IT USED to be traditional English restaurant, replete with morning coffees, meat and two veg and an evening meal. I suspect, if you were really lucky, you could also obtain a bowl of brown Windsor soup. It was called The Chequers tea room and restaurant and was in business for many years in Church Street, Rickmansworth.

More recently it has re-emerged as ZaZa', an Italian restaurant, which, when it opened for business, seemed a bold move.

Rickmansworth already had three in the town centre and another offering certain Italian dishes within easy reach. We are used to a proliferation of Indian restaurants but can a community the size of Rickmansworth really support four Italian restaurants?

The owners behind ZaZa' were well aware of the competition but decided there was a market and if their food was wellprepared, served in signifcantly-sized portions, then their very quality would ensure they found a respectable market share. And it appears to have worked.

The premises underwent a complete refurbishment, the beams were lighted and the decor reflects a pleasant combination of what feels like a traditional Tudor-type, beamed English tea-room and the terracotta modernism of an Italian eaterie.

There is a first-floor facility that doubles as a function room and a terrace to the rear, available for summer dining.

The first time I visited the restaurant, I did have the feeling the tables were packed a little too closely and the tables for two were narrow, hard pushed to accommodate wine, water, and their respective glasses, along with the plates and side dishes.

On the second visit, the tables were still a touch too narrow for my tastes but the restaurant was packed and the bistro-type ambience seemed totally in keeping.

The wooden floor is a further bonus in that you are competing with the constant echoes so familiar in restaurants with tiled floors.

The house speciality is simply fresh fish caught daily and, as the menu points out, your patience is appreciated after ordering foods, as all meals are prepared to order.

Over a period of time I have tried several of ZaZa' offerings, including a number of items from the specials board, and have only struggled with one and that because of the very size of the surf and turf amalgam great fish and fine meat.

For those reluctant to try a new restaurant without obtaining a variety of opinions, you could take advantage of the £5 eat-as-much-as-you-like lunchtime offer.

A friend and I popped in the other lunchtime and enjoyed a beer, a glass of wine, a substantial bowl of extremely tasty penne arrabiata and a Pavarotti pizza, followed by two coffees, and came out with change from £15.

I am not a great lover of pizza, because of the amount of base usually involved, but the size was such my companion seemed in need of help, so I had a slice. The base was almost pancake thin and extremely agreeable.

Further, while only paying £5 for the course, there was no stinting on the size of the portions which I would rate as ample.

ZaZa' is at 21, Church Street, Rickmansworth, Telephone 01923 772287.

Rating: Three stars.