Italian cuisine 'best in Europe'

Italian restaurants and cuisine have come top in a new survey of Europe's restaurants.

Italian food is the favourite cuisine of 38 per cent of reviewers for Zagat's Europe's Top Restaurants guide.

French food is the next favourite, taking 26 per cent of votes, followed by Mediterranean, 13 per cent, and Asian, ten per cent.

In a survey of over 1,300 restaurants in 27 major European cities, reviewers also cite Italy as the country with the friendliest servers, followed by Spain and Ireland.

Smoking is the major dining irritant in Europe's restaurants, cited as the top annoyance by 49 per cent of respondents.

Sixty-five per cent of reviewers think the rest of Europe should follow Ireland's lead and ban smoking in restaurants; only six per cent think it should not be banned.

The survey also demonstrates the diversity of choice in cuisine offered by European cities, with Tuscan available in Moscow, Thai in Milan, Sushi in Madrid and Greek in Warsaw.

"Few things beat eating your way through way Europe," said Nina Zagat, co-founder of Zagat Survey.

"But if you're going to throw caution, and your waistline, to the wind, you ought to be sure you're dining at the best places in town."