SITUATED bang next to the East Coast Mainline at Shipton by Beningbrough, Italian restaurant Il Treno offers customers the unique experience of watching trains speed by as they eat their food.

Formerly The Sidings restaurant, the building adjoins a set of rail carriages, and is a well-known landmark for anyone leaving the A19 en route to Beningbrough Hall.

We arrived at 7.30pm on Hallowe’en, having booked a table for 8pm, and took our drinks to a table in front of a roaring log fire.

The menu is fairly typical of Italian restaurants across Britain, featuring perennial favourites such as mushrooms with garlic cream, deep-fried mozzarella, spaghetti carbonara and lasagne along with the usual choice of pizzas and meat dishes.

Believing my dining partner to be cold, we were offered the choice of eating in the bar at the front of the fire, but seeing as one of the main attractions of Il Treno is its proximity to the railway, we opted for a table in the restaurant.

For starters, my partner plumped for the aforementioned mozzarella (£4.20) which was served with a tomato sauce. There is little that can be said about this as it was pretty much the same as one served in eateries across the country. It was nothing special, it tasted bought in.

Sardines are a favourite of mine, so I couldn’t resist sardine carpione (£4.25), described as being marinated in an Italian dressing.

I was not expecting the dish to be served cold. Each sardine had been grilled or baked and then cut into around three pieces and then popped in the fridge. The result was that the fish was slightly drier than would normally be the case and tasted more akin to tinned sardines than squeakily-fresh fish. In addition, the marinade was just not strong enough and I could get no sense of what it was supposed to taste of.

The main courses were better. My girlfriend – who is pregnant and devouring red meat at a rate which would put Desperate Dan to shame – went for the Bistecca alla Barese (£15.25) – a grilled rib-eye steak served with rocket and drizzled with balsamic syrup.

The medium-cooked piece of meat was juicy and tender with the balsamic reduction offering a nice unctuous dark sweetness to the dish. The meat came with a side portion of carrots, broccoli and potatoes dauphinoise, which was less successful because the potatoes were not creamy or garlicky enough.

My choice from the specials board of Tagliatelle Il Treno (£7.20) comprised of pasta served with mushrooms, ham, chicken and peppers in a creamy sauce. It was nice but it didn’t set my tastebuds on fire and I reckon I could have knocked up a very similar dish up in my own kitchen. Just to be greedy, I had a side-order of bruschetta (£3.95). I wasn’t keen on this, but that may be personal taste because the chef had used brown bread (which I’m not a huge fan of), although it wasn’t helped by the fact the tomatoes were tasteless.

For desserts, I went for crème brulée (£4.95) – which was lovely. Nice and creamy with a crunchy, ever-so-slightly burnt in places sugary topping. My girlfriend went for the classic, tiramisu (£4.50). This again was a success, although the swirls of canned cream decorating the plate were unnecessary and not welcome.

We also had a pint of Peroni (£3.40), two Pepsis (£2.70) and a half bottle of the house white (£7.25) making a total of £57.65 – pretty steep for what was an average meal.

Service throughout was efficient and friendly and it was an interesting novelty to see trains speeding past just a few metres from our table. Ultimately, though, Il Treno was more British Rail than Orient Express.

For those living in Shipton, or indeed trainspotters, it is a perfectly adequate place to go for a pizza or pasta dish on a Saturday night. But diners can get this quality of food at virtually any local Italian restaurant, so it is questionable whether it’s worth people travelling the extra mile for a booking at Il Treno.

•Richard visited Il Treno on October 31, 2008.

•Il Treno Ristorante, Station Lane, Shipton by Beningborough, YO30 1BT, 01904 470221.