Il Tocco d' Italia Ristorante and Bar

Superbly located by the River Avon, the Il Tocco d' Italia Ristorante and Bar serves some delicious classic to progressive native food and Italian wine. A Sicilian chef heads the kitchen, where fresh homemade pastas and wonderfully light risottos jostle with interesting dishes of meat and fish.

A croquette of milk and ham with marinated chicken fillet makes an excellent starter. Try the salmon with champagne and saffron cream sauce or chicken breast in a Gorgonzola sauce for mains, all accompanied by a crunchy vegetable melange in a giant halved tomato. Panna cotta with wild berries is one of the seven Italian desserts on the menu, and rumour has it that a glass of dessert wine would complement it very well.

People tend to linger at the pleasant bar area downstairs, before heading up to dine. In the summer months, the balcony and terrace provide a beautiful setting to take in the fine British sunshine, and inside, you can sit by the huge picture window that looks out across to the Pulteney Weir.