Churchill's @ 25, Southsea

There are four small cafe-restaurants on Marmion Road, Southsea, just off Palmerston Road shopping precinct. I had only ever been to one of them, the Vegetarian Greenhouse Kitchen, and thought it was about time to try out one of the others. Late one Saturday morning we looked at the menus in the window of Churchills @ 25; my son had been before and said I should be the one to decide. It looked very busy inside, but a table for two all on its own by the entrance was just being vacated so I suggested we take it.

Main dishes on the menu included quiche, lasagne, chicken and ham pie, eggs benedict, mushroom fricasee and fish cake with a poached egg (which seemed a bit of a strange combination). Soup of the day could be ordered along with a sandwich chosen from a varied list of fillings. Jacket potatoes were mostly around the £3 mark. A board with the day's specials had been placed outside, and I had to go and take another look as I couldn't see them listed inside. There was cauliflower cheese with either chips or salad, vegetarian lasagne, and a tempting Thai chicken salad amongst a few other choices. However, we noticed that it was possible to order a full English breakfast for £5.25 including tea, coffee or fruit juice (orange, apple or cranberry). We both decided to order the vegetarian version which offered two sausages, an egg (poached, fried or scrambled) on half a muffin, cherry tomatoes, and slices of button mushrooms. Both of us chose scrambled egg, my son ordered tea and I asked for orange juice.

The drinks were brought after a couple of minutes. There was a pot of tea (enough for two cups) with a jug of milk, and the orange juice was served with ice. We had to wait about fifteen to twenty minutes before our food arrived, but we were not in a hurry so we didn't mind. Each of us had just the one sausage whereas the menu had promised two, but we didn't complain as neither of us thought we could have managed a second one. The scrambled egg was a little overdone, but other than that we enjoyed our breakfasts. Everything was freshly cooked and arranged on the plate with care, the tomatoes and mushrooms surrounding the scrambled egg on the muffin.

Just above our table was a board listing desserts at reasonable prices, mostly around £2.45. These included treacle tart, lemon cheesecake, rum and raisin cheesecake, and a three-flavoured jelly; bread and butter pudding was a little more expensive. We weren't interested in any of them on that occasion, but it's obvious that you could have a two or three course meal without breaking the bank.

A notice in the window states that if you order lunch, you can have a glass of wine for £1.75. That's worth remembering. Another notice advertises coffee and cake for £2.75 in the afternoon.

Churchill's @ 25 has not long been open and is very clean and tastefully decorated. Tables and upright chairs are of wood, without tablecloths. Most of the tables do seem to be rather close together, and I felt that we had been lucky to come at the right time to sit at the table for two that is on its own by the entrance. On the far wall are four prints of Winston Churchill, each one based on a different colour in the mode of Andy Warhol. Other abstract artworks were very uninspiring to me; as well as these there is a series of maxims printed on the walls, words of wisdom to digest along with your lasagne or cheesecake.

We were satisfied with the service from both the waiter and waitress on that Saturday, as they were polite and efficient, making a point of asking us on two occasions if everything was all right. My son, however, had not been so impressed with another waiter on a previous visit and probably wouldn't have chosen Churchill's if I hadn't been interested in trying it out.

There appears to be just one toilet with disabled access and baby changing facilities, but I cannot comment on its cleanliness as I did not use it.

I would recommend Churchill's @ 25 as a venue for a drink, breakfast or lunch to anyone shopping in Palmerston Road and wanting a break. It makes a change from Costa Coffee and offers much more in the way of food. I would personally prefer the Greenhouse Kitchen, but that is a vegetarian restaurant and obviously won't suit everyone. For anyone walking up from the sea front or Southsea common, there are so many restaurants to choose from before reaching Marmion Road that Churchill's is unlikely to be a candidate. I would, however, be happy to go back there if that Thai chicken salad is on offer again one day.

Churchill's @ 25

25 Marmion Road

Southsea

PO5 2AT

Tel 023 9273 8525

Ask and you will be fed

Bath city centre has no shortage of restaurants to offer, but many of them close between 2.30pm and 6pm. We had to catch a train just after 6.30pm and realised that we would have to settle for a chain restaurant that stayed open throughout the afternoon. My younger son had taken his girlfriend to Ask a few weeks before and recommended it. I had never been to Ask as we don't have one locally, so I was all in favour of trying somewhere new.

When we arrived at 4.30pm that Saturday the place was fairly quiet and as there were three of us we were shown to a table that was intended for four. Before I had even had chance to sit down the waitress was handing out menus but warning us that several things were not available. These included all the main course specials, salmon and ciabatta. I was a little peeved about the salmon, but I presumed they had had a busy lunchtime and had run out.

The waitress was soon back to take our drinks order and I asked for a Fruitiser. She went off to check and came back to regretfully inform me that that was not available either. Not a good start. My elder son and I ordered Appletiser (£1.95 each) whilst my younger son went for a Peroni Gran Riserva beer at £3.65 plus a glass of water. These were soon brought by a different waitress.

Turning to the food menu, I didn't want a starter, not wishing to spoil my appetite for the main course, but my sons decided to share the prosciutto and mozzarella crostini at £4.65, which is served with fresh rocket salad and a balsamic glaze. We also ordered some marinated olives for £1.95. I noticed on the specials board that there was a king prawn starter that day for a whopping £7.95 as well as mushroom and marsala soup which was under five pounds.

The main course menu has sections for pizza (including calzone or folded pizza), salads, pasta and risotto as well as oven-baked dishes. My younger son had had a pizza on his previous visit and thoroughly enjoyed it but decided to try something different this time. He chose a Milanese oven dish, polpette al forno, made with penne pasta, beef meatballs, fire-roasted peppers, caramelised onions, chillies, garlic, pomodoro sauce and melted cheese (£8.25). My elder son is very partial to risotto and liked the sound of the vegetarian one made with cream and white wine, courgettes, caramelised leeks, peas, oven roasted tomatoes, artichoke and black olives (£8.95). Still lamenting the lack of salmon, I decided on ravioli burro e pesce – large ravioli parcels stuffed with crayfish, crab, smoked salmon and mascarpone cheese with a white wine, spring onion and dill sauce topped with fresh rocket (£9.25).

The starters arrived promptly and the crostini certainly looked very appetising, although I declined the offer of a taste. The green olives (of which there were eight, along with a couple of black ones) were huge – the biggest I've seen. The taste of them definitely lived up to expectations. When we had finished it was only a short wait until the main courses were served. The ravioli and risotto were served in round dishes whereas the pasta came in an oval-shaped oven dish. Grated parmesan and black pepper were offered, and the parmesan was a very generous serving if you did not ask the waitress to stop grating. The main-course portions were not overly large and anyone with a big appetite might want to order a side salad, but we all felt that our main dishes were just enough. My elder son said that his risotto was the best he had ever tasted, and I know he's sampled a good few. My younger son can be quite a fussy eater but he had no complaints, polishing off every last mouthful. I was equally happy with my ravioli, which had plenty of dill and sliced spring onions in evidence on top. The ravioli itself was just the right consistency and there was plenty of filling which tasted delicious. I was satisfied that I'd managed to get some salmon after all.

Perhaps the fact that we were celebrating my younger son's birthday a few days early encouraged us to ask for the dessert menu. It was a different waitress again by this time, and she explained that they were short of particular things that day because they had not had a food delivery for some reason. She said it would actually be easier to tell us what was on the dessert menu rather than what was not available. We had a choice between profiteroles, two flavours of ice cream, a tempting chocolate pudding with an orange sauce centre (on the specials board), chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream or lemon and mascarpone cheesecake. Two of us decided that the cheesecake, at £4.95, was the slightly lighter option and one ordered the chocolate cake (£4.75).

It was about 5.30pm by this time and the restaurant was filling up quite quickly. There was a slightly longer wait for the desserts to arrive, but we were happy to have a bit of a break after our main courses. The cake looked very indulgent, covered as it was in chocolate sauce with a scoop of ice cream to the side. The verdict was favourable except that the sauce could have been a little warmer to contrast with the ice cream. We did feel we had made a good choice with the cheesecake, which had a gorgeous lemon flavour and was topped with flaked almonds. We certainly felt full by that time and did not order coffee as we needed to make our way back to the station.

By 6pm the restaurant was almost completely full. My son said that on the previous occasion they had arrived about 8.30pm, again on a Saturday, without a reservation and had been asked to come back in an hour. (They had drinks at the Pig and Fiddle just across the road whilst waiting). Ask is obviously a popular place, serving good food at reasonable prices in very pleasant surroundings. One thing that did strike me was that the tables were not too close together in the area where we were seated, so it was possible to have a conversation without feeling that others could hear or being aware of conversations at nearby tables. The music was not so loud as to be intrusive either.

The décor is mostly white with arty vases on windowsills and the occasional abstract painting. The bar is a contrasting black, and bottles of wine are displayed in profusion. Potted palms dotted here and there provide more privacy between neighbouring tables. Lighting is provided by spotlights on a frame in the ceiling, and these were lowered quite a bit at around 6pm. One reservation I have is that the toilets are situated in the basement down two flights of stairs.

Ask does have a special children's menu and there were several young children there when we arrived. One tiny one, however, escaped and was playing with the chain in the middle of the two sides of the large specials easel – if mum hadn't come to the rescue fast enough, he could have pulled the whole thing over and perhaps been squashed in the middle. Not a pleasant thought.

Our bill came to £55.25, so you could say £20 a head after adding a tip. That seems very good value since my sons almost had three courses each, bearing in mind that they shared a starter.

I came away feeling that I wished there were an Ask restaurant in Portsmouth. (My nearest would be Chichester or Petersfield.) The waitresses were polite and friendly, the food was enjoyed by all three of us without a single complaint, we liked the place itself and felt that prices were very fair. Had there been a food delivery that day, we would have had even more choice on the menu. I am sure that I shall be returning to Ask when I have an opportunity, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Italian food.

Ask Restaurant

The Royal York Hotel

George Street

Bath

BA1 2AF

Tel. 01225 789997

Portsmouth's corner of Paris

quite often go for lunch in Southsea on a Saturday, but on this occasion I needed to visit Blackwell's bookshop near Portsmouth University, so it was a good opportunity to have lunch at the nearby Cafe Parisien for a change. As the Cafe is popular with university students and staff, I thought perhaps Saturday would be a relatively quiet day there, but it was pouring with rain and blowing a gale so the outside tables could not be used, and even at 1.30pm the place was packed with people inside. We nevertheless managed to find a table for three and then went to queue up and place our order.

The menu is written on blackboards above the counter and looks a little confusing at first, but it is quite easy to find the appropriate section, depending on whether you want soup, a plat principal/cooked meal, a salad (choice of twelve), a croque monsieur or some other kind of sandwich. Main meals include salmon, cod, sirloin steak, and chicken, as well as one or two vegetarian options. I remembered that just over a year before I had had 'Number 12', consisting of open ciabatta, scrambled egg, smoked salmon and cream cheese for £6.95, and my son and I both decided we still liked the sound of it. I quite often choose salmon when I have a meal out, and I never buy eggs for myself so scrambled egg makes a change. I was tempted by cappuccino but then decided that fruit juice would be healthier and thought that carrot and apple juice with ginger sounded unusual. My son's partner ordered a three-egg omelette with chips, and we decided to share an extra plate of chips between us. Several varieties were available, including French, curly or thin, but we chose Belgian fries which are the chunky kind, served with red onion, ketchup and mayonnaise.

Having paid, we seated ourselves at our table with our drinks. It was big enough for three but would be a squeeze for four, unless for drinks only. There is just enough room to make your way between tables. The chairs are of a similar kind to those of Cafe Rouge, comfortable enough but with a rounded back which annoys women such as myself who have shoulder bags that slip off and end up on the floor.

Whilst waiting for the food, I tried my carrot and apple juice with ginger and was delighted by the combination of sweet and spicy flavours. The only problem was that the fruit and vegetable solids sink to the bottom of the glass and the juice at the top is rather watery, reminding me of a fruit juice I'd once had at Wagamama. These drinks are probably very healthy, but it's difficult to drink them through a straw – or directly from the glass, for that matter.

We had been given an empty wine bottle in which stood a numbered wooden spoon to identify our order, and it wasn't long before a waitress brought our food over. The main dishes were served on oval plates, with the Belgian fries on a round plate. There was just enough room on the table. I enjoyed having the Number 12 as much as I had on the previous occasion; the scrambled egg was just the right consistency and the smoked salmon provided a good contrast to the egg and cheese. It is for me, however, with the four pieces of ciabatta, a very rich and filling meal. It was all I could do to sample a few of the fries, and I thought that a side salad would perhaps have been a more sensible choice. I do always tend to say, though, that I have a smaller than average appetite.

I certainly would not have been able to manage a dessert that day, but I have had very good cookies there in the past, and I saw someone at a nearby table with a mouth-watering slice of chocolate cake. I might try that one day, but I shall have to have a salad as my main meal! The fruit tarts also look very tempting and would be slightly healthier than cake, of course. Coffees at Le Cafe Parisien are the Lavazza variety and are excellent. I haven't tried the smoothies myself but have it on good authority that they are delicious. If tea is your preference, there is a wide variety of Twinings on the menu.

A few weeks later I met my son at Le Cafe Parisien for a late breakfast, this time at about 11.30am on a Saturday. It was much less crowded; again the weather was utterly dismal, so the outside tables were not being used. I was wondering about trying an omelette this time, but eventually we both decided that the full vegetarian breakfast (£6.95) would be more varied. There was a choice of brown or white bread or toast, and we both chose brown toast. As it was a chilly day, I ordered a regular cappucino at £2.10 and my son went for an indulgent hot chocolate sprinkled with mini marshmallows and chocolate powder. (His excuse is that he has IBS and coffee upsets him!).

We sat ourselves at a small round table by the window – not that the view is anything to speak of. The drinks were up to our expectations, even though I'm hard to please where coffee is concerned. After a while our breakfasts arrived along with two slices each of toast and butter on separate plates, of course. We each had two fried eggs, a large half tomato, two veggie sausages, two hash browns and a generous serving of sliced button mushrooms. It was delicious, perhaps the mushrooms having the best flavour of all, although there was nothing I could fault. It was as much as I could do to have one slice of my toast, but my son had polished everything off by the time I was only halfway through my lunchtime breakfast. As neither of us was in a hurry, we lingered and had a glass of Appletiser each. By half past twelve there were still a few vacant tables.

One thing I particularly like about Le Cafe Parisien and that sets it apart from other restaurants is that it gives local artists the opportunity to exhibit and sell their work on its premises. My brother, who paints as a hobby, had an exhibition there in the summer of 2007. He was selling his canvases in aid of a local fisherman's charity and most of the work was bought on the evening of the private view. I hope that others who are trying to make a living as an artist have had as much success with their exhibitions at the Cafe.

If you are visiting the New Theatre Royal on Guildhall Walk or the Guildhall itself, Le Cafe Parisien would be the ideal place for a pre-show dinner as it is only a couple of minutes' walk away. It is also very close to the Ibis Hotel, Commercial Road shopping centre and Portsmouth and Southsea station. Worth mentioning is the special offer on Tuesday evenings of two steaks for £12.95. On weekdays during the day it is a popular place for university folk, although it does have to compete with the Via Lattea and the Students' Union.

Le Cafe Parisien has its own website that gives plenty of information on menus, exhibitions and other special events. I recommend a visit if you are in the area.

Le Cafe Parisien

1 Lord Montgomery Way

Portsmouth

PO1 2AH

Tel. 023 9283 1234

lecafeparisien.com

A civilised Italian lunch

Finding somewhere for a late lunch on a sunny Saturday afternoon in Chichester might not be an easy thing to do. The crowds were out. We decided to try Pizza Express first, as my son and his partner had recently visited the one in Gunwharf Quays and had been giving me ecstatic descriptions of their new ice cream. On entering, however, we were greeted by rubbish on the floor, balloons here and there, and noise everywhere. We made a quick exit and decided to try Prezzo, which a friend had recommended to me.

What a difference. The restaurant is housed in what was formally the White Horse pub, as can be seen from the stained-glass windows and the odd horse's head dotted around. There are oak beams, pillars and shelving, with lighting from spotlights on the beams. I can imagine that it might be a little dingy on a grey day, but that afternoon there was plenty of sunshine streaming through the windows. Arty vases, painted statues of a nun, a chef and a lady in evening dress amongst others jostled alongside huge jars of pickles and a grandfather clock to decorate the shelves.

There were several free tables, and a waitress showed us to one near the front of the restaurant. I did feel that I sank down a little too far into the leather chair, and I noticed later that the seating further back looked a little more modern. We had scarcely been handed our menus when a waiter came to take our drinks order. My son and his partner ordered fresh fruit juice at £2.30 whilst I chose a Fruitiser at £2.05. We were asked if we would like some marinated olives (£2.45), and we decided we would. The drinks were soon served, but the olives took a few minutes more.

Prezzo's menu has the usual sections you would expect to find in an Italian chain restaurant, with starters, pasta, oven pasta dishes, pizza, risotto, specialities and salads. Perhaps the only difference is that Prezzo also has a section for roast chicken dishes, although I understand that in their newer branches this is replaced by a section for calzone, or folded pizzas. On arrival the waitress had shown us the 'specials' board which featured just one main course: fusilli pasta with asparagus, mushrooms, roasted peppers and green pesto at £7.95. It sounded healthy and I hadn't had pesto for a long time, so I made that my choice. My son opted for traditional lasagne at £8.55, and his partner ordered a pizza with prosciutto ham, mushrooms, marinated olives, fresh rosemary, mozzarella and tomato at £7.95. I was pleased to see that a special knife with a serrated edge was brought after the pizza was ordered, as I have often had difficulty cutting through pizza with the usual blunt restaurant knives.

The olives arrived in a small, narrow dish; there were a mixture of black and green. We savoured these whilst awaiting our main courses. Conversation was easy as the music was not too loud. I felt as though Pizza Express was on another planet – for a family with young children it would be the obvious choice, but if you want to relax in a more peaceful atmosphere, Prezzo is the place to go.

We didn't have to wait long for our main courses to be served. The waitress offered us grated parmesan, which I accepted, and also chilli oil for the pizza. My dish of fusilli pasta was huge, and delicious as it was, I was unable to finish it. I made sure I didn't leave any of the peppers, asparagus or generous mushroom slices, but good as the pesto was, it didn't allow me to get through all the pasta. My son was so enthusiastic about the lasagne that it made me think I would have to sample it next time I visit Prezzo. The pizza was good too: not too thick, and the slice of ham had been left whole, folded, and then covered with cheese. We had no complaints.

We asked to see the dessert menu and found that there were two kinds of cheesecake, pannacotta, sticky toffee pudding or fudge cake, all for either £4.25 or £4.50. Then, below these, we noticed

ice cream and hazelnut bombe, vanilla ice cream covered in chopped hazelnuts with a meringue centre, for a mere £2.95. Feeling rather full already, we all three opted for the ice cream bombe. It wasn't long before the desserts were brought in frosted glass dishes with long spoons. We all agreed that we had made the right choice. None of us ordered coffee, but I did noticed that all the hot drinks were priced under £2 which I feel is very reasonable compared to most establishments.

Our bill came to £42.40, to which we added a tip, making it just over £15 a head for two courses plus olives and a drink.

The toilets are at the back of the restaurant on the ground floor, so there are no problems for disabled customers. The ladies was certainly very clean.

The service at Prezzo was extremely polite and efficient throughout the time we were there. We have noticed recently in one or two other restaurants that the service is good initially and through the main course but then drops when we are trying to order dessert or ask for the bill. This certainly was not the case at Prezzo, although I should say that we arrived at 2.30pm and I realise things may be different at busier times.

I hope that I will have the opportunity to visit Prezzo again and lament the lack of a branch in Southsea. I don't know if other Prezzo restaurants are in such pleasant surroundings as the one in Chichester, of course. It isn't an atmosphere that will suit young children, but I would definitely recommend Prezzo to adults looking for good Italian food at reasonable prices in a relaxing environment.

Prezzo

61 South Street

Chichester

West Sussex

PO19 1EE

www.prezzoplc.co.uk