Villa Romana

Located in an 18th Century coach house on the High Street in Fareham, Villa Romana is situated in an attractive building of immense historic character, with oak beams and original brickwork, thus providing a delightful setting for a romantic evening.

In addition to the ground floor dining area, the restaurant also has a spacious upstairs gallery, overlooking the ground floor and bar. This creates an ideal space to accommodate anything from a large celebratory party, to wedding receptions and even hosting business meetings.

Offering a variety of dishes from a selection of menu options, the style of cookery is eclectic, though basically Italian in style, and extensive use is made of local produce with fresh fish being delivered daily.

Choices range from the expected such as fresh mushrooms cooked in a garlic cream sauce or mussels cooked with onion, garlic, tomato and white wine, to the more unusual homemade meat balls with aubergine, braised in a tomato and peas sauce or grilled sardines with a sprinkle of paprika, wine, garlic and hint of chilli, and that's just to begin with.

There a wide selection of different pasta dishes like ricotta cheese cannelloni baked in the oven with béchamel sauce and served with a traditional Bolognese sauce or potato gnocchi tossed with king prawns, peppers and pesto sauce, and risottos - either cooked with peppers, mushrooms, peas and onion or with asparagus and Italian sausage.

All their main courses are served with potatoes and vegetables of the day, and include chicken breast in a chilli, peas, black olives, garlic and tomato sauce; shoulder of lamb slowly roasted and served with a port sauce and salmon served with cherry tomatoes, basil and olive oil.

What will it cost; well, to state the obvious, it does rather depend on what you order, the fixed price lunch is sensibly priced, and, if you stick to the pasta dishes, it could be most reasonable, whereas the full a la carte will clearly set you back rather more, though overall it is still good value for what you are getting in terms of quality, service and atmosphere.