Oswalds, Front Street, Sowerby Thirsk

11:37am Friday 16th May 2008

The leather chair-lined bar was busy, as you'd expect for the time of week, but I was nevertheless reassured by a warm smile of greeting from a young barman, even as he busied himself with another customer.

This set the tone for the evening of efficient, friendly service from even the youngest of staff.

With a drink in our hands - mine a rather over-chilled pint of Timmy Taylor's Landlord - we made our choices.

The indecisive, or those who mistrust vast menus (often the sign of a deep freezer and overworked microwave) will be comforted here.

Half a dozen or so each of starters and mains, with two or three specials chalked up.

On the other hand, the choice is not that inspirational, and has more in common with a half-decent pub menu than a restaurant, with rooms or without.

We appreciated being shown to a decent table with plenty of elbow room, not simply squeezed on to a two-cover number on the offchance four un-booked punters might roll up to claim the bigger one.

To kick off , my wife had baked queen scallops with garlic butter and gruyere (£7.75), a personal favourite.

I went with a salad of grilled goats' cheese, fresh figs, pistachio nuts and "balsamic dressed leaves"

(£6.50). This was a severe let-down.

The figs were totally tasteless, presumably because they lacked much flesh, and the salad leaves were, despite the promise, undressed and indistinct from any bleach-washed greenery shaken out of bags from supermarkets the land over.

Things improved for me with my main course of suckling pig with chorizo mash and cider gravy (£16.95). Acres of crackling and plenty of taste, particularly in the gravy. (Oswald's meat apparently comes from Johnson's in Thirsk).

Anna, meanwhile, had grilled lemon sole with anchovy butter and "seasonal vegetables" (£14.95).

Yes, there are those accusatory quotation marks again.

The fish was well-cooked, tasty and very generously proportioned, but aside from its tangy butter, it arrived alone on the plate.

We were collectively served a plate of boiled vegetables: the usual carrot batons, cauliflower and unseasonal green beans and mange tout - and thoroughly devoid of flavour they were, but Anna was left feeling slightly cheated.

Rounding off with a tangy but rather unremarkable lemon tart with raspberry coulis (£5.25) and a triple chocolate pudding and custard (£5.15) that was surprisingly unchocolatey ("It's basically sponge and custard") we paid a bill which, with a large glass of Merlot and a coffee, came to £68.

The overall impression, while not a bad one, was of a restaurant rather stuck - in culinary terms - in the '80s or '90s. A time when radiccio, mange tout and icing sugar-sprinkled puds might have impressed.

Returning to the good reputation mentioned at the outset, perhaps "complacent" is the unkind word that best describes Oswald's.

On the other hand, there are plenty of kind ones to spread across a pleasant and efficiently-run venue