WE'RE fond of our Indians, our Chinese and our Italian pizzeria's, but French cuisine tends to get overlooked in York.

I don't know whether it's because of some kind of deeply held enmity for our Gallic neighbours or just that people prefer to take a laissez faire approach, but French eateries do seem to be at a premium.

To that extent, York's Cafe Rouge fills something of a gap in the market, providing as it does an English take on fancy French grub.

To look at it from the outside, Cafe Rouge has something of a continental appeal with its red and gold paintwork and lettering on the huge glass windows looking out on to Low Petergate.

Its position, just yards from the Minster, makes it easily accessible right in the centre of the city, although if you were in a wheelchair the stone stairs at the front might pose an obstacle.

Inside, there is a cosy atmosphere created by wooden floorboards and cream-coloured walls with cafe-style tables and, at this time of the year, a huge real Christmas tree.

There's something of the 'Allo 'Allo set about it all, with the marble-topped bar and small clusters of tables, reminiscent of Cafe Rene from the BBC sitcom.

All that's missing is Gorden Kaye.

You know the whole place is from an identikit and replicated in practically every other major city across the country, but it's inviting nonetheless.

When I visited with my colleague, Sam, it was pretty late on a week-day night, but the front room was bustling all the same, packed mainly with tourists and people catching up for a drink before Christmas.

Waiting for our menus to arrive, I cast my eye over the Christmas Day menu - Noel Au Cafe Rouge - which boasts three courses and coffee for £30.

Glancing down the list of French dishes, it seemed to be pretty standard fare with a choice of pat and toast, smoked salmon or brie pastry parcels to start, and mains of turkey, duck, steak or sea bass.

For afters, there is sticky toffee pudding, a peach ice cream or chocolate and caramel truffle tart among others.

Our waitress arrived pretty promptly and she was extremely friendly.

We settled for a bottle of red - Gamay de l' Ardeche (£13.95) - but ended up having to wait about ten minutes before it arrived after a reminder from Sam.

When it did arrive, the wine was full bodied and packed with fruitful flavours and set us on to thinking of food.

We decided to opt for two courses each, but share a starter of batons de pain et leurs dips (bread sticks and dips to you and me! ) at £4.95.

Other starters included onion soup (£4.50), chicken liver parfait (£4.85) or Moules du Cafe Rouge (£5.75) - mussels in white wine and herbs - all of which we thought pretty expensive.

Our batons were served warm with hoummos, sun-dried tomato pesto and mayonnaise and aioli.

They certainly didn't stick around on the plate long and did the trick in filling the time until our mains arrived.

I had boeuf bourguignon (£11.50) and Sam ordered sole limande (£11.95) from the specials menu - fillets of sole with French beans and new potatoes.

My classic French dish was just what the doctor ordered on a cold winter's night, with hearty chunks of beef in a sumptuous red wine sauce served with thinly sliced dauphinoise potatoes.

Sam's sole was drizzled with lemon and well-cooked, but rather dry without butter, which he asked for, but he was full of praise for the veg, which met his exacting standards.

For dessert, I went with crepe au chocolat et banane (£4.65) and Sam went for vanilla cheesecake (£4.65).

Both these were utterly mouthwatering. My crepe was a gooey delight of chocolate sauce coating a plump pancake and banana envelope, and the cheesecake was the traditional sort doused in a tart blackcurrant sauce.

Our bill came to £52. Overall, the food was very good quality, but the prices were a bit on the high side.

factfile

Food:Very goodService:FriendlyValue:AdequateAmbience:French!Disabled access: NOCafe Rouge, 52 Low Petergate, York. Phone 01904 673293.

Haydn visited Cafe Rouge on Monday, December 11.