CATHERINE BRUCE travels towards Selby for a taste of Italy...

WITH summer around the corner and plans to holiday in Tuscany, I was keen to feast on some Italian cuisine to prepare myself for the real thing.

As a reporter I have visited Riccall many times. But I had never sampled any of the village's restaurants, something I decided to put right by visiting Valentino's in Silver Street.

Located in the heart of Riccall, the small restaurant had a relaxed atmosphere and seemed to be a hit with the locals.

When my boyfriend Pete and I entered Valentino's, the first thing that struck us was just how popular it was. Admittedly it was a Saturday night but we took the packed tables to be a good sign.

Getting seated took a while as a large family who seemed to know the owner came in just after us and were whisked to their table immediately. In fact almost everyone in the restaurant seemed to be regular customers, and the walls of the cosy restaurant were packed with framed snapshots giving the place a casual family feel.

Starters included soup, which that night was tomato, prawn cocktail and melon with ham. For the main course, there was the standard range of pizzas and pastas, plus some chicken and meat dishes.

As a seafood fan, I was disappointed to see only two seafood main courses - gamberoni (King Prawns) and scampi. But there was still plenty of choice, thanks in part to a specials board including the sumptuous-sounding duck with orange and grand marnier sauce.

Pete began with the traditional Italian starter, Antipasto, costing £5.50, while I chose the Insalata di mare all Italiana (seafood salad) at £4.95.

For the main course, Pete opted for Conchiglie Valentino, at £7.95, one of the pasta dishes from the specials board, which was described as pasta shells with chicken and mushrooms in a white wine and cream sauce. This was recommended by the waiter, who told us customers complained if it was removed from the specials board.

I stuck to the menu and went for Pollo Cupido, for £8.50, chicken and salami with a tomato and chilli sauce.

The starters arrived promptly with a large basket of crusty bread.

Pete enjoyed his Antipasto, which came with plenty of salami and Parma ham. He said the cold meats were tasty but he thought the helpings of prawn cocktail and salad were stingy.

My seafood salad looked impressive with a mountain of squid, crab sticks, prawns and mussels surrounded by lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes. However, the vinegary salad dressing overpowered the delicate flavours of the seafood and gave the salad a soggy consistency.

After a decent breather the main courses arrived, although the garlic bread we had ordered to accompany them never materialised.

The Pollo Cupido was warm and spicy and would have been a great dish to chase away winter chills. The salami complemented the chicken and while the dish was nearly swamped by the tomato and chilli sauce, it was a good choice.

The chicken was accompanied by a side dish of sauted potatoes, courgettes and peppers. The potatoes proved useful for mopping up the mountains of sauce, but more variety would have been good.

Pete was impressed with his generous serving of pasta, which came with plenty of chicken and left him musing about why his home-cooked pasta dishes never taste as good. He liked the creamy sauce, although it was slightly greasy.

Despite polishing off our main courses, we were eager for dessert. All dishes on the dessert board cost £3.50 and included Sicilian ice creams and chocolate fudge cake.

I chose the pineapple flamb while Pete went for the homemade tiramisu. The tiramisu was beautifully presented in an ice cream dish and Pete said it was creamy and satisfying with a strong coffee flavour, although it was very filling.

My dessert was perhaps the triumph of the night, the flaming pineapple complete with leaves looked amazing in a haze of blue flame.

Light and refreshing, it was the perfect way to finish the meal, leaving me feeling satisfied rather than stuffed.

The bill came to £38.35, including a bottle of lager and a fresh orange juice. It wasn't the cheapest Italian we had been to but we decided it had been worth the trip.

Food: good

Service: friendly

Value: reasonable

Ambience: relaxed

Disabled facilities: Yes

Valentino's, 3 Silver Street, Riccall. Tel: 01757 248535.

Catherine Bruce visited Valentino's on Saturday, May 10.

Updated: 08:41 Saturday, May 24, 2003