I've always loved The Boathouse, especially on a balmy summer evening when you can sit by the River Aire and it feels like you're on holiday, not just ten minutes walk from home.

But now I like the place even more, if that's possible, thanks to its recent refurbishment, which has swept away the Victoriana in favour of a more relaxed, informal atmosphere.

Whatever time of week you go, the place is busy. It ranges from bustling (on a Tuesday, when we went for the purposes of this review) to jam-packed (one Saturday night when we couldn't be bothered cooking).

And it's easy to see why. The typical main courses are an absolute treat, often with a modern and tantalising twist on a well-known theme. For instance, ask for seafood pasta and you get a huge metal pan packed with fresh salmon, whole mussels and prawns that looks as if it's been lifted straight from the hob ready to feed the five thousand. Steak and kidney pie may be "just" that but it's served up silver service style.

The main courses may set you back upwards of £7 but you'd be hard pressed to fit in a starter as well, as we found out when we tried the early evening deal. That's £7.95 for two courses between 6pm and 7.30pm, Monday to Friday, with the usual high standard of produce, presentation and friendly service applied.

I went for cream of leek soup followed by seafood pie, and Murray chose garlic mushrooms with pasta, then a farmhouse grill. The main meals arrived with a mountain of new potatoes, carrots and more leeks. Our only (small) gripes were that the mushrooms weren't all that garlicky and my pie crust wasn't that crusty, but that could just be blamed on our personal preferences.

I'd say the early bird - £19.95 in total including glasses of white wine - is a fine way to sample the cuisine, but perhaps those with smaller stomachs should go for the "main meal only" option.

Colleagues will vouch for the fact that I - unusually - had no breakfast the following day.

Value for money indeed.

Catrina Dick

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