Another new local restaurant has popped up near my parents, this time on the Upper Newtownards Road – Il Pirata, in what was an old KFC, though completely unrecognisable as an ex-fast food joint!  Il Pirata is named after a dead Italian racing cyclist, Marco ‘Il Pirata’ Pantani,  (because of his love of ear-rings and bandas!), this might sound a bit random, but the owner was a keen cyclist!

As with Ace, this place is decked out with random old chairs, mismatched crockery, bare bulbs hanging from the ceiling and a roughly sanded wooden floor. Mellow tunes playing in the background and nice buzz of people chatting and having a good time.

Onto the food! We didn’t do starters tonight, dessert looked too tempting! So for mains I had the mac ‘n’ cheese with garlic mushrooms and spinach.  It came on a tray with a little enamel tin of deliciously cheesy Mac ‘n’ cheese, a little dish of the mushrooms and spinach and chunk of toasted Focaccia, it was just the right amount of food and all very tasty

Dad went for his usual – Salmon, chargrilled with Spinach and Salsa Verde – I believe it was very tasty – he didn’t say much as he chomped away on it!

Stuart went for a meaty Spicy Sausage in a Red Wine Ragu, was meaty, spicy and very tasty – Dad stole a piece when he wasn’t looking!! He liked it too

We shared a selection of sides to have with our mains, these included: Polenta Chips, Garlic and Rosemary Roast Potatoes and a Rocket, Parmesan and Balsamic Vinegar Salad. Delish.

Thankfully we had enough room for dessert this time! I went for the Lemon Posset and Raspberry Jelly, which was Lemony and fresh as well as creamy and served in cute little jars (such a sucker for cute things!)

Stuart opted for a the Chocolate and Hazelnut Cake which was served with Vanilla Ice Cream.

Dad just kept it simple with a scoop of honeycomb ice cream. Sometimes the simplest pleasures in life are the best.