STEPPING into Brook’s Restaurant is to leave behind the busy Brighouse ringroad and the bustle of modern life to enter into a bygone world of charm and elegance.

We arrived in a cosy bar with subdued lighting and a French bistro feel and were immediately greeted like old friends by owner Darrell Brook.

As soon as we were comfortably settled at one of the old wooden tables on the old wooden floor, a waitress came over and took our drinks order.

Mellow jazz was playing in the background and the walls were covered with eclectic artwork, including a creative table cover montage of previous diners’ artistic efforts.

We were already impressed. Warm, cultured surroundings, reminiscent of an upmarket provincial restaurant in France, and super service with a personal touch.

With prices starting at £14.95 for the house plonk, we thought what the heck, you only live once, and splashed out a further £3 for a bottle of Rina Lanca Grillo Viognier from Sicily.

Good decision, it was excellent. Although the Sicilians are not these days regarded as premiere wine makers, they have been making the stuff for 2,500 years and know a thing or two about grapes.

The chilled Rina Lanca was soft and fruity, full of flavour and finely balanced, neither too dry nor sweet.

After just the right amount of time left to mull over our wine and the menu, we were ushered into the dining room.

With the elegant mismatch of old fashioned high backed dining chairs, candlelit tables and personal art collection on the walls, the feeling of being somewhere in France continued.

The atmosphere was charming and intimate.

Here was a place you could pour out your innermost secrets without being overheard.

The soup had sounded interesting: potato with garlic mayonnaise (£5.95). But we’d thought it might be too filling and so opted for other starters.

My trio of salmon, halibut and swordfish with gravadlax sauce (£9.45) hit the tastebuds. The sweetness of the sauce was a perfect compliment for the acidity of the lemon and fish.

But it was outdone by Trish’s red Thai curry mussels with lemongrass (£7.95). They were superb..

Succulent mussels in an aromatic sauce with layers of taste and a hint of chilli. You’d travel a long way to sample a mussel dish as fine as this one... France, maybe?