The first thing that hits you is the aroma. Stepping out of the taxi, one immediately picks up a delicious smell of fresh herbs and bread on the sea breeze. The brightly lit Karlsson’s is the obvious source of this delight. Inside, we decide on a seafood slant but first order a Greek salad with feta cheese and olives with crispy garlic bread. Along with a Hardy’s Nottage Hill Cabernet Shiraz 2000, this kept us busy until our main courses arrived: a creamy pasta with shrimp prawns, complemented by potato and green pepper in a creamy white wine sauce.

The kebab was a veritable mountain of protein with another green salad to the side. Modest, it was not. The pasta was an altogether more delicate dish and came in a perfect portion, al dente as you’re ever going to find it. Things were looking good: great food, wine and company; sing-song accents surrounded us (Karlssson’s clientele is predominantly Scandinavian) and the evening air was deliciously cool and mosquito-free.

Another characteristic of this superb eatery is that the people eating there looked… well, happy. Everyone seemed to be having the time of their lives. There wasn’t a beer lout for miles around: just happy smiling faces.

My partner, being Thai, decided on prawns in Thai chili paste and pronounced it arroy (delicious), but said it could have been spicier. Considering that her home cooking is so hot it could strip the paint off a Nissan truck this was maybe a good thing.

Reading the menu, there are 15 pizza toppings to choose from along with a comprehensive list of starters and soups as well as an impressive list of steaks and the ubiquitous Swedish meatballs. Karlsson’s quite simply stands out from the competition; on the evening we ate there the eatery was buzzing with activity, new people arriving all the time. Around and about the restaurants were empty. That fact alone says more than a million words.