Seamus O’Cathasaigh (19 April 2011)

Although the staff are a little persistent at Piccolino - Leeds, they were generally quite pleasant and it always adds to the experience when served by a genuine Italian stallion. Having forgotten the fancy name of the meal I ordered, it was basically a glorified chicken kiev with roasted peppers and some tasty gunk tossed over it. It was delicious, but the sheer size of the thing almost made me holler ‘Eh Luigi, where’s the rest of it brother?’

Perhaps I should have known better but, being priced in double figures, I was expecting a large breast rather than something akin to what you may find by Birds Eye in ‘reduced to clear’ section of the Tesco Metro around the corner. However, alcohol was reasonably priced, which saves Piccolino from slipping below average in terms of value for money. As for the venue itself, cleanliness was impeccable while the giant windows gave me much to look at while my company’s indecisive nature took over in scanning the appropriately populated menu. She went for some sort of risotto. She said it was pretty good. If atmosphere is your bag and you can look past the pretentious young professionals with their iPhones and their Blueberries who leave more than the £2.68 tip I deemed reasonable, then you’re on to a winner – it was vibrant, but not too vibrant.