Happier reflections and excellent value.

THE last time we wrote about La Sorrentina, an unassuming Italian restaurant near Darlington's Civic Theatre, it brought the owner to the doors of the Darlington & Stockton Times.

Peppe Terminielio was not best pleased. In fact he was absolutely furious. He had not owned the restaurant for very long and our reviewer had not been overly impressed by her meal. What's more, she had said so in no uncertain terms.

The key issue for Mr Terminiellio was the vegetarian pizza and the cauliflower, the presence of which in the pizza topping our reviewer thought wholly inappropriate.

A seething Mr Terminiellio confronted yours truly with the incontrovertible truth: "Cauliflower ees a vegetable. She ordered a vegetarian pizza. So whata the problem?"

We couldn't deny it but we couldn't offer Mr Terminiellio any comfort. Our reviewers are always urged to speak as they find and she had done just that.

The Italian restaurateur stormed out of Priestgate threatening the imminent dispatch of a writ. It never arrived, perhaps because m'learned friend advised Mr Terminiellio that a critical opinion about cauliflower and vegetarian pizza was not promising grounds for a damages claim.

That was in 2004 and last week we decided to keep our promise to Mr Terminiellio that we would return for another visit. It was a rather different experience, although we thought it best to steer clear of vegetarian pizza.

La Sorrentina is a traditional Italian. It offers a full range of pastas, pizzas, chicken dishes and steaks. There are also fish dishes which change daily according to what's available.

The interior is simple. White walls, bright blue blinds and lights create an atmosphere which if not quite evocative of Sorrento does try to make diners ignore the rather less exotic surroundings of Parkgate. The Neapolitan Riveria it ain't.

We found the food to be authentically Italian too if not ground-breaking. My Carpaccio di Filletto (£6.95) was thinly sliced beef fillet marinated in lemon juice and sprinkled with Parmesan shavings. The beef was softly tender in texture and the lemon and Parmesan made for a tart - almost wincingly so - foil. It made for a bracing start.

Sylvia's Cocktail di Gamberetti (£5.25) was a small mountain of juicy Norwegian Royal prawns folded into a Marie Rose sauce which was not too sweet and was a consistency the right side of gloopy.

Her Pollo Boscaiola (£9.95) was an equally traditional dish - a plump chicken breast served with a mixed pepper, mushroom, onion and tomato sauce. Sylvia couldn't fault it.

I loved my Spaghetti Pescatore (£10.95). A large oval plateful of al dente pasta tossed with a trawler-load of seafood which included king prawns, clams, mussels, tuna, salmon, a firm white fish which could have been cod and other piscatorial delights we couldn't quite identify but was fresh and, unlike a lot of seafood served in restaurants these days, tasted of the sea.

We shared a generous mixed salad (£3.25) notable for its size and its excellent dressing.

Thing were brought to a close by an acceptable if unremarkable amaretto tart (£3.75) and a very reasonable bill of a smidge over £40. That was without the benefit of the various happy hour promotions available for those prepared to dine early in the evening (5.30-7pm Sunday to Friday) and there are also special deals for Civic Theatre patrons after 10pm.

Before we left we had wanted to make peace with Mr Terminiellio, but unfortunately he wasn't on duty the Friday evening we called. We interpreted that as a further sign of a well-run establishment. It doesn't fall apart when the boss is away.