TAKE away the name and menu and you can still be in no doubt as to what sort of restaurant La Pergola is.

To begin with, there's a sign outside that reads "Parking for Italians Only - others will be towed" - I think it's a joke.

Then there's the fact that the outside and interior are all decked out in red and green.

And if by any chance you're still in doubt, the dodgy Italian pop music coming through the speakers and paintings of famous landmarks like the

Coliseum should quell your confusion.

If "Italian" is the first word you'd use as an adjective for La Pergola, "busy" is the second. The many tables and chairs are apparently arranged haphazardly and there is a vast and interesting array of bottles, pictures, plants and lights on all shelves and walls.

By all accounts, the restaurant is more often than not packed with people too. It certainly was on the evening I turned up with a friend, both of us hungry for an authentic Mediterranean dining experience of extensive eating and gossip.

We weren't disappointed, although much of our initial chat was about what to choose from a truly vast menu.

For starters, I ordered bruschetta - garlic toast topped with fresh chopped tomato, olive oil and basil. My friend chose frittura di verdura - crispy fried vegetables with garlic dip. This, however, was on the understanding that we would each have half of both dishes.

After much passing of food from plate to plate, we finally discovered that it was delicious.

Both dip and bread had just the right amount of garlic and the frying of the vegetables gave them a crispy texture and extremely full flavour. Both portions were generous and came with a colourful and tasty mixed salad.

The La Pergola menu lists the Italian names and then describes them underneath. I chickened out of asking for maiale ripieno, instead requesting "loin of pork with sun-dried tomato and basil stuffing , served with a light tomato and cream sauce". Well actually, I just asked for "the pork".

My friend ordered lasagne rather than "layers of pasta, Bolognese sauce, bechamel and chopped egg, topped with mozzarella cheese", although I think her choice gave her an unfair advantage.

She was served with the largest lasagne I've ever seen and she said it was one of the best she'd tasted. My dish consisted of five wheels of tender - but not alarmingly so - pork in a tangy sauce of perfect creamy consistency.

We couldn't manage dessert, instead having to enviously eye huge, delicious- looking cakes being shown to other diners.

Our very Italian experience cost only £38 including drinks and there was the added bonus that our cars were still there when we left.

La Pergola is in Southampton Road, Lyndhurst. Tel: 023 8028 4184