COMING up on Café 1618 in the centre of Middleton-in-Teesdale in the evening is a bit of a surprise.

Warm light spills out of the big windows and the fairy lights and flowers outside give it the welcoming look of a French café in deepest Bordeaux.

The impression continues inside. There’s a bar area to the right where I would guess mainly locals call in to have a drink and a chat, and rustic tables and chairs to the left. There’s a relaxed and rural feel, with interesting quotations written on the walls and simple décor.

We had hoped to have been able to sit in the café’s adjoining conservatory restaurant – Number 17 – but there weren’t enough diners to open it up and anyway, it was being set up for a weekend event. No matter.

Bev, our waitress for the evening, is married to Jon, the chef and this is their place. Bev’s had had a difficult day she told us – something to do with kids in the café – but a quick change from polo shirt to glam sweater and she was in evening mode and full of smiles and helpfulness.

"Tales of the dale," she said. "I’m that close to writing a book …"

Café 1618 has no pretensions – "honest food, honestly cooked" is what it says on the menu, and that’s what you get.

A small and appealing platter of olives, oils and different breads arrived while we were making our choices from the evening bistro menu, on which were four starters, five mains, three "suppers" and five desserts.

Husband Bill chose the soup of the day to start, which turned out to be vegetable. He declared it "nice – tasty and hearty". And there was a lot of it – it’s rare for him to leave anything, but he did on this occasion.

Our other starter was a chorizo, bacon and black pudding stack with a grain mustard sauce – great combination, which went down a treat. Again, large portion and great taste, although the texture of the mustard sauce was just a little too grainy for my liking.

My main was chicken breast, wrapped in smoked bacon, with a Stilton cream sauce and chips. Proper chips. Good, old fashioned chips. Not fries, not wedges. Chips. And excellent they were.

There was probably a bit too much on the plate for me – I left some of the large breast of chicken and a little of the bacon, which while smokily flavoursome, was a little too thickly cut, I felt.

The chicken was moist and beautifully cooked, however, and the sauce really smooth, with just enough of that blue cheese kick, although I could have done with a little more. The unadorned vegetables which accompanied it were a little bland.

Bill had the 1618 burger from the "supper" section of the menu, with bacon and blue cheese, chips and salad. An excellent burger, declared "substantial, peppery and oniony", in a lovely bun. The whole plate was polished off with alacrity.

Jon and Bev came out to chat with us – lovely people with a real passion for what they do, and have been doing for the past nine years. While talking we ordered a single dessert – being well nourished with what came before – of Yorkshire parkin with ginger cream.

Now, being a Yorkshire girl who reckoned no-one could make parkin as good as my mum, I have to say this came pretty close. Dense, sticky, sweet and – well, just heavenly.

The whole bill came to £56.35. Along with a pretty decent bottle of Prosecco and a couple of pints of Mithrill Brewery beer, this was a very pleasant way to spend a couple of hours on a late summer evening. "Honest food, honestly cooked" is about right.

FOOD FACTS

Café 1618

16-18 Market Place, Middleton-in-Teesdale, DL12 0QG

Tel 01833-640300

Ratings (out of 10): Food 7, Service 8, Ambience 8, Value 8