TO Leyburn on a beautiful spring Saturday morning. I had business at the auction mart, Sylvia had a coffee rendezvous with a friend – and shopping.

Business was a pleasure really, presenting the supreme championship at the mart’s Spring Spectacular Show of which the D&S was a part sponsor. A mighty fine beast it was too, a record breaker for the show, and the handsome trophy would look good on anybody’s mantlepiece.

Job done, it was a short walk into the town centre to retrieve Sylvia from Campbells where she was laying waste to the deli shelves – a reminder that it is always a mistake to shop when you are hungry.

Emerging into the sunshine, we decanted the contents of a groaning trolley into the boot and headed across the market square to Penleys Cafe and Bistro for lunch.

Penleys had been recommended by a long-time Leyburn resident who had spoken of its value and popularity; he recently tried to lunch there midweek and had been unable to get a seat – and it wasn’t even market day.

Just after 1pm and we were lucky to find a table towards the rear of the bustling space decorated in a contemporary style which has at its centre a serving/ordering point. The sunshine was streaming in from the dale and we seemed to have found the ideal spot. We sat at a proper table but there were also easy chairs for those just having tea/coffee and cake.

The cafe menu does pretty much everything. A range of wraps, paninis (served with chips and salad) and sandwiches (comes with salad, coleslaw and crisps) cost around £5-6, there are salads for £7-8, jacket potatoes for around £6 and a range of omelettes for about £7.

But we were hungry and went for two dishes from the list of mains which cost between £7-9 with rib-eye steaks weighing in at £13.

This list included fish and chips, pork and mustard sausages (from Beavers Butchers of Masham) with Cheddar cheese mash and a couple of pasta dishes.

There was a bit of a hiccup when ordering and paying at the counter. Not initially paying much attention, I was sitting back down at the table before I realised I had paid £42 for two mains, a diet Coke and a bottle of Wensleydale Brewery Semer Water ale. Returning to the counter, manageress Tanya quickly put the matter straight with profuse apologies and no little charm.

Lunch arrived shortly afterwards.

My Dales bacon and cheese burger (£7.95) was somewhat agricultural in construction and presentation but it tasted very good.

A moist and juicy grilled burger (also from Beavers) sandwiched with melted cheese, bacon and a white bap was accompanied by a little mixed salad with vinaigrette, the chunkiest coleslaw and really fat chips. In truth these chips were so fat, a more accurate description might be shards.

Being so chunky they weren’t particularly crisp but I still enjoyed them.

Sylvia’s breaded Whitby scampi £8.50 was super fresh and perfectly fried with no hint of greasiness. It came with some of the same potato shards (chips), peas and a large pot of a nicelysharp homemade tartare sauce.

This was substantial lunchtime fare and ordinarily we would have settled for that, but just as we thought about taking our leave, a glorious-looking confection arrived at the next table.

Temptation took over and inquiries revealed it was a Penleys Sundae (£5.95), an indulgent combination of cream, Brymor vanilla ice cream, meringue, white chocolate and raspberries. It was the sort of dessert doting grandparents buy small grandchildren as a special treat. Looking around Penleys it seemed to be the grandparents who were tucking in.

With two spoons we did battle over the sweet, sticky concoction, particularly the nuggetty pieces of chocolate and meringue.

The bill, once corrected, was £28.10. Service, taking account of the bill issue, was OK. The only issue was the arrival when those not familiar with Penleys might not be sure exactly what to do (pick a table/wait to be offered one/wait for waitress service/pay at the counter).

But we understood why Penleys is so popular and also how it could be a cosy bistro on weekend evenings when it has a rather different, more ambitious menu.

Set up seven years ago by Amanda Penrose and chef Matthew Colley (hence the Pen-leys name) the formula has proved so successful, they will shortly open another Penleys in Richmond in the former As You Like It (the punters didn’t, it appears) premises in the Market Place. By the time this review appears, it should be open. The menu and opening hours will be almost indentical to the Leyburn branch.

The Richmond lunch market is rather more competitive but we suspect Penleys 2 will do well.

Penleys Cafe and Bistro

Market Place, Leyburn DL8 5BJ
Tel: 01969-623909
Web: penleys.com (under construction at present)
Open: 9am-5pm Monday-Thursday; 9am-4.30pm and 5.30-8pm
Friday and Saturday; 10am-5pm Sunday. Takeaway service also
available.
Disabled access. Vegetarian options.

Ratings (out of ten)

Food quality: 8 
Service: 7 
Surroundings: 7 
Value: 7