Strada - Colchester

Strada describes itself as 'a group of stylish, contemporary Italian restaurants, serving good quality, simple and freshly prepared dishes'. The statement sums up what this chain of sixty plus restaurants offers to people looking for Italian food. The first outlet opened in Battersea in 1999 and their clientele has been increasing steadily ever since.

Though Strada has grown into a fair sized chain - it retains the feel of being a local neighbourhood Italian restaurant. The menu includes pastas, risottos, grilled meat, and fish dishes, but they are best known for their pizzas.

The restaurants present authentic Italian dishes in contemporary surroundings and aim to use only the freshest and finest ingredients, such as single vineyard extra virgin olive oil, Parma ham and buffalo mozzarella, imported from Italy to provide exactly the kind of rustic, traditional dishes one would expect to find travelling around its regions.

There is insalata Toscania, melted buffalo mozzarella wrapped in speck on a Tuscan salad of vine cherry tomatoes, cucumber, roasted red peppers, onion, ciabatta croutons and olives. The gamberoni has roasted butterflied king prawns with garlic, white wine, chilli, lemon, parsley and extra virgin olive oil to start.

Go on to have creamy risotto di verdure, freshly grilled asparagus, broad beans, peas, spring onions, zucchini, green beans and mint, finished with baby spinach leaves and shaved parmesan. You could also opt for the healthier, spigola al forno, whole sea bass stuffed with thyme and fennel, served with grilled lemon and roasted potatoes or treat your taste buds to the costata di manzo, fourteen ounce chargrilled, twenty one day aged rib-eye steak, served on the bone with roasted cubetti potatoes, green beans and a garlic and herb butter.

Their wine list consists of purely regional Italian wines, beers and liqueurs, all carefully chosen to complement the menu, and in addition, every table receives a complimentary bottle of purified water.

A range of traditional pizzas, each one spun by hand, is also an integral feature of Strada's menu. Options include the rossa, with spicy southern Italian salami, roasted red peppers, chilli, caramelised onion, garlic, fresh oregano, tomato and mozzarella but vegetarians are not neglected either, as they have florentina, made of spinach cooked with garlic, nutmeg and black pepper with mozzarella, parmesan, tomato and a free-range egg, on the menu.

For those wanting to satisfy their sweet tooth, there is tiramisu, authentic Italian dessert with light sponge soaked in espresso and rum, layered with mascarpone cheese, eggs and dusted with cocoa powder, along with a range of Italian coffees.