Cosy corner Italian might be a little rich

With a bottle of pinot noir and a Campari spritz, our bill came to €136.80 for a dinner which was really only okay, and which in parts felt very overpriced

Pinocchio in Ranelagh, Dublin 6: a bit too expensive for a middling meal

Pinocchio

Luas Kiosk, Ranelagh, Dublin 6

01-4970111, flavourofitaly.net

Chef: Pasquale Maisto

On a Saturday night in Ranelagh, an Italian friend is telling us about a dish from his native city of Vicenza which sounds completely delicious, if perhaps a little out there for the squeamish.

Called straculo e oséi - in the local dialect, it translates as ‘birds with extra ass’ - it involves songbirds that have been shot, then put onto skewers ...