ACCORDING to Ennio's website, this was voted the best Italian restaurant in Hampshire by Coriere Della Sera, the "Numero Uno Newspaper of Milano".

Quite apart from the oddness of the concept - I can't imagine a restaurant reviewer from the Southern Daily Echo scouring northern Italy for the finest English eateries, so why should it happen the other way round? - it's never a good idea to blow your own trumpet by quoting a newspaper that 99 per cent of your clientele will never have heard of.

It might give your establishment an air of spurious credibility, but it's always best to let your customers make up their own minds.

Located close to the Southampton waterfront ("within view of all passing cruise vessels and ships", as the website points out), Ennio's is situated in the spacious ground floor of a converted Victorian warehouse.

In addition to the 100-seat dining room, the restaurant boasts two bars, including one in the cellar, which actually incorporates Southampton's ancient city walls, enabling you to literally drink in the history.

There's no shortage of elbow room in the main dining area, but it still manages to feel slightly cluttered and oppressive thanks to its overly fussy dcor (including some weird curtain thing on the ceiling), which is presumably meant to convey an impression of opulence but would actually benefit from a few more clean lines and surfaces.

The restaurant offers a wide choice of dishes, including a separate fish menu and some adventurous meat and poultry choices in addition to the usual range of pastas.

For starters, we shared two types of garlic bread, while my friend also went for the carpaccio - raw beef marinated in olive oil and lemon and served with rocket and parmesan cheese.

Successfully devoured, we moved on to main courses - a sophia vegetariana for me (tortellini pasta with tomato, mushroom, asparagus, petit pois, white wine and cream) and a rollata di pesci (fresh sole and salmon roulade, taleggio spinach and seafood sauce) for my friend. Both were good, but having over-indulged on the garlic bread, I found my huge dishful of pasta a little hard going.

The bill, including two bottles of wine and a couple of lip-smacking sweets, came to just over £80.

Reservations: 023 8022 1159.