THE irresistible aroma of roast pork wafted over the garden hedge as I sat and contemplated the vegetarian delights I would be offered a few hours later. Life can be so cruel.

We had decided to go to the Rubicon vegetarian restaurant in York to please my non-meat eating wife, Jayne, who often gets a raw deal when we dine out.

While I can usually choose from a host of interesting meat dishes, Jayne, more often than not, is confined to one or two choices, usually vegetable lasagne or something with goat's cheese. So we decided to turn the tables, so to speak, and go veggie for a change.

But I didn't mind. A night of vegetables wouldn't kill me for once and greens are supposed to be good for you, aren't they?

The Rubicon, situated in Little Stonegate, part of York's trendy Swinegate quarter, opened in 1989 and quickly established itself as the in-place for non-meat eaters. The restaurant was refurbished last year and now serves light lunches, sandwiches and cakes during the day as well as dinners in the evening.

It prides itself on not using genetically-modified food and uses organic products where possible, while also catering for vegans and those on wheat-free diets.

Starters (priced from £3.50 to £4) include butterbean and hazelnut pate, humus, stilton pate and masala dhal, Indian spices cooked with red lentils and tomato.

When we dined, on a fairly busy Sunday evening, I went for rapini (£4.50), a blend of roasted aubergine, garlic, ricotta cheese and mushrooms. It was extremely thick - my spoon was able to stand unaided - and looked rather like baby food, but it was quite tasty. A bit like humus, with added garlic. The only problem was there wasn't enough of it. It arrived, unaccompanied, in a small pot and, three or four spoonfuls later, it was gone.

Jayne's creamy garlic mushrooms (£4) were delicious, but she too was a bit disappointed by the rather small portion.

Main courses, which ranged in price from £6 to £9, included penne al pommodore and funghi (pasta with a tomato and mushroom sauce); pepper stuffed with rice, herbs, chopped courgette, tomato and black olives; baked aubergine filled with tomato, goats cheese, garlic and black olives; vegetable moussaka; nut roast and the obligatory vegetable lasagne.

I liked the look of the mushroom balti (£7), which came with wild rice, two small garlic naan breads and salad. It had quite a kick and I was impressed.

Unfortunately the same could not be said of Jayne's dish - vegetable pancake (£8), filled with spinach, leeks and cream cheese and served with new potatoes, French beans and salad.

She found the pancake bland and tasteless and, having sampled a corner, I had to agree. Jayne was also put off by the pile of lettuce on her plate - enough to keep a rabbit happy for several days. She would definitely choose something else if we returned.

The dessert choice included a traditional bread and butter pudding, sticky toffee pudding, date and apple crumble and cheesecake.

In the end we decided to share the chocolate roulade (£4) - vanilla and chocolate sponge rolled with fresh cream and chocolate - but the portion was so small that we only got a couple of spoonfuls each.

Our meal, which included a bottle of organic white wine, came to just over £35. The main courses were reasonably priced, but the starters and desserts were, we felt, poor value.

Although, our meal wasn't a total success, at least no animals died in the making of it!

The Rubicon, 5 Little Stonegate, York Tel 01904 676076

www.rubiconrestaurant.co.uk

FACT FILE

Food : Hit and miss

Service : Friendly

Value : Dear starters

Ambience : Contemporary