Emma Johnson joins her colleagues for a long lunch just around the corner

THANKS to a predilection for late-night parties (I have a second life as a club reviewer), not to mention my husband’s career in the nightclub industry, I have spent more than the occasional night at Liverpool’s Radisson SAS Hotel.

After all, it is much easier to bed down there in the early hours than face the long slog to my home beyond the Merseyside boundary.

And I have always been a big fan of the establishment – I love the big beds and they have the best lighting for make-up application of any hotel (ladies, you know what I mean).

In fact, the only thing that I have always found a little disappointing about the place was the restaurant. The food has always been satisfactory and they offered – in my opinion – by far the best hotel breakfast in the city.

It is just that the restaurant, with its white tablecloths and bare walls, always seemed a little bit sterile.

So I was delighted when earlier this year I learned the restaurant was getting a refurb. And what a refurbishment it has been. The place is barely recognisable.

Everything has changed, taking the restaurant from being a pristine white and minimal setting to a scarlet red-draped, opulent affair.

The white tablecloths and hard-backed chairs have been replaced with intimate booth seating and chandeliers.

Most strikingly, though, the almost panoramic window which offers views onto the Mersey has been dressed with a delicately lace-patterned wooden shutter which can be pulled back by day and across at night, to allow the Liverpool lights to twinkle through.

I have not had the pleasure of staying at the hotel since the facelift, so my first opportunity to test out the new-look restaurant came on a recent lunch with some colleagues.

The lunch was to welcome a new member of staff. Of course, work schedules being what they are, she had been with us two months by the time we got around to it.

No matter. When we got to the restaurant – which as anyone who has been to our office will know is all of a hundred yards from our building – it was quite quiet and we were quickly shown to our seat.

There was nothing quick about our order, though.

Even though three out of the four of us dining were choosing from the lunchtime Rapido menu, which offers three starters, mains and desserts at a very reasonable £11.50 for two courses or £13.50 for three, we still took an age to make up our minds.

Eventually, Laura and I both decided on the Italian meats and tomato dressing followed by the chicken with roasted butternut squash, while Alpa chose the clear ham and vegetable soup to start followed by the Strozzapretti (which our helpful waiter informed us was a type of pasta) with tomato and chilli sauce.

Had any of us been looking for a lighter lunch, we could also have had baby gem and chicory salad with gorgonzola dressing to start, followed by tuna, cherry tomato and rocket salad.

Emma bravely broke free of the crowd and ordered, from the main menu, the same soup (£4.95 when ordered a la carte) followed by a prosciutto crudo pizza (£9.50).

After weighing up that buying a bottle was more economically viable than ordering a glass each, we ordered a bottle of Sicilian Cattaratto Chardonay D’Istinto (£16.95 as opposed to £4.95 by the 250ml glass) to drink, as well as a bottle of still mineral water.

As we awaited the arrival of the food, we enjoyed an assortment of breads with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, but we did not have to wait long for the starters. All of the dishes were winners. The Italian meats, far from being the small portion we were anticipating for the price, were spectacular – there was easily enough to share one starter between two, and the meat was moist and juicy and set off brilliantly by the dressing.

The soup, meanwhile, was rich and hearty with lots of vegetables and no shortage of ham.

Shortly after Laura and I finally finished our mammoth starters (I am not complaining, I love cured meats!), the main courses arrived. The chicken portion was sensible and moistened with a sticky and rich jus.

The chicken was tender and really flavoursome and the squash was perfect.

But the showstopper was the garlic mash we chose to accompany the dish – I could have eaten just that . . . for days.

In fact, only the fear of gassing everyone in the office later that day stopped me finishing it all off.

Emma’s pizza was also getting a favourable reception. Thin and light, it had a good sprinkling of prosciutto but possibly a little too much cheese.

The only disappointing dish was the pasta, which Alpa reported to be a little too bland and swamped by the tomato, lacking enough bite from the chilli.

As the main courses were cleared away, possibly overwhelmed by actually dining away from our desks, three of us opted to throw in dessert. Sticky toffee pudding for me and chocolate cheesecake for Alpa and Laura. Emma, meanwhile, took the low-calorie high ground, ordering only a coffee.

The desserts really were the piece de resistance – the chocolate cheesecake really light and not at all sickly, and the sticky toffee pudding great comfort food.

Although a blob of ice cream would have made it heaven in a dish.

Fab food to match a now fabulous-looking restaurant. Can’t wait to check out the breakfast!

Filini Bar & Restaurant, Radisson SAS Hotel, 107 Old Hall Street, Liverpool

Tel: 0871 811 4794

Children welcome: Yes

Parking: Street parking and two car parks nearby.

Disabled access: Very good.

Value: The Rapido menu is pretty impressive on that front.

Service: A little slow, but polite and friendly.

Bill: £74.40.