WE really don’t know why we have never tried this venue before. The advert for lunch from £5.95 was compelling. We just had to investigate.

Our initial impression when we entered was excellent. Here was a clean, bright venue with an adequate car park and easy access.

We were offered a choice of seats from mini booths to open tables. Each table had a set of menus from the lunchtime to a la carte and Christmas special.

We were there to sample the £5.95 main course-only selection. We could have converted to two courses for £7.25 or three for £8.45.

There was also unlimited refills of specified non alcoholic drinks when a regular drink at £1.99 was purchased. The main courses covered pasta, pizza and house specialities. Ann felt that a classic hamburger, veg burger or hotdog was not quite the image she should be portraying in this article. However pork and herb sausages with mashed potato and fresh mixed vegetables served with gravy caught her eye.

I was very tempted by the Calzone Siciliana containing mushrooms, ham, pepperoni, red onions, mozzarella cheese and beef Bolognese, which was described as fully loaded and fit to bursting, but thought better of it.

I selected Frankie’s traditional ten-inch Italian-style thin-crust pizza, opting for the Hawaiian (slices of ham and pineapple) version. We could see the activity in the kitchen as each order was prepared in sequence. Eventually it was our turn.

The waiter appeared with a loaded tray and a collapsible stand which he set by our table before placing the hot plates in front of us. He returned with grated Parmesan cheese.

Ann was just about to start when she realised there were no vegetables.

Before I could comment our waiter returned with an apology that they had run out of vegetables. We accepted the apology graciously, but thought it odd that a restaurant could not plan its requirements better.

I can vouch for the tastiness of the sausages, although the potato was a little on the solid side. We speculated how it had been made. My pizza was good and left me feeling well satisfied.

Our waiter was insistent that as Ann had been denied vegetables she should accept a complimentary dessert. She asked for the warm cinnamon waffle topped with scoops of vanilla ice cream, toffee crunch pieces and toffee sauce. We cheekily asked for two spoons and have to admit it was rather nice.

So for £11.90 we had found another bargain lunch.