While everybody still seems distracted by the Guardian-reading delights of Southville’s North Street, elsewhere in Bedminster things are quietly developing all the time. Given the large and well-established Sicilian community in the area, it’s surprising that (with the exception of thriving local franchise Bottelinos) there isn’t a successful neighbourhood trattoria-type restaurant. The only recent contender – La Sicilia – closed after a couple of years and morphed into a Turkish place. So the arrival of Il Grano, tucked among the budget booze places at the top of East Street, comes as a ray of hope. It’s a ray that glows even brighter when you look past the classic pasta, pizza and risotto menu and scan the crammed ‘specials’ board offering a very tempting menu in its own right.

The brightly decorated and lit room has a relaxed feel, grounded slightly by the dark furniture, and manager Alex Russo glides easily over to take the orders. We stick to the specials – spinach, crispy bacon and parmesan salad for me, calamari ‘al diablo’ for my companion. The plate of focaccia and olives we ordered to bide our time turns out to be lightly toasted fresh bread, a generous garnish of rocket and a heap of succulent fruit, all sprinkled with a dust of paprika. The quality of ingredients and attention to presentation in a £2.50 dish bodes very well and so it proves – the delicious salty pancetta in my salad teasingly dressed with lemon juice, while the marine velvet squid holds its own against a fiery chilli sauce.

The main courses are no less satisfying – my garlic-rich and fork-yielding lamb shank on a bed of tasty crisp ratatouille is faultless, her Mediterranean fish casserole a generous heap of mussels, squid and fat prawns, albeit lacking in any actual fish – but with a hearty plate of cabbage, potatoes and sprouts adding to our side salad the generosity of servings made it a struggle to finish. Dessert is out of the question, sadly, despite wistful memories of an intoxicating zabaglione from a previous visit, but black-hearted espresso leaves a final taste of Italy to take home. With a bottle of acceptable if unexciting house red, we’ve spent under £50 and enjoyed what felt like home-cooked (in a good way) Italian food. Once the Guardian readers find the place, I suspect Il Grano will be bustling. (Tony Benjamin)

IL GRANO 149 EAST ST, BEDMINSTER, BRISTOL, BS3 4EJ. TEL: 0117 963 3544. 

VENUE VERDICT

THE PROPER FRESH-COOKED TASTE OF AN ITALIAN KITCHEN

Copyright Tony Benjamin 2010