THERE'S a new kid on the block in Fareham town centre and this one oozes Mediterranean flair, with the cuisine to match.

Gone is the quaint Chaucer's tea rooms serving traditional English fare. Strapping Italians now serve up the goodies and at L'Ancora - and there are plenty to choose from.

Situated at the top end of West Street near to High Street the restaurant is far from being in the hub of the town centre but hungry punters can't help but be enticed by the smell of garlic and fresh herbs wafting from the restaurant.

Once inside you are immediately struck by the Mediterranean makeover the relatively small unit has undergone.

As we settled at our table we were greeted warmly by our waiter who presented us with an extensive menu.

In fact, a minor criticism would be the absence of a lunch time or snack menu as each of the dishes while mouth-watering were perhaps a tad extravagant for a lunch time nibble.

All the usual Italian favourites were on offer including risotto, gnocchi and a good choice of pasta and pizzas.

But the real choice was in the extensive meat, poultry and fish dishes that combined the typical flavours of the Mediterranean.

We ordered two wonderful sounding fish dishes - giant tiger prawns sauted in olive oil, garlic, parsley and white wine and fresh seabass fillets with tiger prawn, mussels, garlic and herbs wrapped in a foil parcel.

The presentation on both was fantastic. My seabass was a good mixture of seafood though perhaps the fillets weren't quite as big as expected although the garlic was definitely in abundance.

My friend also struggled to negotiate the prawns that were served still in their shells, which made for a bit of a soggy salad on which they were served. However they did indeed live up to their description of being 'giant'.

Accompanied with two soft drinks the bill came to £23.90 which was reasonable for the quality of the ingredients used.

L'Ancora is definitely a come again place but would suit me better as an evening haunt so the full charm of the Italian experience can be enjoyed and not cut short by the realisation of having to go back to work.

Reservations: 01329 829445.