LA LOMBARDA can claim to be all things to all people.
It has cosy enough corners for a couple, a good setting for a family meal, and large enough to handle a big party.
And so it was when my girlfriend and I headed out for a midweek treat. The place was bustling and packed full.
Set next to the great setting Castlegate, it proudly boasts to be the oldest Italian restaurant in Britain, and is arguably still one of the most popular places to eat in Aberdeen.
It has a wide variety of pasta, pizza and meat dishes to satisfy any palate.
For our starters we both opted for a pasta course.
My girlfriend went for the Farfalle al Salmone (£6.25), which featured ribbon pasta with smoked salmon, garlic, cream and parsley.
The pasta was tasty and nicely al dente, and even the half portion for a starter was quite filling.
I opted for the Penne al Garibaldi (£6.25), chicken and broccoli in a creamy white wine sauce. It was deliciously light and not too thick or stodgy. I could have very happily had it as my main course instead.
It was accompanied by a side order of Rossini garlic bread-topped with a herby tomato sauce (£4.95), which was greedy of us, but delicious all the same.
Fuelled by a nice Chianti, we were still eager for our main courses, which came quickly to the table, despite the party of 40 behind us – which could have meant slow service elsewhere.
In the mood for something “a bit different” I went for the Filletto Carolina (£18.28) a fillet steak with a mustard and Madeira sauce .
It was a hearty, rich dish – probably more fitting to a cold winter night rather than the spring evening we had just walked in from.
But the meat was cooked to perfection, the knife sinking into the meat like butter.
It came with a tasty combination of sweet potato and red cabbage.
My girlfriend went for the Zuppa di Pesce (£13.95) a tasty fish soup. It came served in a tureen, with its very own ladle to dish up the big hunks of fish.
It had a subtle taste, and was not overpowering.
Despite looking wistfully at the dessert menu, it just wasn’t going to happen.
Instead we just opted for another drink for the road – but we both left full to the brim.