Peepo Cafe Bar, Bridgnorth

This simple Italian serves food full of flavour and is one of historic Bridgnorth's many attractions,

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Among the old fashioned pubs that line the streets of picturesque Bridgnorth sits modern Italian restaurant Peepo.

Situated on the main High Street, the diner is tucked away at the bottom of the road, right next to the Northgate Museum.

The museum, packed full of treasures describing the history of the picturesque town, is a far cry from its modern neighbour.

The exterior of Peepo is simple. It is painted white and there are large floor to ceiling windows giving curious shoppers a sneak peak inside. It looks very clean.

There are also several tables outside for those who want to enjoy the sunshine as they delve into their pizza or pasta.

The restaurant is large inside, with the counter straight in front as you walk through the doors. There is also a large menu on the wall to the left showing the dishes on sale at the restaurant.

The walls are painted white, and there are grey tiles on the floor. There are also plant pots scattered around the room.

Towards the back of the restaurant and up several steps, there is another level, with an open kitchen at the back end.

There is modern art hanging up in the restaurant which gives the bright white walls a welcome splash of colour. We chose a table towards the back of the restaurant, near to the kitchen, which we were taken to by a young looking waitress.

The majority of the staff working at Peepo look school age and it means they are full of enthusiasm and happy to help.

The restaurant was fairly busy on the Sunday afternoon in question and several tables around us were occupied with a mix of diners including an elderly couple, two young friends and also a young family. As a result, there was was a real buzz about the place. To start, I went for the House Soup, carrot and coriander, with Italian flat bread (£3.95).

The soup was delicious. It was not too thick but had chunks of carrot and plenty of herbs. The flat bread was warm and a perfect accompaniment. My partner went for the Caprese (£4.45) - slices of beef tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil and olive oil. It was finished within minutes and labelled "very tasty".

For my main, I went for Olive Penne (£8.95), a dish of pasta in a pesto sauce littered with black olives, sun-blushed tomatoes, pine nuts and shavings of salty parmesan cheese. The meal came in a white bowl and was very pleasing on the eye.

The pieces of pasta were bursting with flavour and all tastes complimented one another. There was not a dominating flavour, such as the pesto, and it all worked very well.

A bottle of Fentimans lemonade (£1.90), which is bottled in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where my family live, was chosen to wash it all down.

My partner plumped for the spaghetti and meatballs at £9.95. Again it was a reasonable sized portion. The spaghetti was drenched in a tangy tomato sauce and there were plenty of pork and beef meatballs.

To finish I went for the Italian orange Bakewell tart (£4.45), a tangy but sweet choice. It came with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream and drizzle of raspberry coulée.

My partner couldn't manage a sweet and went for a hot chocolate (£3) with cream and marshmallows.

Peepo may be an hour's drive away from my Birmingham home but it's certainly somewhere I'd go again in a hurry for the tasty food and friendly atmosphere.

The bill came to £42.30. Peepo also do takeaways.

ADDRESS

Peepo Cafe Bar, 84-85 High Street, Bridgnorth WV16 4DS

Phone: 01746 766 220