Mamma Mia, 20 Gillygate, York

First impressions are everything. Whether it's people, places, or - as in this case - restaurants, one's initial perceptions can often be hard to shake off.

That's why, if truth be told, I wasn't expecting great things when a friend and I headed to Mamma Mia in Gillygate.

This city-centre Italian was one of the first eateries I visited in York, not long after arriving in the city as a student, and the food and service had left me thoroughly under whelmed.

So much so, that, despite walking past the place hundreds, if not thousands, of times since, I had never gone back.

But everyone deserves a second chance and, six years on, it was time to give Mamma Mia another go.

And I'm glad I did; a few small gripes aside, the experience was altogether more positive.

Arriving for our 7.30pm booking, Clare and I were greeted by chirpy and welcoming staff, and shown to our seats.

Our table turned out to be in a smoking area, which wouldn't have been our choice had we known.

Only one other diner was in fact smoking so it didn't spoil our meal, but we ought to have been offered a table in a no-smoking section.

We helped ourselves to the free bread and some still water as we read the menu.

Neither Clare nor I are great oenophiles, so we just selected the standard house red from the wine list (£13.60 for a one litre carafe) and moved on to the food.

There is certainly no shortage of choice, with a decent selection of hot and cold starters, and a wide range of pizza, pasta, meat and fish dishes for the main course. Prices ranged from £6.95 for the cheapest pasta and pizza options to £16.95 for the sautéed lamb chops in balsamic vinegar with a demi-glaze.

All the pasta dishes are also available as starters at £5.95 each, so I began with a bowl of penne arrabiatte.

Arrabiatte is Italian for angry, which gives a clue to the hot, fiery nature of the dish. The portion was more than adequate for a starter, and contained more sauce than necessary for the amount of pasta.

It tasted great though, with a good, strong tomato and chilli flavour.

Clare decided to have two courses only, so gave the starters a miss.

For main course, she went for the tagliatelle ai gamberi e asparigi (£8.50) and was not disappointed.

Again, the portion was a good size and the dish was cooked to near perfection.

There was a generous scattering of baby shrimps and asparagus shards, which were crunchy without being excessively so, and full of flavour. It wasn't a combination I'd tried before, but we both thought it worked well, and it was rounded off nicely with a light coating of olive oil, white wine, garlic and fresh herbs.

I had decided to go for one of the meat options, and settled on the pollo farcito (£12.95) - a chicken breast stuffed with sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, mozzarella cheese and a little spinach, in a pool of creamy sauce.

It was delicious, full of the flavours of Italy, and again there could be no complaints over the quality of the food or the size of the portion.

The dish came with a serving of fairly standard vegetables, consisting of potatoes, cauliflower, peppers and carrots.

And so to dessert. I ordered the white chocolate profiteroles from the specials board, while Clare went for the cheesecake (£3.95 each) and we were both pleased with our choices.

The strawberry cheesecake was enjoyable but not sensational. As for the profiteroles, I could have no gripes. The pastry was the right texture, and the white chocolate and cream were perfect. There are not many places in York were one would get such a good dessert for less than £4.

Overall, we left very satisfied with our evening. Mamma Mia is a vintage Italian restaurant, with a friendly and lively feel. It is far from the grandest of York's restaurants, but then it has no such delusions.

It certainly won't be another six years before I return again.

Mamma Mia, 20 Gillygate, York.

Tel: 622020 Gavin visited Mamma Mia on Wednesday, April 18, 2007.

factfile

Food: enjoyable Service: genialValue: very good Ambience: upbeatDisabled loos: YES