BIG BETTY is down the road but we are here to see her little sister. Those among you whose memories go back further than, oh, the last few weeks will recall that Little Bettys used to be Taylors Tearooms.

Following a mini corporate make-over, Taylors was recast as Little Bettys. At the time, this struck me as the smaller sort of shame - nothing to get worked up about, but still a shame.

Anyway, here we are, passing through the shop, which is pretty much the same, except for that window full of expensive cakes and breads. At the top of the stairs, a venerable Taylors tradition still holds. If you step beyond the queue-here sign, a black-and-white waitress tells you off pretty briskly, leaving you to lurk on the stairs while the dining room clears.

So for five minutes or so we hang about, watching as other would-be diners fall into the same trap until, punishment over, we are allowed off the stairs and up into the dining room.

This room, we find, is just the same as it used to be and this is comforting in a way, as you don't want places changing just for the sake of it. We order drinks, elderflower cordial for my wife, a nice cup of brain-bothering caffeine for me, and then our meals. The drinks come soon enough, which is just as well, for the food takes an age.

Perhaps too many sandwiches munched in front of a computer screen have spoilt the pleasures of a longer lunch, but as the wait goes on, I see the afternoon running off without me. Still, the coffee is good and we talk and watch the other people, some of whom are actually eating, which is encouraging.

When we arrived some days previously, the waitress had said something along the lines of "today, we are recommending the smoked chicken and bacon omelette" and that's what I am looking forward to.

We were released from the stairs sometime after one, and now it is nearly quarter to two. Now I'm no fan of fast food, but food with a sense of urgency would be nice.

Anyway, lunch out is a treat, so let's eat. My omelette arrives a little ahead of my wife's mozzarella salad and I forget my manners and start, for fear of the dish going cold. The omelette is generously filled and nicely cooked, though perhaps a shorter time in the pan would have left the insides a little softer. The accompanying salad bowl is brimful of different salads containing lettuces, herbs, seeds, carrot and rice.

My wife's main-course salad is, she declares, very good, with the slices of white cheese nicely balanced by the basil, tomato and the vinaigrette dressing. Having chosen the light and sensible option, she also has room for a seeded bread roll.

The menu at Little Bettys is a chip off Big Bet, which is to say traditional and apparently unchanging, though with a few mod-continental touches, such as bruschetta.

The sweets are always a treat and, while deciding against the bigger puds on the grounds of it being only Monday lunchtime, we choose two tarts. My slice of curd tart, always a Bettys classic, is exemplary, sweet and curranty with that slight curd tang, and my wife's strawberry flan is good too, with berries on top of creamy custard.

The bill is £19.15 which must be what you have to pay for lunch these days. As we as leave, passing people queuing on the stairs, we are impressed up to a point, but wonder how Little Bettys will continue to fare in a city full of new coffee bars and restaurants where the food arrives a little more smartly.

Little Bettys, 46 Stonegate, York. Tel (01904) 622865.