Mama mia - a dish to cry over before the opera

A night at the opera, and Rosemarie is in tears even before we get there - not over the coming demise of the hapless heroine but because of the heat of the dish she is trying to eat next door to the Oxford Apollo, at Bella Pasta.

Penne siciliana is part of the newly refurbished restaurant's £9.99 set three course dinner - an oven-baked dish of meatballs, mixed peppers and onions in what is called a "spicy" sauce.

For "spicy" read blistering hot. R. - no faintheart - barely managed a third.

By contrast, her set-meal starter of mushroom soup was unpleasantly cool, having been left standing, as we could see, for five minutes at the servery before being delivered.

No such problem with my starter of funghi rossicca, a delicious, piping hot mix of mushrooms (few in number) in a rich tomato and wine sauce, with more than a tang of basil. OK, too, was the side order of garlic bread I asked for in addition to the biscuit-like herb bread.

As this was an afterthought, I was pleased at the commendable speed at which it was delivered by the cheery young waitress who was giving us all the attention she could at this busy pre-theatre period.

Watching the staff nipping around the tables, one realised how much more spacious the place seems following the revamp, in which the layout has been subtly altered, while its decorative theme of Italian bric-a-brac remains much the same.

The menu has changed with the addition of many new dishes, including something called Adventures in Pasta, a regularly changing assortment. My selection was one of these - smoked spaghetti with chicken breast in a tomato sauce.

Pleasant though it was (and my first experience of smoked pasta), I thought it steeply priced at £8.95. My side salad of tomatoes and assorted greenery was offered with a choice of dressings. I went for one which appeared to blend white wine, tarragon and mayonnaise.

Our half-litre of chianti was fairly priced and good. After sharing a huge ice cream (the final part of R.'s set meal) I finished with a strong espresso to set me up for the opera.

The Bill.
1 funghi rossici £3.95
1 smoked spaghetti £8.95
1 mixed salad £2.55
1 garlic bread £2.05
1 set price dinner £9.99
1 espresso £1.15
1/2 litre Chianti £7.35
1 bt Rocorolla water £1.80

TOTAL £37.79

DISABLED ACCESS
LOOS DOWNSTAIRS
NON-SMOKING