Welcome to Diva Italiana, an intriguing little restaurant – a real life discovery on the culinary map – cossetted amid old stone buildings and the cobble-lined back streets of Pudsey. It is, perhaps, an unlikely setting for somewhere which prides itself on recreating authentic Italian cuisine, even importing its eggs and flour from the mother country.

The restaurant is hidden from the main road, being situated some way up Booth's Yard, just off Lowtown in Pudsey town centre and you have to venture into this olde worlde setting in order to find it, but this only adds to its allure.

Wending your way up the wonky cobblestones is like travelling back in time – the old buildings there are all higgledy piggledy, the doorways stoopingly low.

Once inside Diva Italiana, you are no longer in Pudsey proper – you're in Italy. Or might as well be.

What we have here is not generic Italian cuisine produced for the masses in a kitchen thronging with chefs aching to be the next Gordon Ramsay, but a rustic, down-to-earth faithful Italian dining experience, which myself and my dining partner thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish.

Our experience with Diva Italiana was pleasant from the off – at my request they agreed to take a late booking of 9pm and once there we never once felt rushed or hurried, even though we ended up being the only two in the restaurant.

The venue has a charm of its own – one enters (tall people may have to mind their heads) into a bar-cum-cocktail lounge, with the main eating areas off to the left. There are two pleasantly intimate stone flagged rooms, one leading off the other, each with endearing original features and beamed ceilings. Music plays softly in the background and creates a homely, relaxed environment.

So much for the setting.

One gets the impression that Diva Italiana is a family affair – the waiters are clearly of Italian stock and extremely polite. Pre-meal drinks were served quickly, as was a complimentary starter of home-made bread, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, which turned out to be the best I have had to date.

Menus are short, no-nonsense affairs, but one gets the impression this is a deliberate ploy on the part of the owners.

Starters are £5 each, soups are £4 per each and mains are £8 or £12 each, although some dishes do have supplements.

Despite its brevity, the menu was not lacking in choice. Starters ranged from seafood platters to brushette with fresh tomato and herbs. In between was crunchy salad of raw spinach, pancetta and chicken fillets with balsamic dressing, chicken liver pate with crostini and caramelised shallots and mozzarella pearls with lamb lettuce and sauteed sweet peppers.

I opted for the puff pastry basket of Porcini mushrooms, sauteed with garlic and white wine (£5). The pastry was just right: not too dry but still with enough crunch and heat and the mushrooms were oh-so delicious. My partner had brushette, which consisted of four or five small pieces of bread, each with a portion of tomatoes, served on a round wooden platter (£5). Again, the quality of the preparation was obvious.

For the main course I went for the prawn risotto with garlic, white wine and saffron (£10) and my partner had rack of spring lamb, roasted with rosemary and lard, served with roast potatoes (£16). We also ordered a tomato, garlic and cheese bread to share (£4).

The rack of lamb was absolutely adorable – no difficult to handle hunk of meat but a dainty mini-rack, each with its own medallion of meat, succulent and cooked to perfection.

The risotto was warming, wholesome food and one of those dishes which is deceptively substantial.

Still, we found room for desserts (which were £4 each). I had Tuscan raisin tart and my partner had chocolate cake with ice cream. It was a superb way to end a superb meal.

As you would expect, the restaurant offers a good selection of wines and will basically do all it can to accommodate the wishes of its customers.

Chef Massimo promises to cook anything so long as you pre-order it (lobster, Dover sole and veal are given as examples).

The final bill came to £61.50 with drinks and that included three bottled beers, two Cokes and after-dinner coffees at £2 each.
All in all you can't go wrong with a visit to Diva Italiana.

Factfile
Diva Italiana Restaurant, Booth's Yard, Pudsey LS28 7AD
Tel: 0113 255 5810
Opening hours: Tues to Thurs 6pm-9.30pm; Fri and Sat 6pm-10pm; Sun 1pm-3pm and 6pm-9pm>

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Food: 4/5
Value: 3/5
Atmosphere: 4/5
Service: 4/5