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?

Other starters included pan fried king scallops with agnolotti pasta in a cream sauce, smoked chicken with pineapple and cucumber salad and deep fried goat’s cheese with balsamic beetroot and tarragon.

After such an auspicious start, we were looking forward to our mains, all priced at £17.50 including potatoes and vegetables.

We felt that neither quite matched the standard of the wonderful starters.

Although Trish’s fish platter, which included sole and gilt-head bream (and incurred a £2.95 supplement), was tasty, it was, to our palate, a little overcooked, particularly on the outside.

As for my rib-eye, though it needs fat to enhance the flavour, this was a little too fatty for my liking, neither was it very tender.

I mentioned this to the waitress who collected my half full plate and I could not fault the response. The restaurant manager and Darrell both came up and apologised. £10 was knocked of our bill at the end.

The boiled potatoes and mixed veg, included in the main course price, were reminiscent of pub grub.

I’d have liked my steak with chips and a vegetable of my choice, but was reluctant to shell out another fiver.

In a restaurant of this quality, we would have preferred to pay a couple of pounds less for the mains and ordered any accompaniments a la carte.

Things picked up with the dessert. We shared a tasty and fluffy bread and butter pudding with custard and orange marmalade ice cream.

The Examiner budget well and truly in the red, we did not repair to the comfortable upstairs lounge for coffees and Brook’s home-made truffles. But if the rest of the restaurant is anything to go by, it will be lovely up there.

Verdict: Best service yet in classy surroundings, perfect for a romantic assignation. We were perhaps unlucky with the main course, so would give it another try.

Brook’s Restaurant

6 Bradford Rd, Brighouse, HD6 1RW

Telephone: (01484) 715284

Website: www.brooks-restaurant.co.uk

Opening hours: Monday to Saturday from 6pm.

Children: Welcome

Disabled access: One step to access the restaurant. Toilets on the upper floor.

The bill: £72.70 for two, including £10 discount.

Would you go back: Yes, we’d give it another go.