IT'S probably a sensible rule of thumb that unless you're steaming drunk, Micklegate on a Friday or Saturday night is a place best avoided. But sensible's boring - and the nightlife on show as you make your way to or from one of the street's many great restaurants is all part of the fun.

After leaving the Villa Italia last Friday night, we had to run the gauntlet of a gang of dinner-jacketed young men and party-frocked young women, gathered in a shrieking, laughing circle around a struggling figure in their midst.

It was a young man whose trousers were being forcibly removed by two mates. The girls teetering on high heels all around peeked between their fingers and squealed with delight. You'd have thought they'd never seen a naked man before: but then that's booze for you.

We weren't steaming drunk: just pleasantly full after a great meal at a very decent little restaurant. It would have taken far more than a few drunken high jinks to spoil our evening.

The Villa Italia is tucked away half way up Micklegate. A small foyer with white Italianate pillars leads through to the main restaurant area inside.

There's a buzz of conversation as soon as you walk in: a guarantee that this is a lively, happy restaurant. The lighting is dim, and the tables for two scattered about the large room, each in the shade of a whitewashed pillar, make it an ideal place for an intimate meal - though larger groups are welcome too. Vines trailing overhead and pot plants against the whitewashed walls add a Mediterranean feel.

As soon as we walked in, a friendly waiter offered to take our coats, and brought drinks - a bottle of Peroni Italian beer for me, an apple juice for Lili. Then we settled down to ponder the menu.

And what a menu. We were spoilt for choice, tempted by the range of delicious-sounding starters and main courses - pizzas or pastas, penne or fusili, meat dishes or seafood stew. Lili changed her mind twice, unable to decide between the Sardinian fish stew (chunks of salmon, cod, mussels and clams in a tomato, white wine and herb sauce) and the prosciutto e funghi pizza (ham, parma ham and cup mushrooms pizza).

Eventually she opted for the latter (a snip at £5.95) so she could have the insalata frutti di mare starter - a delicious-looking seafood salad in which mussels, prawns, squid, crab and roasted peppers were heaped on a salad bed, all for £4.25.

I opted to start with the avocado e prosciutto di parma (sliced avocado and sliced parma ham with a sweet pepper dressing) for £4.25 and went for the pollo foresta, or breast of chicken pan fried with mushrooms, onions, thyme, red wine and parma ham (£10.25) for my main course.

There was a bit of a wait - perhaps 15 minutes before the first course arrived, by which time I could have eaten a horse - but it was definitely worth it. My avocado was a little firm, but the taste and texture perfectly complimented the parma ham, and the sweet pepper dressing added a piquant final touch. Lili's seafood salad (off limits to me because I can't touch seafood) she also pronounced delicious.

The wait for main courses was longer: but the restaurant was so pleasant and relaxing that was a bonus rather than a criticism. And again, when they did arrive, the meals were well worth the wait.

My chicken was tender and succulent, and the mound of vegetables that accompanied it in a separate dish - melt-in-the-mouth, sliced, braised potatoes, perfectly-cooked cauliflower with just enough of the crunch left and a range of delicious Mediterranean roasted vegetables - an unexpected plus.

Lili's pizza was equally delicious - I know, because I helped her polish it off when she began to flag. The base was perfectly cooked, light and fresh, the mushroom topping rich and full of flavour. Pizza heaven.

As we were tucking into our meal a group of musicians came into the restaurant, striking up a lively tune on an accordion. It was the perfect final touch to make this a meal to really savour.

The bill, drinks included, came to just £28.30 - good value by any standards. And no, not even the sight of the young reveller being stripped naked by his drunken mates as we walked back up the street will be able to put us off going back to try the Villa Italia again.

Villa Italia, 69 Micklegate, York, telephone 01904 670501