atmosphere for a romantic couple whispering sweet nothings; if we had done, they would have heard every word since they were afraid to leave us alone.

Any restaurant that serves the main meal before the starter has even had the fortune to graze our lips is not going to do well here. Value for money? Not this time. The service was almost laughable and it felt like we were not trusted to be left alone with our cutlery. Next time you're debating dinner here or at La Lupa (Canton), choose the latter option. Seriously. We will not make that mistake again.