The Bristol restaurant that you'll wish you could eat…

The Bristol restaurant that you'll wish you could eat at every night

In much the same way pubs were once the heart of the community, neighbourhood restaurants can also fulfil the role of a hub where locals can meet for a chat over a meal and a drink.

Over the past two decades since I’ve been reviewing restaurants across the city, Bristol has been well served with small, family-run places serving good simple food at a fair price.

Naturally, we’ve lost some along the way - three old favourites that spring to mind include Glasnost in Totterdown, Heatherley’s in Redland and Anthem on St Michael’s Hill - but plenty more have opened up.

Italian restaurant Prego on the border of Westbury Park and Henleaze is run by Olly Gallery and Julian Faiello who gave up their day jobs as floorlayers to become self-taught chefs and restaurateurs.

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What might have been a loss to the National Institute of Carpet and Floorlayers has been a considerable gain for the Bristol food scene and Prego is as popular today as it was when it first opened nine years ago.

On Saturday night, the place was packed and the room was humming with conversation animated enough to drown out the background music.

The rabbit starter at Prego (Mark Taylor)

Most tables were occupied by large family groups with children - always a good sign of a well supported neighbourhood restaurant so close to where the customers live that they don’t have to worry about driving, paying for an expensive taxi, or booking a babysitter.

Although there are excellent pizzas on offer, the pasta dishes and specials board proved far too tempting on this occasion.

There wasn’t a dish on the menu I didn’t want to eat so I would have happily closed my eyes and pointed at my choices. I’m sure I would have been equally content had my meal started with smoked sardines, watercress, kohlrabi and salsa rosso, continued with risotto primavera of asparagus, broad beans, peas, lemon, mint and saffron before finishing with the Italian cheese plate.

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I started with rabbit ragu with wild garlic and potato gnocchi, cream and grana padano (£8.45). The green-tinged nuggets of firm but silky potato gnocchi were gently flavoured with wild garlic and perched on an intensely flavoured, herby rabbit ragu with plenty of slow-cooked bunny flavour and texture and a splash of cream.

The seafood linguine, which has become one of the restaurant's signature dishes. (Mark Taylor)

It was followed by Devon crab linguine (£15.95) which has become something of a signature dish at Prego. The handpicked crab - plenty of it - had been folded into the al dente strands of linguine and mixed with chilli, cherry tomatoes, parsley and lemon. The crab provided a sweet freshness and there was a gentle heat from the chilli that made its presence known without taking over.

To finish, a perfectly wobbly vanilla and buttermilk pannacotta (£6.45) was as creamy and rich as it should be but it had a freshness and lightness about it. The sharp and fruity blueberry compote and fresh passion fruit sliced through any richness with ease.

The 'perfectly wobbly' vanilla and buttermilk pannacotta. (Mark Taylor)

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Fast approaching its tenth anniversary, Prego is still cooking some of the best Italian food in Bristol, which considering the number of restaurants specialising in pasta and pizza in the city is high praise but well deserved.

THE VERDICT:

Prego is as fine an example of a well-supported neighbourhood restaurant as you’ll find and if it were my local, I’d be tempted to sell the cooker and take the family there for supper every day instead.