I remember driving past what is now The Wharfedale just over a year ago when it was standing empty and looking rather forlorn.

Then I heard it had been taken over and been refurbished and couldn't fail to be impressed with its new look when I drove past again a few weeks ago.

I resolved to go for my next Eating Out and so Murray and I ventured there one night after work when we couldn't be bothered cooking.

And it was certainly worth the drive from Bradford. The pub has been beautifully redecorated and the restaurant, with its flickering candles, couldn't be more inviting.

Although it was a Thursday, the place was respectably busy and it was obvious why when we saw the menu.

The bar food - served from noon until an impressive 10pm Mondays to Saturdays and until 9.30pm on Sundays - is fairly traditional but with a twist.

Our food was fresh and cooked to perfection with wonderfully crisp vegetables instead of the pre-heated, tasteless mush you often get.

I started with home-made tomato and pepper soup (£1.95) which was packed with chunky veg while Murray tucked into an exotically-presented half pint of prawns (£4.35). The prawns would really have been enough for two so I just had to help him finish them off . . .

Then he went for loin of pork topped with mushrooms and melted cheese (£6.95) and I had Scottish salmon drenched in a creamy prawn sauce (£7.25). Both were accompanied by dishes of potatoes, carrots and courgettes.

The total bill came to £20.50, excluding drinks, and we left, full to bursting, and promising to return - preferably on a sunny summer evening when we can sit in the garden looking across the Wharfe Valley.

Catrina Dick

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.