Our undercover meal reviewer The Insider finds a Mediterranean menu with plenty of choice – but it’s a sirloin with peppercorn sauce that sealed it.

When the distinctive curved blue office block at the junction of Bridge Street and Goodall Street in Walsall was built in 1959, it represented the stunning future of British architecture.

The shimmering expanses of plate glass, the vibrant turquoise panels, the sunshine licking the gleaming aluminium frames. A bold vision of a brave new era.

Today the bright blue paintwork is faded. The once white concrete of the neighbouring Tameway Tower is dull and grey. Yet quietly tucked away behind these monuments to modernism is the old Guildhall, an impressive 19th century brick and stone building constructed in a distinctive Italianate style.

Okay, it’s not the Santa Maria del Fiore, but its pretty impressive for a provincial town in the West Midlands.

I felt rather like I had travelled in time pretty much the moment I stepped through the door of Sofia’s, the restaurant which now occupies the historic Guildhall.

It was like stepping on to the set of a Human League video. Mirrors everywhere, red neon strip lights and a marble lake filled with giant fish.

If the BBC needs a new location to film Ashes to Ashes, it needs to look no further. This is the 1980s at its most decadent. I should have worn a white jacket with the sleeves rolled up.

Putting my sensible hat back on for a moment, there is a small car park at the rear, but wheelchair users may be advised to check in advance as there are steps from the reception waiting area to the restaurant.

When we were taken to our table, a waitress kindly offered to take our coats. At the time I thought this was a professional touch, but I almost regretted handing mine over so readily when I realised how cold it was. But it was then that my attention was drawn to the portable gas heater behind me, and the convector heater next to the table opposite, which suggests that the management is aware of the problem.

The menu is deliberately mainstream, with pizza and pasta, and classics such as chicken breast, monkfish, steak and spare ribs given an Italian twist.

Inside Sofia’s Italian, Walsall

And I fear my choice of meal is not going to find favour with reader Matt Till. Mr Till thinks I have a bit of an obsession with steak, and eat far too much of it.

“You will never print this in your column for obvious reasons,” he says. “PS, pie is the only the other thing you choose.”

Well, of the last 15 reviews on this page, seven of them have been for steak, and one of them has been for pie. So yes, steak is my favourite dish, and I suspect it probably the most popular dish with the general public, so I can see where you’re coming from.

But I would also point out that over the same period there have also been reviews of lamb shank, pork stuffed with pears, bangers and mash, linguine ai frutti du mare, a roast beef Sunday dinner and a Chinese set menu.

Still, I’m always eager to oblige, and just for you Mr Till I will try something different next week. But please indulge me just this once – sirloin in peppercorn sauce, since you ask.

There are countless different ways to cook a steak: chargrilled, barbecued, oven roast, spit roast or fried, and that’s before we come to the different things you can cook them in.

The Italian style is normally to either fry or grill the meat in olive oil, sometimes with a dash of lemon juice.

This one, which came within 20 minutes, was a good example of how the Italians excel in bringing out the flavour of the meat, although the actual cut left something to be desired, with a large lump of fat in the middle spoiling the experience a little.

It’s a shame, because it was otherwise brimming with flavour, and the generous helpings of fresh-tasting vegetables and new potatoes meant the side order of chips I had ordered was largely superfluous. A nice touch was the bottle of Italian balsamic vinegar.

My companion went for the pizza prochutto, a “traditional hand-made pizza topped with mozzarella, cheese, tomato sauce, sliced ham and oregano.”

She found it enjoyable and pleasantly easy to digest, but a touch bland, perhaps reflecting the fact that this is more a mainstream restaurant than an authentic trattoria.

For afters, we both had ice cream, which curiously took nearly as long to arrive as the main course. I went for toffee flavour, which was excellent, my companion went for the raspberry ripple, which was pleasant but didn’t have too much of a raspberry flavour.

The total bill was £58.03, with £5.28 of this being a service charge. That really annoys me; surely the whole point of going to a restaurant, as opposed to a supermarket, is that you are paying for the service. If the service is good, I will gladly leave a tip, but it should be my call.

On this occasion the service was a mixed bag; towards the start of the evening it seemed to be very good, but towards the end it seemed to wind down a little.

After waiting a while for somebody to retrieve our coats, a waitress said I would do best to look for it myself as she couldn’t tell which were ours.

All in all it was an enjoyable, if not remarkable, experience. The food was pleasant, but not outstanding, and while I found the mirrors a bit overpowering, I liked the fish lake and the buzzing, vibrant atmosphere.

ADDRESS
Sofia’s Italian, Guildhall, High Street, Walsall WS1 1QW
Tel: 01922 632223
Web: www.sofiasitalian.co.uk

MENU SAMPLE
STARTERS
Garlic mushrooms £4.45
Stuffed cabbage £4.45
Spicy meatballs in a Napoli sauce with Italian herbs £4.95

MAINS
Pizza pepperoni topped with mozzarella cheese £9.95
Conchiglie Italino Al Forno – baked pasta shells served with salmon, green peas, onions, Italian tomato sauce and a touch of bechamel sauce, topped with mozarella £11.95
Barbecue chicken £10.95
Tuna fish served in Napoli sauce with North Sea prawns, capers, onion and garlic £13.95

DESSERTS
Tiramisu
Sticky toffee pudding