COMPACT and bijou is a perfect description of Holmfirth’s Les Caveaux.

In fact, if you were walking around Summer Wine town searching for a good place to eat, you could actually miss it.

Les Caveaux is tucked away on the corner of Victoria Square you have to negotiate some pretty perilous steps to get to it – easier before you have consumed the food and wine than afterwards when high heels, good humour and a couple of glasses of rosé may hamper your progress.

All that apart, it would be shame to miss out on this lovely eatery which has long been a favourite of locals.

Dining can be either upstairs or downstairs, both equally cosy.

And what it lacks in size it certainly makes up for in atmosphere. You will be welcomed by young but attentive staff who will help make it a night to remember.

And what to choose? There is lots on offer. Tapas can be a positive or disappointing experience. Tapas is a wide variety of appetisers or snacks in Spanish cuisine served to encourage conversation by diners rather than eating an entire meal set before them.

Women on a rare night out rarely need an excuse to talk and my three dining mates were no exception.

With birthdays to celebrate, husbands to dissect and offspring to chastise we were in for a long night, and what an evening we had.

There is a large and extensive menu from which to make your selections but rather than dictate we decided to let chef make our selections.

For £19.50 a head you will be brought what seems to be a never ending array of goodies and you can specify whether you prefer more meat, fish or vegetables in the dishes that are served at your table.

We were offered, and accepted warm herb bread and aioli to nibble with our wine before the dishes started to arrive.

Then the feast commenced and what a feast it was. As the dishes arrived I almost expected bunches of grapes, coronets of leaves and togas, such was the experience.

It almost took on a Romanesque feeling, or was that the bottles of rosé which had been consumed by then? I’ll let you decide.

To the dishes: there was Greek salad with sweet red onions and salty feta, pitta bread with hummus, which needed a touch more seasoning, plump and flavourful asparagus with a lemony dressing. Yum yum.

My vegetarian principles often cause problems when we dine out, but not here.

We also enjoyed artichoke hearts and red peppers with cheese, a vegetable tortilla, juicy flat mushrooms and goats cheese on a bed of cous cous and creamy dauphinoise potatoes, sliced and seasoned to perfection.

The carnivores in my midst were not disappointed by clams in white wine and red pesto, chicken skewers and sea bass in a lemon sauce, which was pronounced slightly too fishy.