If you like good Italian food with a little bit of friendly banter thrown in for good measure, then Il Carretto Restaurant and Pizzeria in Coulsdon is just the place.

I visited the restaurant with my friend Geraint recently and we were soon chuckling at the restaurant owner Andrea and his waiter, Tony, addressing each other as 'Grandad' and 'Uncle'! As Geraint commented, a friendly host and good ambience makes all the difference to the experience of dining out. Of course the food matters too, and the menu had an excellent choice of traditional pizza and pasta dishes starting at just £6.95. There are also meat, fish and vegetarian choices - something for everyone!

We wanted some white wine to go with the meal so Andrea recommended a bottle of Frascati, a crisp, fruity wine which was perfect for a warm evening.

For our starters, I chose 'Cozze della Casa', mussels cooked with white wine, tomato sauce, garlic and a touch of chilli (pictured right) and Geraint chose 'Parmigiana', layers of aubergine oven baked with mozarella, parmesan and tomato sauce. Both starters were served lovely and hot, and I really enjoyed the flavour of the mussels cooked the Italian way.

Geraint described his starter as 'fulsome', with so many delicious ingredients!

I chose one of the meat dishes, the 'Agnello al Balsamico', leg of lamb cooked with rosemary and balsamic jus (pictured right) for my main course and Geraint chose the 'Filetto', fillet steak served with a red wine and dolcelate sauce.

Our food was beautifully cooked, with tender meat and perfect 'al dente' vegetables. The servings were generous with plenty of vegetables so we did not need any extra side orders.

Although by now I was pretty full, the 'Special' dessert, Tiramusu, sounded very tempting.

A traditional Italian recipe consisting of whipped layers of egg yolks and Marscapone cheese it was, Geraint said, "Sheer bliss!"

To reserve a table at Il Carretto call 020 8660 5056.