Whilst food, either cooked at home by my superbly talented wife, or eaten out could be regarded as something of a passion of mine, writing foodie or restaurant reviews is not.

However having discovered Donatello Ristorante two years ago, we have eaten there, probably a dozen times in the last eighteen months, this is at least twice as many times as we have eaten out anywhere else during the same period. That being the case it is obviously high time to tell you all about it.

Having not eaten at Fat Leo - the prices are the same, the menu almost identical, this review is about the original - Donatello Ristorante. Well, maybe not quite original due to the fact that over the years from a small one room start it has grown to incorporate every small shop within this historic "island site" at the very heart of the city. Here in a sense lies part of the charm of the place, regular diners, like us, have their favourite "room". In all there are five rooms, spread over three floors, plus two pavement dining areas and a small roof terrace. The pavement areas can be very busy with passing pedestrians, but the area is pedestrianised so there are no car fumes to contend with.

Décor, apart naturally from on the pavement(!) is what I can only describe as subdued Italian - I have an intense dislike of "over-forced" nationalistic décor in places that we are eating, I don't know about you but we find the ambience an integral part of the eating out experience. Here at Donatello there is nothing to disturb your senses whilst enjoying the meal in front of you…..

At peak times, even in this large establishment, you may find yourselves being asked to wait in the bar for a table to be vacated. On a couple of occasions we have waited up to fifteen minutes to be seated. Recently we have taken to turning up early, at midday, or in the mid-afternoon period when it is a little quieter. Having been offered the choice of a smoking, adjacent to the bar, or non-smoking table we usually take up a favourite window table downstairs where we can watch Brighton's fascinating society pass us by.

RICHADA'S tip here at Donatello: less is definitely more!

For our anniversary celebration meal I decided to go all al-a-carte, paid more than twice as much for it, then ended up envying my wife her more basic "Donatello Special" meal which was frankly better cooked, better tasting and better quality. My sirloin steak was tough and disappointing in flavour, her pizza of the very best quality.

My wife and her sister (who is 11 years old and adores this place!) both love pizza. I however, am not a lover of pizza. Donatello is a proper Italian Ristorante, not just a pizzeria. Yes, it serves a perfect pizza, with the choice of just about any flavoured topping that you could dream up, but it also offers up a huge variety of other Italian dishes too, traditional and modern.

You already know about Mrs R's usual main course - pizza, although she has also tried a variety of pasta and spaghetti dishes here. I am slowly working my way through the whole, very comprehensive, main course menu!

Lest you think that I am waxing too lyrical, I have to say that there have been a couple of dishes along the way that I would not order again. Unfortunately the two that spring to mind are Italian staples; spaghetti bolognaise and ravioli. Both tried recently have proven disappointing, flat in taste and in all honesty not as good as you could produce at home.

RICHADA's tip No.2: request jugged water. It is very good, served with ice and a slice of lemon and will save you a fortune (around £4) on a litre bottle of genuine Italian mineral water, which frankly tasted less palatable than the Brighton tap water with a slice of lemon in it!

All in all then, in this town, packed full of eating places, good, bad and indifferent and with prices to match, Donatello has to stand out as probably THE best value for money / quality choice available.