I HAD driven by Mamma Napoli's Italian restaurant many times always thinking I would visit one day, and that day came on a bustling Saturday evening.

The Hipperholme Italian eaterie is on the corner of a busy junction from Brighouse into Halifax, adorned very patriotically with Italian flags.

As a vegetarian, I cannot go wrong with an Italian restaurant because they always offer plenty of options.

Mamma Napoli was no exception and having been to Napoli (or Naples) before, they would be proud at their Hipperholme cousin’s attempts to create a bit of Italy in less glamorous surroundings which, unlike Naples, sadly doesn’t look out over Mount Vesuvius.

My friend Kate and I arrived and found a downstairs area with bar and the welcoming face of the manager who invited us to take a seat in the entrance and look at the menu.

Initially I suspected it was because our table wasn’t yet ready, but they seemed to do that with a bigger party who were also waiting.

Our choices were also taken before we took our seats in the upstairs dining area.

I’d not experienced that before and would have preferred doing it at our table – one of the reasons being I am one of those annoying people who crane my head about to have a nosey at what other people are eating, see how big the pizzas are and see if I can spot my preferred dish on someone else’s table to see what it’s like.

But we chose our starters and mains then were led upstairs to our table a few minutes later.

The dining area is not that big – split into two levels. It was full and the sound of people chattering away but not intrusively.

For starters Kate went for the pate Casalingo – homemade with chicken liver port rosemary (£5.50). It came with toast and salad on the side.

She said it was tasty and just the right serving, but would have liked some chutney or marmalade to enhance the flavour, maybe a red onion accompaniment.

I went for the Mozzarella in Carrozza (£5.95) – fresh slices of mozzarella in breadcrumbs served with tomato sauce. It was delicious, the mozzarella tasted fresh and the tomato sauce beautifully rich.

I think at nearing £6 the starters are expensive, but the portion sizes can’t be complained about.

As we chatted and awaited our mains it quickly became noticeable there were a few birthday celebrations among the other parties.

The restaurant was keen to join the celebrations, playing a Happy Birthday song out over the loud speakers and adorning the birthday boy or girl with a joke birthday hat.

Kate giggled, knowing it had been my birthday the day before. "Don’t you dare" was the look I shot across at her and thankfully she didn’t.

Our mains soon arrived – Kate went for the Spaghetti Carbonara (£6.95) – a big portion of creamy sauce, ham and parmesan.

She got a garlic bread pizza (£3.95) to go with it, which was flavoured with olive oil and fresh rosemary.

She enjoyed the carbonara, liked the creamy sauce, but said the dish was a little too oily.

The garlic bread was enormous – the size of a pizza. But she said the pieces of rosemary were too strong a flavour for her liking, though there were other flavours to suit all options. Unlucky pick Kate! I tried a piece and it was light and fluffy, no complaints there.

For my main I went for the Linguine Rucola (£7.50) which came with cherry tomatoes, rocket leaves, olives and parmesan shavings.

Again, the portion size can not be complained about. The tomatoes and the linguine were fresh, but like Kate, I thought there was a little too much oil in the dish. I got a side salad to go with my main.

Neither Kate nor I could finish our mains – something the waiter jokingly questioned.

But we had to leave a little room for dessert – and both went for the homemade specials that day, Kate went for the restaurant’s Grandma’s pudding and me the very un-Italian creme brule.

Kate loved her dessert, it was a delicious, pineapple cake and she said she’d never had anything like it before.

I’m rarely unhappy with dessert.

I just love cracking the top of a creme brule, and I’d chosen a cracker.

The creme was deliciously creamy, and the waitress told us it had been homemade that day too. And there was me thinking I had no room for dessert.

We enjoyed our trip to Mamma Napoli, there was a nice atmosphere in the place, even with the birthday celebrations, and staff are welcoming and very friendly.