Il Gatto Nero

Kirkgate, Huddersfield HD1 1QT

Rating 8/10

Venue Il Gatto Nero

Tel 01484 519699

Website N/A

Opening hours 4.30pm to 10pm Monday to Sunday

Children Yes

Disabled access Via a fire exit

The bill £41.80

IF you’re looking for good, honest Italian food then Il Gatto Nero could be right up your street.

This fun and friendly restaurant run by Sardinian father and son team Leonardo and Christian Montisci offers big, hearty meals at reasonable prices.

My friend Anna and I went along on Sunday evening to sample the food at the Kirkgate restaurant, which previously housed the Rosemary Lane Bistro.

The spacious restaurant is clean, bright and airy with deep wine-coloured red walls and sleek black tables.

Each table is topped by sparkling wine glasses, candles, colourful serviettes and pink carnations.

While we waited for our drinks the waitress brought over some complimentary bread, olives and oil which was a nice touch.

The restaurant only serves house wines which I thought was quite unusual for an Italian.

I was worried I wouldn’t like the red wine but at £2.50 it was both cheap and delicious.

Bottled beers and ciders are about £3 each.

The restaurant’s staff are very attentive, friendly and jovial and there was a great atmosphere in the restaurant.

It seemed as if they had regulars in, with Leonardo popping in and out of the kitchen to chat to them.

Every now and again laughter erupted from tables of diners across the room, and although the restaurant wasn’t packed it was bustling with life.

Anna ordered the tricolore salad for starter (£4.50).

She’s a dietitian and was suitably impressed by the fresh and healthy tomatoes, avocado and mozzarella cheese.

The portion was huge, as was my starter of goats’ cheese and cold meats (£4.50).

My dish came beautifully presented with two slices of salami, parma ham and ham and a big portion of goat’s cheese.

All served with black and green olives, salad and mixed vegetable pickle.

For main course, Anna opted for the homemade spinach and ricotta ravioli con pomodorini e basilico (£6.50).

She loved the sweet cherry tomato and basil sauce saying it made a nice addition to the fresh melt-in-the-mouth ravioli.

As with the starters, the ravioli was a very generous portion.

For main course I had the pizza del Monte Cassino with mozzarella, Italian sausage, onions, mixed peppers, goats’ cheese and mushrooms. (£7.50)

It was crispy and light with lots of toppings – just what you want from a pizza.

There was also the choice to create your own pizza with up to six toppings. (£8.25)

Anna ordered a green salad (£2.75) and I ordered a red onion and tomato salad (£2.75) to accompany our mains.

As well an extensive selection of pizzas and pastas the restaurant also serves traditional Italian meat dishes and has a good variety of vegetarian dishes.

The children’s menu is good value with any pasta for £4 and any pizza for £4.50.

And Il Gatto Nero also has an early bird menu from 4.30pm to 7pm which offers adult diners any starter, any pizza and a glass of wine for just £9.50.

After such generous portions, I was too full for pudding but Anna had already clocked the chocolate fudge cake on the way in, which she had purposely saved room for.

The waitress asked if she wanted cream or ice-cream and Anna opted for vanilla ice-cream.

But unfortunately it came out with both.

The huge piece of cake itself was a bit of a let-down, Anna said it was hard instead of soft and fluffy.