What is the perfect destination for a dinner date? Whether it be the first or a meal to celebrate an anniversary, what venue should you choose to ensure a good night?

Ideally the restaurant would offer privacy, to allow space for conversation to flow within, yet one with a sense of atmosphere too. Most of all, the location should be romantic. So my choice was based on the romantic tale behind the origins of the famous Frankie & Benny’s “New York Italian” diner.

In 1924, a ten year old Frankie Giuliani swapped Sicily for New York, accompanied by his parents. Once there the family opened a restaurant, contributing equally to both the building and the cooking- with each family member adding their favourite dish to the menu.

After almost thirty years ‘Poppa’ retired, leaving Frankie, and lifetime friend Benny, to take the reins - combining popular American dishes with traditional Italian cuisine; in doing so creating one of the most highly lauded restaurants on either side of the Atlantic.

The restaurant has a laid-back atmosphere upon entrance, a bar offering the option for pre or post meal drinks to unwind and extend the Frankie & Benny’s experience. The eating area is comfortable and spacious - booths accommodating for all the dinner date criteria as mentioned above.

The interior decoration is in the style of a traditional American diner and the service is certainly based on the model established stateside; warm, welcoming staff keen to help.

What we needed help with was food selection - the menu has such an extensive range of choices that it can prove difficult to decide what to have. To start we opted to go for the Frankie & Benny Starter Platter (£11.25) : “A giant sharing dish of our house favourites.”

The selection of food on the platter was well-cooked and full of taste, the chicken strips and garlic ciabatta bread in particular, were delicious. Having enjoyed sharing our starters so much, we decided that we would split our mains too; ordering the Manhattan Burger (£10.45) and BBQ Ribs Full Rack (£12.45).

The ribs were so tender that they literally fell away from the bone and melted in your mouth. Cooked perfectly, they formed a thoroughly enjoyable meal. It was now obvious to me why this had become Frankie & Benny’s signature dish.

The burger, while having no obvious fault, simply couldn’t live up to the standard set by the ribs - it felt like an arduous task finishing the meal. We concluded afterwards, that this was probably down to the fact that we had enjoyed the ribs so much - by the time we came round to eating the burger, we didn’t fancy it.

Although I felt dangerously close to bloated by the time the dessert menu was produced the dishes on offer proved too tempting to refuse. My date opted for the Brownies and Ice Cream (£3.95) while I chose the Banoffee Sundae (£3.95).

My date was vocal with her enjoyment of the brownies - they were warm and gooey, “just the way they should be.” Coupled with cream ice cream, it proved to be an irresistible dessert.

My sundae was delicious and, as the menu boasts, “to die for!” The well tested combination of toffee, banana and honeycomb certainly hit the spot on this occasion, proving to be the perfect conclusion to a wonderful meal.