Like the Romans 2,000 before, this cosy but contemporary chain continues to colonise our capital with its reliable, well-priced Italian fare.

The Venue
Just as a McDonalds interior calms and delights a three-year-old by suggesting he’s about to get the same dining experience he’s had a hundred times before (and loves for that reason), so Strada’s familiar decor reassures its young(ish), trendy(ish) adult clientele that they are in safe and familiar culinary hands. The red, burgundy, grey and fawn-coloured venue, with dark wood floors and tables, is lit dimly to emphasise cosiness against a dark and chilly London night.

The Atmosphere
Even on a Tuesday night, most tables are taken. Casual but not scruffy couples and groups enjoy relaxed chats at civilised volume. Staff are friendly, informal and competent. A bottle of still, filtered tap water arrives as a matter of course and is replenished throughout the evening. (This has been Strada policy for a very long time, putting the chain well ahead of other restaurateurs - and the public – who have only recently begun to turn against bottled spring water with its heavy carbon footprint.)

The Food
A basket of garlic and rosemary bread (£3.50) is so crisp, well-flavoured and more-ish, it’s a must. Think of it as a course in itself, as Strada’s portions are hefty. Starters include salads, bruschetta, mixed antipasto, garlic prawns and soup. There are eight pastas and risottos, ten pizzas, eleven other mains and a couple of daily specials. The pizzas really are Strada’s calling card; thin, crisp, just the right amount of toppings and a delicious charred edge to the taste.

A bowl of Tuscan soup (£4.50) is large, hearty and almost unnaturally hot. The mixed beans and ditalini (little tubes) pasta retains a pleasing texture. However, the flavour is subtle to the point of being bland – it needs oomph. You might have thought polenta, the thick cornmeal mush that saved countless generations of Italy’s poor from starvation, had disappeared from London menus after its brief, trendy tenure, but Strada still serves it roasted with Parmesan, with sauteed mushrooms in a creamy sauce (£4.95). The cheese gives the firm polenta fingers much-needed flavour and an agreeable sticky edge. The mushrooms and their sauce are nicely, if gently, flavoured, and pleasingly reminiscent of what mum used to make you on toast for Sunday tea.

Risotto of lobster, tiger prawns, broad beans and roasted tomatoes (£13.95) contains an acceptable amount of sea food, although it is the skinned broad beans that really lift the dish. Risotto consistency is a very individual thing: those who like it sloppy will find this a bit firm whilst others will think it just right. Seared tuna at £10.95 (served medium, says the menu, just in case you were expecting to be able to choose how to have it cooked) is large and juicy and sits on a salad of cannelloni beans, rocket, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and green beans. Everything is prepared well, the barely cooked green beans retain their vital crunch, for example, and the zingy chive, caper and lemon dressing cuts through the richness of the oily fish. Again, it’s a whacking great portion, and probably the most successful dish of the night.

From the list of eight desserts, warm chocolate fondant, classically partnered with vanilla ice cream, is correctly gooey in the middle and has a reasonable depth of chocolate flavour. Pannacotta is comfortingly creamy and properly vanilla-y, offset by a coulis containing whole strawberries, raspberries and black- and redcurrants. Tiramisu is feather-light with a decent coffee kick and coffees seemed authentically Italian.

The Drink
Like the food, the wine is list sensible, non-scary and almost exclusively Italian. There are 12 whites, 13 reds and three roses from £13.25 to £42, many available by the glass. Four sparkling wines and Champagnes, three bottled beers and a range of liqueurs complete the booze options. A mid-priced Viognier from Sicily (£22) delivered the promised tropical fruit flavours and crisp, clean finish.

The Last Word
After you’ve lived with your partner for a few years, the stomach-knotting excitement, constant surprises and vertiginous emotional highs and lows are replaced by cosy, relaxed, secure familiarity. So it is with our relationship with the extraordinarily uniform Strada. Sure enough, this new North West London branch is just like all the others. It never astonishes the taste buds but it rarely disappoints them either. It gives its customers exactly what they want and expect and, whilst it’s hard not to damn such modest ambition with faint praise, that is really quite an achievement. If it reduced most of its portion sizes by 20%, not only could it increase its profits, but customers would not have to choose between skipping dessert or waddling down the road afterwards with an overstuffed tum!

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