Finding a light lunch in Pinner on a Sunday is quite a difficult job. I suppose everyone wants roasts on a weekend afternoon. Antipasti at Sazio was the closest to what we wanted. It turned out to be fairly good.

We took advantage of the outside seating so we didn’t see much of the restaurant interior but I was struck by how many young families seemed to be dining there. A suprising number of toddlers and very young children seemed to emerge from the door. Of course, this isn’t a problem, until two ten year olds on the table next to you start playing musical statues and singing to accompany their dancing. I know a lot of people want child friendly restaurants but, personally, I like the ones that ban them entirely.

The waiters and waitresses at Sazio are very polite but the service is a little slow. The language barrier (most of the staff are Italian) caused a little confusion but nothing serious.

The antipasti selection here is not bad. We tried baby octopus, calamari, grilled sardines and a rocket and parmesan salad. All of these were good, although the salad didn’t seem to have any parmesan. The octopus and sardines were good value for £4.50 each but I was a little disappointed by the small portion of calamari we got. Our wine, a bottle of Argentinian white, was very pleasant.

Looking at the rest of the menu, I think that I wouldn’t bother having an evening meal here. It is dominated by pizza and pasta. However there was a small selection of more interesting items. The calf’s liver sticks out as being the best. I would have liked to have reviewed the champagne sorbet, but it had run out.

I’d say Sazio is nice but nothing special. I guess the number of children decreases midweek so try it then!