For a few short years, a restaurant along Andrássy út called "Millennium" attempted to cash in on Budapest's love affair with its historic "millennium line" metro - the oldest in continental Europe - by offering an interior that consisted of a faithful rendition of a subway stop alongside a menu of traditional Hungarian dishes and photographs of old Budapest. Millennium eventually ground to a halt, and last December a new restaurant arrived in the "station" called Millennium da Pippo. While the menu has changed entirely (it's now Italian), the place itself has otherwise remained largely the same. Photos and drawings of 19th century Budapest adorn the red and white tile walls, with a prominent sign proclaiming a mythical "Rózsa utca" stop. But if the décor offers a vivid rendering of old Budapest, everything else at da Pippo is evidence of a new Budapest - an increasingly cosmopolitan city in which finding high-quality Italian cuisine is as common as taking the metro.

With Fausto's having put luxury Italian food on the Budapest map more than a decade ago, upscale Italian dining has long been available. Likewise for lower-end pizza parlors serving very affordable if approximate takes on Italian classics. But what Millenium da Pippo indicates is that quality mid-range Italian cuisine is becoming more and more widespread in Budapest.

The restaurant's selection of simple yet appealing salads (Ft 750 to Ft 1,600) will please anyone who has grown frustrated by leaf-averse Hungarian culinary habits. Fresh arugula paired with thinly shaved slices of parmesan and drizzled with good quality balsamic vinegar was a standout. Meanwhile, the breadbasket on our most recent visit included both onion bread and garlic bread, an addictive ensemble.

The broad selection of unconventional-sounding, mostly freshly-made pastas are all priced between Ft 1,600 and Ft 2,200. A bowl of giant tortellini filled with spinach and gorgonzola was a revelation, with the delicate bundles of pasta floating in a subtly flavored, buttery sauce. The meat ravioli (above) were similarly tasty. The crespelle alla spinaci (below picture of restaurant interior) is a pancake with spinach and walnut not unlike a Hungarian palacsinta - my only minor complaint would be that as an entrée it didn't leave me completely full, even though I'd eaten an entire basket of that great bread.

The only slight disappointment in the pasta realm came when we ordered tagliatelle with shrimp, arugula and cherry tomatoes (Ft 2,200) - the pasta and sauce were top-notch but the shrimp were few in number and tasted like they had spent a bit too much time in the freezer. Seafood may not be something to avoided, however; on one visit our neighbors were digging into a fine-looking whole fish that had been filleted tableside. Next time I may think twice about splashing out the Ft 4,000 or so for such an aquatic treat.

The pizzas (Ft 1,050 to Ft 2,200) are oven-fired to a good degree of crispiness, and feature properly thin crusts. The menu offers a dizzying variety of toppings, and those that we tried were right on the mark. If you're in a meat rather than carb mode, the menu has a few veal and steak options. I tried veal scaloppini with white wine sauce and roasted rosemary potatoes (Ft 2,800 forint) - the thin cuts of veal were nice and tender.

I'd also recommend saving room for dessert. The panne cotta with fruit and the ricotta torte were both exceptional, and perfect palate-cleansers. A diet-conscious dining companion ordered the fruit plate, which was also fine - if you're into that sort of thing.

All that said, Pippo's not without its slipups - most of which can be probably be put down to the fact that it's a new restaurant still settling in. Like too many places in town, the waiter balked when we tried to order tap water. Another miscue came when an olive-enthusiast friend ordered the insalata sicily, billed as a salad with tuna, olives, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella and artichokes. The salad was tasty, but there wasn't an olive in sight - nor was any explanation offered in regard to their absence. Another night we waited a good half-hour for our entrees to appear, although that time we received apologies from the earnest wait staff.

Finally, the restaurant's wine list recently underwent a bit of an unfortunate revision, which saw a Ft 1,500 forint bottle of Egri Bikavér bumped up to Ft 2,500. Otherwise the list has a good selection of Italian and Hungarian offerings priced between Ft 3,000 and Ft 6,000. A lightly frizzante (sparkling) dry red Barbera d'asti from northwest Italy was a good value at Ft 3,000.

Our several recent visits to this neighborhood spot have given us a pretty good picture of what one can expect while dining at Pippo. You'll hear more Italian being spoken than Hungarian, the food is nearly uniformly excellent and the service is friendly despite the occasional blunder. The incongruous setting makes eating there all the more fun. (Handwritten testimonials praising the previous incarnation of the restaurant still adorn the subway-tiled walls.) Certainly it won't be long before Pippo starts to establish itself on its own and garner a loyal following - but hopefully they'll keep the charmingly throwback décor in the process.