Fake Italian patois in pasta eateries is thankfully vanishing, says Laura Davis

DODGY accents in Italian restaurants are as common as leaky teapots in a greasy spoon.

They are almost as much a part of the traditional UK Latin experience as dribbling spaghetti and ordering too much garlic bread.

Is this a conscious decision by restaurateurs, I wonder, perhaps based on the marketing theory that cannelloni just wouldn’t taste the same served up with a side order of received pronunciation?

Or maybe adopting an Italian timbre just comes naturally to waiters, in the way Doctor Who slips between English and broad Scots at the appropriate moment without a second thought.

Now that Liverpool’s dining scene has become more sophisti-cated, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to spot a phoney accent lurking behind the profiteroles.

And I have a sneaky suspicion that more and more authentic Italian waiters are slipping through the net.

One of them, I am fairly sure, served us at Il Forno last week. His dismissive wave of the hand after ordering and his efficient yet flourished way of putting down the dishes was a dead giveaway.

Even if you’re pretty ambivalent about pizza, the Duke Street restaurant is worth a visit just to see the enormous oven shaped like a sun god’s face that takes centre stage.

A row of seats directly in front allows a view of the chefs feeding in rounds of dough, like sacrifices, bringing them out again with cheese bubbling on top.

More sociably positioned tables tend to be filled with families and groups of chatting friends, giving the place a busy atmosphere.

To start, I chose the Prosciutto di Parma con Mozzarella di Bufala (£5.95), a large plate of silky strips of Parma ham with an entire ball of mozzarella that was incredibly juicy and its fresh milkiness combined perfectly with the meat’s rich saltiness.

My friends went for the seafood options – Alpa chose the Gamberoni Aglio e Olio (£6.95) and Katie for the Frittura di Calamari e Verdurine (£4.75).

Alpa’s pan-fried king prawns were nice and juicy and came served on a bed of mixed leaves and a garlic and olive oil dressing. A decent portion, not the disap- pointing four or five you get in some restaurants. Meanwhile, Katie, who recently embarked on a mission to try as much seafood as she could, was enjoying her cal- amari. The squid, she said, was not over chewy and the batter light.

On the same theme, Katie chose the Linguine alle Vongole Veraci (£8.25) – freshly made pasta tossed with clams, garlic, parsley, olive oil and cherry tomatoes. It was a good balance of flavours and the clams being left in their shells was a nice visual touch.

Alpa’s Ravioli al Burro e Salvia (£7.95) was less successful. She felt that there was not enough spinach and ricotta filling and that the butter and sage sauce that it came in made the dish too oily.

My choice of main course was one I had tried before and, as I had never seen it anywhere else, fancied a repeat. The Pizza Car-ciofi (£7.95) is unusual because, instead of being covered in tomato sauce, it has an artichoke cream.