La Luna: Delicious, hearty and plentiful Italian food in a cosy setting at one of Sheffield’s oldest restaurants

La Luna has been a favourite restaurant of Sheffielders for 26 years, and it’s reputation meant I was really looking forward to giving it a try. It’s a traditional, family run Italian restaurant, on Ecclesall road, Banner Cross – and my overall review is that it is ‘incredibile'.

I visited with my partner Tom on Friday evening, and every table was full, providing a vibrant atmosphere. We were shown to a table at the back corner of the restaurant which made us feel cosy. After browsing the menu, I settled on the arancini (£8) for starter, followed by the cannelloni verde (£14) and Tom opted for the antipasto misto for starter (£10) and calzone piccante (£15) for main.

Starters are meant to whet your appetite and make you excited about the food still to come – and the food in front of you, of course – and they both did that for us. My arancini, deep fried rice balls served with tomato sauce and focaccia bread, were wonderfully crisp with a melt-in the-mouth centre. The sauce cut through with a tounge-tingling zing, it was perfect.

Tom was equally impressed with his starter, a selection of bresaola, prosciutto ham, spicy n’duja salami, olives, artichokes, peppers and bread. He devoured it all and decalred it all ‘delicious’, saying it was unlike anything else he had tasted.

Next, on to mains. The cannelloni verde is a classic veggie dish of pasta tubes filled with ricotta cheese, spinach, pine nuts, tomato and bechamel sauce and this is one of the best I have ever had. Every mouthful was moreish and tasted so fresh. There was plenty of sauce and the balance of cheese, spinach and nuts was just right.

Tom loved his calzone, which came stuffed with mozzarella, mushrooms, ham, and salami and was served with bolognese and salad. He said it was “beautiful” and gave it a rating of 11 out of 10. It’s easy to see why this restaurant has stood the test of time, and I am now among the group of people who call it one of my favourite restaurants in Sheffield.

I must add that the portion sizes are extremely generous here. If you visit I would advise eating light beforehand so that you can enjoy the delicious food because it’s so good you’ll be disappointed if you have to leave even a mouthful. I would have loved to have a dessert as the food was so enjoyable I’m certain their sweet offerings would have also been superb, but I was just too full after two courses. We will be sure to return for this again in future, however.

The restaurant is fully licensed, but it also offers a bring your own wine policy, so we had taken our own bottle. Because of that our total bill came to £51, including a £2 per head corkage fee.