Despite the restaurant's informal feel, the food is reasonably sophisticated and elegantly presented.

The mix is good, with antipasti including such delights as fried soft shell crab on white polenta and baby artichoke salad with fillets of sole, while pasta includes ravioli with borage and ricotta cheese in walnut sauce and short pasta in lobster sauce with asparagus and black truffle.

Then there's roasted fillet of sea bass with lemon and wild fennel, calves' liver with onions and polenta (a Venetian speciality), or loin of lamb with seasonal vegetables.

Desserts are sinful . . . soft chocolate tartlet with pistacchio sauce, tiramisu, wild berries marinated in red wine. . .

The view Like a Canaletto painting.

Sit on the deck and look across the lagoon to St Mark's Square . . . five minutes away in the hotel's private motor-launch. To the left is the hulk of Santa Maria della Salute at the entrance to the Grand Canal. Magical.

The bill Starters from 22, pastas from 24 , fish and meat courses from 38.

Cip's Club, Hotel Cipriani, Giudecca 10, 30133 Venice, Italy; 0039 041 5207744, www. orient-express. com