STEPHEN LEWIS finds an English restaurant to be proud of

EVEN in our own country, English food hasn't got a great reputation. Suggest going out for a meal to friends and more than likely they'll ask what do you fancy? Italian? Indian? Chinese? Suggest eating English and you're likely to get a derisory snort.

Which is a pity. Because English food isn't all about gristly roast beef, boiled potatoes, instant gravy and overcooked veg. It's not even limited to good, plain home cooking. A good English meal cooked by a decent chef incorporates influences from all over the world, as any good cuisine does - and it can compare with the best of them.

I don't know whether the York eatery that calls itself simply 19 Grape Lane (no prizes for guessing where it is) describes itself as an English restaurant or not. But it's certainly listed as an English restaurant in Yellow Pages - and the moment you walk through the doors it's all old English charm.

Small, higgledy-piggledy rooms with low, timbered ceilings, pretty windows with window boxes, intimate tables for two, each with a small candle and an array of crystal and gleaming cutlery - and perhaps best of all, an elegantly hand-written menu that's entirely in English. You know exactly what you're ordering at 19 Grape Lane, which means the restaurant has nowhere to hide: a good sign it has confidence in its chef.

And rightly so. From the moment we took our seats, our evening was a delight.

We were shown to our seats by a pleasant, attentive waiter, who took our coats. We ordered drinks and while we pondered the menu, a plate of delicious, malty rolls with fresh butter were set before us, and two tiny salmon and mayonnaise appetisers. They could have been a little more salty: but it was a nice touch.

The menu at 19 Grape Lane isn't hugely extensive, but it is well thought out, with a range of starters, meat, fish and vegetarian main meals, and a small but select dessert menu.

Lily opted to start with the pan-fried king prawns in garlic oil on a salad bed of avocado and chilli at £5.25. I went for the simpler-sounding chicken and grape salad, at £4.20.

My salad consisted of thin slices of tender chicken and whole, seedless red and green grapes and cherry tomatoes on a bed of salad leaves. The sweet, juicy flesh of the grapes perfectly complimented the chicken: a combination I've not had before, but one I'll certainly try again.

Lily, meanwhile, tucked into a huge plate of fresh, steaming prawns, again on a salad bed, and pronounced them delicious.

For her main course, Lily decided on the sliced breast of duck, gratin potatoes and courgettes in a rich orange and coriander sauce, at £14.50. She asked the waiter if the chef could leave the coriander out of the sauce, and was told no problem: again, a good sign.

I opted for pork escalope rolls filled with apples, sweet peppers, sultanas and wild rice in a Calvados cream sauce, at £12.00.

Because all main dishes are cooked from fresh, there was a short wait: but in such pleasant surroundings it was no hardship at all. And the food, when it arrived, was definitely worth it.

Wild rice has a delicious, earthy taste. It added a wonderful flavour to my pork escalopes, combining perfectly with the sweetness of the sultanas and peppers. Best of all was the bed of mashed carrot upon which my pork sat, the texture and sweetness a delightful contrast with the pork itself.

Lily's main course was, if anything, even better. The duck, which she asked to be well cooked, was deliciously crisp on the outside, tender and succulent inside. We speculated that it could have been marinaded in soy sauce, because there was a lovely, salty tang to the skin. The gratin potatoes were melt-in-the-mouth and only the courgettes were a little disappointing, lacking in flavour.

Full, Lily passed on dessert, but I was unable to resist. From the short dessert menu I chose the chocolate pear tart, at £4.50. It was a bit expensive - and a little disappointing, too, the chocolate tart itself rather dry, with not quite enough baked pear to set it off. But it's a small criticism.

Our meal came to £44, including drinks - quite pricey, but there's a lunchtime menu too - which means you can enjoy the charm and great food at this distinctive restaurant without making quite such a big dent in your wallet.

u 19 Grape Lane, 19 Grape Lane, York. Tel 01904 636366.

Food: delicious

Service: attentive

Value: worth it

Ambience: intimate

No disabled toilets