Di Napoli, Oldbury

So the fact that it is in Oldbury makes it almost off the beaten track - a decidedly ironic description for somewhere barely 30 metres from one of the Black Country's busiest motorways.

But if your eyes are on the traffic of Wolverhampton Road you could easily miss the place, or you just might not be expecting to find a one-off modern Italian restaurant nestling on an upscale retail park.

Walk through Di Napoli's doors, however, and you'll be in no doubt that you're somewhere sumptuous that is about to feed you very well indeed.

Pacifico Sanzari is one of the partners in the restaurant, which opened late last year, and runs it day-to-day.

The former head chef at Wythall's Portway Restaurant brings with him a 20-year culinary career - and a family history to boot.

"Despite the name of the restaurant, we have dishes from all across Italy, and we aim to be somewhere people could eat every day and find something new," he said.

"We sell lots of fish, with sea bass and scallops being particularly popular, and anything different that catches our eye at the market in the morning stands a good chance of becoming a special for the day."

When our party of six arrived for a recent feast, a posse of North American businessmen were making their choices from a table next to Di Napoli's huge windows, which run the length of the restaurant.

We ordered one of pretty much every single starter on the restaurant's menu, with the £2.95 cured ham selection and same-price bruschetta con pomodoro going down particularly well with a glass of house red.

The white-wine drinkers, meanwhile were equally pleased with the £3.95 coppa di gamberetti prawn cocktail and smoked salmon. The deep fried squid was a hit.

Pacifico had been keen for us all to try the house special panzarotti piacentini, addictively tasty crepes filled with spinach and rich cheese and topped with tomato sauce.

And when we did, we could see why. The melty confection is a testament to indulgence and precisely what you want as part of an Italian feast.

Former colleague Dave spoke highly of his £10.50 pollo delizia, chicken breast cooked with mushroom, cream and brandy sauce which went very well with the perfect side orders of chips and deep-fried courgette that we had with all of our meals.

As a brief - and self-deluding - nod in the direction of healthiness, we also shared a couple of £3.25 rocket salads, served with parmesan flakes and an olive oil and lemon dressing.

The lasagne bolognese, and vegetarian equivalent with aubergine, melenzane parmigiana, also went down a storm.

Dessert was unnecessary but couldn't be missed and resulted in us trying a selection from the dedicated menu, on which everything is £3.75. I have nothing but praise for my torta amaretto, and my dining partners reacted with unanimous eye-popping delight to their choices, which included a house speciality tiramisu, strawberry cheesecake, tartufo limoncello lemon sorbet, white profiteroles, and torta selva nera.

Our indulgences were not reflected in the price tag, which came in at around the £20 a head mark, including drinks, which we considered very reasonable.

When we all left we were not only full of fine food, but also full of praise for Di Napoli.

Many new restaurants fail to make it through their first couple of years, but anyone who visits Pacifico's establishment is left with the impression that it will be around for a long, long time to come.

Di Napoli is open for lunch from 12-2pm Monday to Friday and for dinner from 6-10pm Monday to Saturday.

Phoning ahead to reserve a table is always wise and especially so towards the weekend. It also holds regular live music gourmet nights, when a £25 five-course fixed menu is served.

By JIM DUNTON

ADDRESS

Di Napoli, 870A Wolverhampton Road, Oldbury

Tel: 0121 5449238