This charming restaurant, situated on bustling Windsor Place, brings some Italian romance to cosmopolitan Cardiff. Inside, stripped wooden fl ooring, Venetian murals and paintings depicting sun-drenched scenes create a stylish setting for enjoying some authentic Italian fl avour.

Daily deliveries of meat, fi sh and vegetables ensure only the freshest ingredients make their way into starter dishes like crespelle – pancakes stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese, with a tomato sauce. There are plenty of old favourites on the menu; whether you fancy calamari, bruschetta, fresh grilled sardines or something more unusual, you are bound to fi nd something to suit. Pizza, pasta, fi sh and meat form the basis of the main-course selection. Fresh sea bass comes in every morning, and only the fi nest steaks are given the Valentino’s treatment in dishes like ‘fi lletto house special’ with brandy, red wine, tomato, garlic, mushrooms, mustard and cream. A set lunch and pre-theatre menu of two courses is available for just £9.95 between noon and 7.30pm – an ideal midday treat or start to an evening out.

Parties and celebrations can be catered for in the private function room, where 50 people can indulge in Valentino’s hospitality with the added bonus of their own bar. Whether it’s a special occasion or no particular occasion at all, a meal here will be deliciously memorable.