Nino's At The Fighting Cocks Inn Red Leeds Road Burnley - 4th December 2016

Nino's At The Fighting Cocks is an Italian restaurant, with breath-taking views over the countryside, owned by the Pilliteri family, who have built up a thriving business.   The building itself is quite imposing and inside has been beautifully furnished and is spacious, with plenty of seating.   Every Friday and Saturday evening, there is live music and they have outdoor seating, with a barbecue area, for alfresco dining, in the summer months.

Our visit was for lunch, to meet up with friends, who had asked Steven and I to be godparents, to their young baby son.   There are no specific vegan dishes on the menu, so I asked our waiter a couple of questions and was happy that I could be catered for.   However beware, I nearly opened the packet of breadsticks, read the label and realised they had lard in.

I kicked off with tomato bruschetta, drizzled with loads of olive oil, with pea shoots, which I love and with a good grind of black pepper, is a favourite dish of mine.

I love pasta and was relieved the spaghetti and linguine are egg free, so I ordered spaghetti alla Norma, made with aubergine, chilli and tomato and a side salad.

I love all the ingredients in this dish, the pasta was perfectly cooked, nicely cooked aubergine, great tomato sauce, fresh side salad, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I was too full for pudding, not that there is a vegan alternative, so I finished with a large espresso coffee, which I normally avoid later in the day, as it always keeps me awake, but I was driving, so that was a good thing.

I would definitely revisit Nino's, the food was excellent, service was friendly and efficient, so maybe next time I will try one of their pizza.