WHEN York Brewery's first pub the Last Drop Inn opened this summer, one of its chief selling points - apart from the beer, of course - was the noise. Or rather, the lack of it.

Push through the doors of the Colliergate boozer and the first thing that strikes you is the lack of thumping background music. Startling as it may seem, you can actually hear what the person at the table with you is saying.

Given the quality of most pub conversations that may or may not be a good thing. It's certainly not something York Brewery is about to apologise for, though.

"The best background noise you can have in any pub is the sound of people talking and laughing," brewery managing director Tony Thomson told the Evening Press boldly in August, the week after the pub's opening.

For a pub that's been open only a couple of months, the Last Drop does a great impression of a traditional English town boozer.

Bare, varnished wood table tops, no nonsense decor that seems tinted by centuries of cigarette smoke but isn't, and a great array of real ales on offer at the traditional bar: the Last Drop's got the lot.

It's the beer that will make or break the pub. When Lily and I popped in for Sunday lunch almost the complete range of York Brewery's finest was on offer: Stonewall, Brideshead, Terrier, Last Drop and Centurion's Ghost.

Being the driver, I could sample only one. After agonising briefly, I opted for a pint of Brideshead: a deliciously hoppy beer with an underlying cool bitterness and a texture that lingers on the tongue. Worth driving 20 miles for in itself.

Lily chose a Britvic apple juice and, drinks in hand, we headed for a generously large table in the window looking out over Colliergate. It appeared to have been made out of a stripped-down door - the underside still had the groove where the bolt would have run - and gave plenty of room for the pair of us to stretch out and relax.

Beer alone doesn't make a great pub, of course - though it goes along way. Atmosphere and food are important too.

After ten minutes sitting in the cosy atmosphere of the Last Drop, I had to admit that Tony Thomson was on to something. The background chatter from drinkers/ diners at other tables was wonderfully relaxing, and certainly made this a pub to linger in.

But what about the grub? Pre-printed menus on most tables revealed that on weekdays, there's a fairly extensive lunch menu: everything from a roast of the day with traditional veg at £5.95 to Stonewall sausages - sausage cooked in Stonewall ale - Centurion's Platter of cold roast meats and a selection of fresh and grilled sandwiches.

The Stonewall sausages sounded great: but on Sunday sadly we were limited to the Sunday Roast - chicken or pork with all the trimmings for £5.95 each.

We ordered - one chicken, one pork - and sat back to enjoy our drinks. In no time, it seemed, our meals were ready: large, steaming plates heaped with meat and a selection of vegetables and boiled and roasted new potatoes. The piece de resistance for each of us, though, was the two giant Yorkshire puds dominating the plate, each filled with a delicious pool of thick, brown gravy.

Ravenous, we tucked in. And it wasn't long before we both came to the same conclusion: pub grub doesn't have to be sophisticated to be good.

Lily's pork, while a little tough, was deliciously tasty. My chicken, while a little dry, was equally so - especially when smothered in that wonderful gravy. The vegetables were surprisingly good - crunchy carrots, roasted and boiled new potatoes, and cauliflower and broccoli, neither of which were over-cooked.

It was those Yorkshire puds that really made the meal, though. Light, crisp and fluffy, they were of perfect consistency - and the combination of pudding and salty gravy just couldn't be beaten.

We huffed and puffed and just managed to clean our plates. So full were we we couldn't even manage a coffee to finish: but so friendly is the atmosphere at the pub we felt no qualms about lingering there while our digestive juices got to work.

The cost of this plain-speaking Sunday feast - drinks included - came to just £14.65, which has got to be pretty good value in anybody's book. Especially when the beer's that good.

One thing's for sure: it won't be long before I drop in to the Last Drop Inn again.

Last Drop Inn, Colliergate, York. Telephone: 01904 621951.