MY parents came to visit over the weekend, eager to see where their roving reporter son lived and worked.

After exchanging lots of hugs and happy hellos, we realised we were starving, though they didn't fancy popping into the Outlet, so we went into the town centre for a bite to eat at The Crossing.

There were plenty of places to choose from, though Broccoli Pizza and Pasta caught my eye.

The Adver had covered its opening a few months ago but hadn't yet sampled its wares, so this was the perfect opportunity to do sot - and who better to try it than an Italian (well, half-Italian. Ish.)?

As it was Saturday lunchtime, the place was packed full of people.

The menu above the counter was simple, straightforward and, according to Mum, so clear and easy to read that she didn't have to put her glasses on to choose what she wanted.

This was a good start.

I ordered a 10" medium-sized pepperoni pizza (£8.99), Mum ordered a small 8" Hawaiian pizza (£5.99) and Dad ordered Tortelloni with meatballs (£6.99), all to eat in.

However, the ordering process didn't go quite as smoothly as we'd hoped.

First, the server told us that they were out of meatballs, so Dad opted for the Create-Your-Own pasta dish (also £6.99) with Tortelloni in a Bolognese sauce with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

He could have also added fresh vegetables, spices, meats or prawns onto the dish, but decided to keep it simple.

Salads, soups (including, of course, broccoli), lasagne, and eggy breakfasts were also on the menu.

Our server prepared the pasta right in front of us, while another chef behind him rolled out the dough on our pizzas and added the toppings.

This was undeniably cool to watch, though it must have taken all our server's concentration to prepare the pasta because he asked Mum four times to remind him what else we'd ordered, which she did in a louder and slower voice each time.

After the fourth time, her smile had disappeared and she was giving the server a familiar stare of disappointment and disapproval which had been deployed during the many times my younger brother and I were annoying little so-and-sos to each other when we were little.

The totals were totted up at the till by the friendly manager, who mentioned that we had ordered a children's portion of pasta (£3.99), much to my father's befuddlement.

Dad is in his mid-50's and could not, under any circumstances, be mistaken for a child and had never asked for a kid's meal, so how had this happened?

The only explanation I could offer was that the server may have thought that I was a kid and Dad was ordering for me, though that was also incredibly unlikely.

I have often been told that I look young for my age (26, if you're wondering), but being confused for a prepubescent boy would definitely set a new, unbeatable record.

While the confusion was cleared up, the kids' meal was added to our bill for free, and a regular portion of pasta was tossed into the pan, we bought a can of Diet Pepsi and two bottles of water (all £1.10 each), paid for everything and sat at a table.

Grabbing a quick bite to eat had become an unexpectedly slow and, judging by the looks on my parents' faces, rather exasperating experience.

Fortunately, when we tucked into the finished pizzas and a normal-sized pasta portion, we were all very satisfied with our meals.

Dad is notoriously fussy with Italian food, being from an Italian bloodline himself, but he proclaimed that it was quite nice.

This would be high praise for food served at an Italian restaurant - for a fast food place, it's equivalent to awarding a Michelin star.

He also complimented the fact that it was served al dente, which is the way he liked it, and said the sauce was good and rich.

I agreed with his assessment, having tried some of the pasta from the kids' meal as a starter before my pepperoni pizza, which was tasty and well-cooked, with a base that was crisp and not too doughy.

Mum, who was considerably happier and more relaxed now that the food had arrived. enjoyed her Hawaiian pizza and liked that it was freshly-made, that the ingredients were also fresh, and that the Choose-Your-Own meal offered a wide range of choices.

It had taken more than 20 minutes to go from our first glance at the menu to our first bite, but we were happy and full.

While in the queue, I'd noticed that everyone who had been served around the same time as us had had their orders fulfilled faster than ours and with no errors.

So, it may well just be bad luck that the only order they'd messed up happened to be the one made by an undercover reviewer from the local paper.

Typical, eh?

Broccoli Pizza and Pasta is still well worth a visit because the food is very nice, which is the most important thing, and it's reasonably-priced, though the service could perhaps be slightly smoother.