Busy Italian in Wakefield city centre is great for families

The restaurant has a lunch menu of pizza, pasta, paninis, salads and specials and an evening menu that offers everything from traditional pizzas and pastas to more adventurous meals such as swordfish and veal.

We were served with breads, olives and a delicious tomato dip while we decided on our meals.

The three of us started with a garlic pizza bread, which was big enough to share, and was everything it should be - hot, thin, crispy and full of garlic and taste.

For my main meal, I decided on the paella - rice, chicken, beef, seafood, onion and peppers in a white wine sauce. The amount of meat was unbelievable, especially for the price (£11.95). The dish was full of fish, prawns, chicken and beef, topped with even more beef and chicken and surrounded by prawns and mussels. There was too much for me to eat but it was so tasty that I kept going anyway because I didn’t want to leave it. Mussels aren’t a favourite of mine, but the rest of the meat and seafood was tender and really well-cooked.

My husband ordered the calzone, which was stuffed full of cheese, ham, salami, mushroom - I had food envy despite my delicious main.

There’s no set children’s menu but the venue does offer smaller portions of anything off the main menu for roughly half the price. My daughter chose spaghetti bolognese and she received a pretty big portion.

The waiter quickly realised that the kitchen staff had plated it up on a hot plate and immediately switched it to a cold bowl so my daughter didn’t burn herself.

The drink and wine list looked fairly good, although we stuck to soft drinks on this occasion.

The setting is as the name suggests - rustic, with wooden tables and a true Italian feel.

It’s a great family-friendly environment, and the prices go easy on your wallet, with the full bill coming to under £35.

Rustico is definitely worth a visit, and I’ve given it an eight out of ten rating. It seems others agree, as the restaurant has a four out of five rating on Tripadvisor.