TO paraphrase Boromir from the Lord of the Rings, ‘One does not find a more idyllic place to enjoy some tasty tuck than at Ravello’s in Bradford on Avon.’ Wise words brother.

The Italian restaurant took over the old fine dining Three Gables several months ago and according to TripAdvisor reviews, it could not have got off to a much better start.

Despite its predecessor also being blessed with a truly stunning, 17th century setting, with low ceilings, natural rubble stone, leaded windows and more, that did not guarantee it would be a success.

However, it appears that Ravello has got the mix between beautiful features, top notch service and sumptuous cuisine, just right.

So on Friday evening, my housemate and I moseyed down to the restaurant in St Margaret’s Street to see what all the fuss was about.

Being someone who is blessed with as much ability to comment on an interior as a flip flop, my housemate informed me that the bathroom was ‘lush’, that some of the wooden tables were ‘gorgeous’ and our table seat by the window was ‘divine’.

Whilst I went through my customary umming and ahhing for the food, I went for god’s nectar, appletiser (£2.50), and my housemate went for a pimms (£5).

This was perhaps the only drawback of the evening. She was not impressed with the pimms. Instead of mint, strawberries and cucumber, it had watermelon and grape.

After navigating that road block, it was onto the grub. I plucked for the pan fried scallops, butternut squash pure, crispy parma-ham and olive oil drizzle (£8.95) and my housemate, a lover of cheese, went for breaded mozzarella with a tomato sauce (£6.95).

I do not know what the Italian is for delicious but if I knew what it was I would describe it thus and the presentation was just splendid.

The tender scallops, combined with the crispy ham and butternut squash was melt in the mouth stuff and my eating companion said her dish was tasty, generous in its size, the mozzarella was a little bland, the sauce was creamy and it was well presented.

Carrying on the seafood theme, I chose the spaghetti ravello (£14.95) which had king prawns, fresh mussels, pan fried with butter, garlic, fish stock, thyme and basil, drizzled with olive oil.

I had to be brought out of my reverie as I was making Homer Simpson ‘mmm’ noises. Oh my friends that was delicious. I felt like I was in Italy, it was that good.

My housemate chose pancetta wrapped pork tenderloin with pine nuts (£14.95), which she said was really well cooked, the kale was beautiful but the meal needed a smidge more gravy.

Although the price of £53.30 may put some people off, it really should not as wherever you looked around the bustling restaurant, the meals looked and smelt excellent. The staff were constantly checking if the food was okay and asking if they could help which was another plus. The town has a very good selection of restaurants and Ravello for me is right near the top of that list.

Richard Mills