Crystal Palace Local

A modest glass-fronted restaurant with bright turquoise walls, Mediterranea feels rather like a cheery no-frills beach café. As you'd expect from the name, the kitchen serves Mediterranean sunshine food, but there's a particular focus on dishes from Sardinia.

It's a little surprising to find cooking of such high quality given the unassuming decor, although prices aren't quite as low as the setting might suggest. Be sure to order the carasau bread (a kind of rosemary-flavoured flatbread that's baked in an Italian stone oven): the secret behind the fine selection of pizzas.

Starters include own-cured salmon, greek salad, grilled calamares and scallops florentine (which are slathered in a rich cheese sauce with spinach). Pastas, also made in-house, feature heavily: the likes of artichoke and mushroom tortelloni, crab tagliatelle and tomato ravioli. We liked the tomato-based fish stew strewn with doughy balls of fregola (tiny pasta spheres). The rest of the menu consists mainly of Italian bistro dishes such as grilled swordfish and halibut, or roast lamb with Mediterranean vegetables.

Desserts include tiramisu, orange crème brûlée and rhubarb crumble tart. There's a sound selection of wines too. Stick around and chat to the super-friendly staff