THIS is a personal favourite of mine.

Located on Bath Road a couple of minutes from Old Town’s vibrant bars, family-run Fabio’s always has a tendency to make you feel welcome – the kind of vibe you get when popping along to a family member’s Sunday roast.

Booking is simple – online or over the phone, it takes a matter of seconds.

And the success of this restaurant is evident upon viewing the surroundings when you enter.

I’m only a Swindon novice, having worked in the town for just over a year, but the additional space secured by the owners in recent decades means they can accommodate hundreds, not just 20. That was Fabio’s maximum capacity when their doors were first opened.

And it’s easy to understand why this booming restaurant has experienced a multi-decade upward curve.

Before getting onto the menu, do make a special note of the ceiling made (almost) entirely out of cork from opened wine bottles. A nice little touch, and its span grows every time you visit.

Me and my partner visited on a busy Friday night. We’re walkers, so didn’t mind the minor climb up the hill to Old Town after parking in the town centre. But parking a couple of minutes’ walk from the entrance is very possible.

I’m a big fish lover – anything seafood ticks my boxes. And after being shown our table and taking a look at the menu I found the Trio Fritto (fried trio) held the strongest lure.

Priced at £8.45, the dish was based around breaded king prawns, calamari and whitebait – served with salad and garlic mayonnaise.

The king prawns in particular stood out for me. They possessed that chewy texture I just love, something I became far too familiar with on many a prawning trip with my dad in the early 2000s.

Lilly opted for the Gamberoni Fritti, priced £7.95. If she’s not talking, it’s a winner. And so this proved to be.

Service was prompt and always came with a smile. The expected care and attention to detail in the dishes’ presentation was also evident.

Starters out of the way, it was on to the main course, and I couldn’t not choose my favourite – Filetto Alla Gianni (£22.95). This was the third time I’ve opted for this dish.

You know when you feel you really should branch out, and maybe try something else but just can’t bring yourself to do it? Yeah, that.

Served in a delicious cream and brandy sauce, an opened fillet steak is wrapped in Parma ham and drizzled with mozzarella cheese.

All mains – except pasta – are served with vegetables and potatoes or salad. The potatoes are always cooked to the classic ‘crispy on the outside, fluffy in the middle’ texture.

Both fillets, cooked to medium, went down beautifully – as did the potatoes that soaked up the remaining sauce.

Opposite me, Lil’s Ravioli Di Pesce went down a treat too (£10.95).

The dish consisted of square-shaped pasta filled with seafood and cooked with smoked salmon and prawns in a cream sauce.

The bill came to just under £60, and it proved a delightful Italian mini-escape from the sub-par temperatures every British summer tends to offer.