Eating: La Perla, Guernsey

Where we ate:
La Perla Restaurant
North Plantation, St. Peter Port, Guernsey, GY1 2LH.

When we ate:
6.30pm
Sunday 20 July, 2008

What we ate:
Calamari, chicken supreme and sticky toffee pudding (him)
Prawn cocktail, lasagne and meringue (me)

What we drank:
A bottle of fruity red

What we paid:
£45 including service

Sunday evening was sunny and sultry. We'd spent the day helping at a ten year olds' soccer tournament and were hungry and tired, but still cheerful. The obvious choice for a filling meal in relaxed surroundings is La Perla.

La Perla relocated from the South Esplanade (now home to Hojo) to a larger, two-storey home in the North Plantation (formerly home to Spice, the much-missed, quiet , Northern Indian restaurant). Anyone who paid a visit to the previous premises will recognise the current ones as the fittings and fixtures were by no means lost on the quarter-mile journey along the quayside. The nostalgic prints of Porto Fino and Napoli are there, as are the painted tiles setting out each place at the table and the authentic Italian staff. The chairs are still blue, the tablecloths are still yellow and the space between the chairs and tables is still rather limited.

The La Perla menu is simple. Three courses, three menus, three prices: diners pay £10, £15 or £19 per head for three courses. Each menu offers several choices for each course. Bowls of sauteed new potatoes and steamed fresh vegetables are served with every main course, plus a basket of French bread with the starters and mains. On Sunday I chose prawn cocktail (a large and delicious portion), lasagne (ditto) and the house meringue with red berries and ice-cream (which was medium-sized, beautifully presented and the perfect way to end a summer supper), all from the £10 menu. My companion upgraded to the £15 menu from which he chose calamari (cooked excellently), a supreme of chicken (tender breast in a homemade sauce of herbs) and sticky toffee pudding (his favourite, so the verdict of "brilliant" was a well-informed one). Vegetarians would not be unhappy with the range of Mediterranean delights on offer such as the oven baked aubergine parmigiana.

In addition to the three courses, three menus, three prices format, La Perla offers a one-course lunch for £5 and seasonal one-course specials which currently include local crab salad priced at £7.95. The £19 menu is temporarily devoted to seafood to coincide with the island's "Fete de la Mair". The lobsters served to our fellow diners on Sunday evening looked and smelled amazing. La Perla doesn't disappoint on quality at either end of the price range.

Don't come to La Perla if you like several yards between yourself and the next diner. Don't come if you're not prepared to squeeze your way to the loo. Don't come in summer and forget to ask Tony for a table near the door or window...or you will get HOT!

Do come if you like traditional Italian or British food of a reliable standard and at a reasonable price. The house wines are supplemented by "wines of the month" which are more than drinkable and the rest of the wine list is ample. Service is efficient even at the busiest times; the waiters and waitresses are experienced and therefore sufficiently relaxed to be friendly.

Will we go back?
Yes. I've booked for my netball team to celebrate our summer league success at La Perla in a fortnight's time.