NO MATTER how much you enjoy cooking, at the end of a busy week you often feel you owe it to yourself to abandon the kitchen and let someone else do the catering and cleaning up.

If your spouse or partner is feeling the same way then, oh what a shame, you may find yourself sallying forth to dine out, even in these straitened times.

Prezzo, which has branches in Weymouth and Dorchester, is always worth a visit. It serves Italian food, the ultimate gastronomic safety net, and you can even decide what to eat before you get there if you wanted, thanks to their on-line menu.

From past experience, the staff manage to balance efficiency with friendliness and the food is reasonably priced and, on the whole, good.

On arrival at Weymouth’s branch next to the Town Bridge, we were shown to our table – a quiet one overlooking the harbour – and were immediately descended upon by a zealous waiter asking for our drinks order and wondering whether we would like a bowl of marinated olives to snack on.

Now while I can’t abide sloppy service I do like a bit of breathing space between sitting at my table and launching into the whole ordering malarkey. Flustered dining is not good and while pestered is too strong a word, I think we were ‘approached’ three times before we were ready to order.

We eventually got there though and settled on a shared platter to start with.

A ‘rustic’ wooden board arrived laden with good things – transparently thin prosciutto, deliciously salty salami, wonderfully smooth and creamy mozzarella with peppery rocket giving an edge to its thick richness. There were more olives, gorgeously meaty and oily and four slabs of ciabatta, which were slightly too stodgy for the rest of the dish. We set to with gusto, washing it down with a light, crisp, delicate pink pino grigio.

The trouble with large starters – and I always, always forget this – is that they tend to dent the appetite.

My husband had settled on Raul’s bolognaise. Whoever Raul is, his bolognaise packs a meaty punch and comes with large pasta shells. It was obviously good because it silenced conversation for some time.

I went for risotto with chicken and pesto, not the most visually appealing but with lovely taste and texture. But here’s the second thing I always forget – no matter how beautifully it is made and seasoned and no matter how special its ingredients, risotto gets pretty monotonous half-way through. However, I did enjoy this one, very much.

In the end we decided against a pudding and having finished the wine we paid and left in search of a taxi.

If you can’t be bothered to cook and want somewhere where the food is reliable and the bill won’t reduce you to tears, give Prezzo a call. I strongly suspect that we will be back.

The Bill

Marinated olives £2.85

Antipasto platter for two to share £9.95

Risotto pollo e pesto £9.75

Raul's bolognaise £8.50

Bottle of pino grigio blush £16.50

Total £47.55