Being a Southerner, my boyfriend was completely thrilled at the prospect of a birthday visit to the celebrated Harry Ramsden's restaurant in Guiseley, and in fact mentioned it several times throughout the day.

We duly joined the hordes of families for an early evening supper in the chandeliered fish and chip palace for a celebration blow-out.

The restaurant's extravagant decor is normally one of the draws (it is quite a novelty to scoff your chips in the surroundings of a minor ambassador's residence) but in my view the garish Christmas decorations layered on top were a bit tacky.

There was a lovely pianist, though, playing a nicely seasonal selection and later a teenie chorus of schoolchildren crooning Away in a Manger and other favourites which persuaded the hungriest of diners to put their knives and forks down and applaud.

So how good IS Harry's? Does it deserve its reputation? For one thing, the service was a bit slow - they obviously operate a system where each waitress looks after certain tables: 'our' waitress had her hands full with a couple of large family groups and it took quite a while for her to get to us. Meanwhile there were three other waitresses who were obviously less busy, who were just standing around in a rather Jobsworth fashion instead of pitching in to look after us.

My food was delicious (poached haddock, new potatoes), and Beckett scoffed all of his large cod and chips, but he seemed a bit deflated: he had really anticipated that it would be the best-tasting fish and chips he had ever had, and it didn't quite match up.

It was good, but it was not head and shoulders above other decent fish and chips we have enjoyed from certain seaside takeaways.

Plus he wanted a huge plateful and instead got a large, but very carefully portioned-out plateful. Instead of leaving the impression of bounty and largesse, it looked rather as if each chip had been counted.

I spent £20 on the meal which I thought was quite a lot for what it was.

On the plus side, my fish was beautifully cooked with no bones, it was all hot when it arrived, I enjoyed constructing chip butties at the table, staff were very polite, and the raspberry sherry trifle was a thing of wonder.

I'd go again - but preferably if someone else was paying.

Sarah Walsh

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