Akentannos Sheffield: A familial Sardinian embrace on Sharrow Vale Road’s impressive restaurant scene - review

If I live to 100, I will have been to this restaurant at least 500 times. I am banking on the Sardinian owner Mario to do so as well, for his presence as an owner, maître d’, chef, and all-round host and anchor is noteworthy, and should be preserved at all costs.

A seat at Akentannos is a seat in Mario and his wife Giovanna’s own dining room, such is the welcome he bestows upon his frien...sorry, customers.

You would be hard-pressed to find something better to start with, providing you keep carnivorous company, than a Sapori Sardi (Sardinian Flavours).

The board comes dressed in wafer slices of Sardinian cured meats, draped like flags on a still day.

Pecorino sardo (get used to this word), and smoked ricotta with honey with a grated a cured fish roe called bottarga are dotted around upliftingly sweet peppers, olives, artichokes…yeh yeh you get the idea.

In fact, even if you are anti-carnivorous there is still plenty on this board to enjoy, and your meat-eating friends will certainly thank you for it. If you want to look further than this then your self-restraint is greater than mine.

Nevertheless, the grilled aubergine with pecorino (we’re not yet done), or the octopus with chilli and garlic are respectable substitutes.

Most dishes are served with pane carasau, a crispy traditional Sardinian flatbread which is stunning, both in looks and what it adds to a plate of food.

Let’s knuckle down to business then, and I will start with a plea: can British-Italian restaurants please adopt an Italian way of presenting a menu?

You know, starter, pasta, main, pudding. I am too gluttonous to choose between pasta and a main course, but servings designed to compensate for either-or are not fair.

Fine, pasta it is then, but I will be robbing, sorry, sampling some bites from my fellow diners.

Malloreddus is a mini-gnocchi shaped pasta that has been rolled slightly to resemble a tiny canoe, and crikey, I might have found the perfect vessel to scoop up a ragù.

Even better if that ragù is made with lamb, rosemary and left undisturbed for hours. This dish comes heavily dusted in the dandruff of the gods – yes that’s our old friend pecorino sardo – and it was a real treat.

An ever- changing specials menu provides the fresh injection of life any restaurant needs and is terrific in its simplicity, a real cornerstone of Akentannos’ gastronomic – and by extension of Sardinian–philosophy.

Mario and Giovanna have a talented selection of Sardinian wine to choose from and you are in great hands if you let them choose for you.

If you want to appear a knowledgeable oenologist, the Iselis, made from the lesser-known Monica grape, will guide you through every mouthful with a warm hand.

You are new to Sardinian food? Then finish your meal with something typical: Seadas. It is a zesty, fried pastry glossed in warm honey and lemon zest, and the filling, you guessed it, a young pecorino sardo. Eat it quickly while the cheese is still melted for best results.

I am very fond of Akentannos. You are welcomed like a member of the extended family, and its simple style of cooking, executed skilfully, is a real charm in Sharrow Vale Road’s impressive restaurant scene.

Great ingredients need no complication, and this is so clearly understood by Mario and Giovanna. Book a table at Akentannos and you can forget about the stresses of life; here life slows down to savour great food and company.