It was booked up the first time, but Laura Davis was glad she made a return trip

‘SEE, we said we’d come back and we have,” announced a middle-aged woman as she emerged through the door of the restaurant. “You’ve tempted us back.”

A good sign indeed, we thought, as we watched them from our table. But then Spire is full of good signs – from the “Good Food Guide” sticker in the window to the owner’s welcoming smile.

Another hint that this was a place worth visiting, though rather a frustrating one, was that this was our second attempt to eat there.

As the first was on a Tuesday night, when other restaurants in the Allerton Road area were full of empty tables, so we hadn’t bothered to book. Not a chance.

This time, having phoned ahead, we were rewarded with a nice table for two in the middle of the room.

It was a Tuesday again and, although the main dining area was less busy than our previous visit, there appeared to be an event going on upstairs.

From the good selection of starters, Paul – ever predictable – chose the soup (£3.95), while I went for the sauteed garlic king prawns with herb foccacia crostini (£6.75). Before the dishes arrived, we were treated to a basket of homemade bread with a basil oil dip.

The roasted pumpkin and potato soup was rich and creamy, the perfect dish for a cold autumn evening.

My prawns were a generous helping, with plenty of flavour and enough garlic to knock out a vampire.

It’s only a shame it wasn’t Halloween.

While we waited for our main courses, we were served an amuse-bouche of tiny pieces of melon and pineapple bound together in a mint syrup.

It was pleasantly refreshing and cleansed our palates ready for the heftier stuff that followed.

Once again, Paul had gone for a predictable option – the 8oz sirloin of Scottish beef with sauteed mushrooms, grilled tomato and chunky chips (£16.50).

Predictable a choice it may have been (I had guessed what he would order before we were even handed the menus), but he pointed out that it can be difficult to find a restaurant that cooks a steak just as you ask for it and that this could be one of them.

He was right, and as well as serving the meat “medium”, as Paul had requested, it was a really good cut – thick and juicy with no excess fat.

The chips were those huge chunky ones that you imagine your mother used to make but probably never really did (oven chips only in our house) and there was a good-sized portion of everything.

While Paul’s choice was about as traditional and as straightforward as you could get, mine was the opposite.

I went for the vegetarian option – the fresh sauteed fettuccini with tempura vegetables and grilled haloumi – based on the fact that I like pasta, tempura veg and the Greek cheese.

The pasta was al dente, the tempura beautifully crispy and the haloumi perfectly melty without losing its shape.