as you exit the cinema. This is a chain of 84 UK-wide Italian restaurants which have, their slogan says, "been bringing a taste of Italy to the UK since the early 1990s". Alongside the Grafton Centre, the chain has a further two Cambridge branches. Located next to Debenhams, a Caffè Italia and a Vue cinema, it's strictly high-street all the way, but this Bella Italia has done well in creating some atmosphere. On entering, the cheery "buona sera" of the waiters and the unobstrusive guitar music in the background transports you, if not to Italy then certainly away from this slightly tired old shopping centre. The walls covered in nick-nacks and there is very imaginative use of space to deal with and create numerous small cubby-holes, one of which is dressed exactly as I'd imagine an Italian via England front room to be.

The menu consists of familiar Italian fare: with a fairly large range of pizzas and pasta to suit all palates. Although at first glance it may appear that vegetarians don't have an enormous amount of choice, this is slightly misleading as they are happy to change any of the pasta dishes for a difference sauce or a different pasta. Hungry shoppers in particular would appreciate the 'prezzo fisso' (fixed price) menu, an all-day value menu served daily between 12 and 7pm.

We opted for fusilli pomodorini, a nice combination of light corkscrew shaped pieces of pasta and fresh tasting vegetables. The roasted red peppers offered a slightly peppery flavour which worked well with the sweetness onion. It was nothing flashy, but pretty satisfying.

We also had the spaghetti gamberi. This had decent enough pasta but nothing as remarkable as the freshly made noodles served in some fancier Italian restaurants, though you wouldn't expect that here. The sauce too, did what it set out to do quite well, with succulent prawns sunk into a fairly rich Italian tomato sauce. It was spicier than we were expecting, adding a bit of extra interest to the flavour, but still lacked the dynamism of more refined restaurants' sauces.

We finished off the night with the tiramisu. This was a not bad example of this iconic Italian dish, with lavish amounts of thick creamy mascarpone cheese covering the cake. Like the other dishes, it lacked much subtlety and delivered a powerful, perhaps slightly overwhelming alcoholic kick in each mouthful. But it was enjoyable enough and made a nice end to the meal.

The dishes were all served quickly, making them ideal for hungry shoppers without a great deal of time. It was clear though that despite the speed a reasonable amount of care had been taken preparing them and they were still more than up to the standard of Bella Italia.

Naturally, being a national chain, the food isn't as authentically "Italian" as what you would get from other Italian places elsewhere. But for a quick Italian on a budget, it's ideal. The waiting staff are friendly, and on occasion we almost forget that we were sat in the middle of the Grafton Centre. The ambiance could even be seen as romantic.

We left feeling like we had had got fairly good food for the money we paid and happy with our not entirely obvious, but rather good post-cinema choice.