By GABRIELLE ROWLEY

Ever since I heard of the opening of a new Italian on Barrow's Dalton road named Capuleti e Montecchi five weeks ago, I had been simply dying to try it. 

This is because I am a huge fan of Shakespearean plays and a hopeless romantic. Therefore I was immediately intrigued by the name, which simply translates to "Capulet and Montague", the surnames of Shakespeare's most famous lovers - Juliet and her Romeo. 

Anybody who has read the play (or watched the film with Leo DiCaprio) will know that the Capulets and Montagues were two ancient, noble houses who waged an ongoing dispute in Italy's quaintest of cities - Verona. 

Fittingly, I went to review Barrow's newest Italian on the evening before the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death and I decided to take along my sister - Dory. 

Of course, the night before my sister informed me that her husband and her 10-year-old daughter would love to join and so a girls' dinner evolved in to a family catch-up.

Entering the restaurant we were given a roomy table at the back, with plenty of room to spread out. The decor is rustic and my sister observed that perhaps the owners had been antique hunting to find a few bits and bobs to add a personal touch. 

The most interesting thing about the interior is the line of books painting across the back wall, made to resemble a library, which I found fairly fitting with the intellectual naming of the restaurant.

We all ordered starters and main courses, trying to sample a range of dishes on the fairly extensive menu. I shared a cheesy garlic bread with my brother-in-law Peter to start, my sister Dory chose the Tricolore (a selection of tomato, mozzarella and avocado) and my niece Isabelle chose a traditional Italian bruschetta. 

All starters were excellent. Isabelle commented that the bruschetta was  excellent - more in the traditional Italian style than she had sampled on her summer holiday. 

My picky sister was very happy with her choice and even wanted to pinch a piece of garlic bread from myself and Peter. This did not go down too well with Peter, who exclaimed: "I could have eaten 10 of those garlic breads, it was gorgeous!" 

For our main courses we again went for a variation of traditional Italian fare. I chose a pizza, Peter chose lasagne, Dory chose a king prawn, chilli and garlic spaghetti and Isabelle, in an unusual fit of health-conscious ordering, chose a chicken caesar salad. 

We were again pleased with our choices, Peter said that the lasagne was fantastic and he would definitely order it again. It was a generous portion, even for a big man like him and so that was probably the top dish to recommend. 

I ordered an Al Prosciutto pizza, which was described as having buffalo mozzarella and prosciutto ham as toppings. Having been to Italy several times I was disappointed that the pizza appeared to be topped with plain ham, more like lardons. 

Overall it was a great pizza - a thin, crispy base and plenty of cheese I was just disappointed not to receive a traditional Italian prosciutto, which is a dry-cured ham that is usually thinly sliced and served uncooked, as it is one of my favourite foods. 

The pasta and salad were of a high quality and the only other things noticed by my eagle-eyed sister was that the Parmesan left on the table not enough to go around and the black pepper could have come in a traditional Italian mill rather than the ordinary one on the table. 

The manageress was very professional and accommodating and made sure we were constantly attended by the young waitress. 

We shared a traditional tiramisu for dessert as we were all too full for a dessert each. It was a perfect blend of chocolate, coffee and creme and served in a traditional Italian style. 

We were all very impressed with the chef, who is Italian, as the food was of a very high standard overall and I would definitely return with friends. 

Food 4

Service 4/5

Atmosphere 4/5

Value 3.5/5

Food 4.5/5

Pros

Traditional Italian cuisine

Family friendly

Extensive menu

Cons

Some slightly confusing phrasing on the menu