Gilbert's Restaurant, Market Place, Ramsbottom

HOW TO GET THERE

Follow the A676 main road towards Ramsbottom, through Hawkshaw. At the traffic lights in the centre of Ramsbottom on Bolton Road, turn left then immediate right and you are in front of the Grant Arms pub. Gilbert's is behind it. Turn left again and there is a large car park.

BEING married to a lady who steadfastly refuses to even try curries or other highly spiced dishes makes eating out very difficult in this day and age.

So it is that we tend to go back time and time again when we do find somewhere that offers my wife "real" food.

We will be returning to Gilbert's for many years to come. The restaurant, which is attached to the Grant Arms, has only been open for a matter of months and is, the charming waitress told us, still working on building up a regular customer base.

It was only by stopping at the traffic lights and glancing to my right that I even knew it was there.

We turned up quite early on a Friday night to find the restaurant empty but for our waitress, who appeared to be the usual student earning some extra cash.

In fact, apart from a couple of people who dashed through during the evening she was the only member of staff we saw.

However, that was no problem as she was friendly and efficient.

I started off with a glass of house red as we sat in the small but comfortable lounge to peruse our menus. That was the first nice surprise -- the wine was excellent. I have no sort of palate or knowledge, but after nearly 40 years of red wine drinking I know what I like and this was a lovely fruity number without a hint of tartness.

Of course I forgot to ask what it was.

Just eight main courses were on the menu, including pan-fried chicken breast coated in Cajun spices served on a bed of saffron and wild mushroom rice (£8.50); poached chicken breast in a red wine and juniper berry sauce (£7.95); and pan-fried breast of duck with a blackcurrant and brandy sauce (£9.25).

I stopped right there while my wife continued past the halibut topped with prawns (£9.95); sirloin and fillet steaks and roast vegetable bake for the vegetarians (£6.95) before settling on shoulder of lamb marinated in mint and honey, slowly braised then roasted (£9.25). Yes, "real" food!

Although we were sorely tempted by the starters it has come down, at our ages, to either a starter or a sweet and our sweet teeth won once our waitress mentioned sticky toffee pudding.

As well as soup (£2), the starters include smoked salmon (£4.74), breaded mushrooms and Stilton cheese (£3.95) and Tiger prawns (£4.75). I am saving up the chicken liver pate for my next visit.

I chose the duck and my wife chose the lamb so that we could swap a forkful or two.

The meals came with vegetables, nothing fancy but cooked perfectly -- crisp and tasty carrots, sweetcorn, broccoli -- and two kinds of potatoes -- mashed and in a cheese sauce.

I could not do justice to my veg (don't tell my mum) because my duck was huge. Although just breast, it must have been a rather large duck that donated it.

And it was utterly delicious.

My wife was equally ecstatic about her lamb, which, she assured me, melted in the mouth. The sauces complemented the meats rather than smothering them.

Gilbert's has an airy and fresh decor, lots of light wood and a separate smoking lounge, although there is no smoking at all in the eating area. It was a comfortable place to enjoy a meal.

Wheelchair access looks to be excellent with the smallest of steps straight from the street. There was no children's menu.

There is an excellent chef at Gilbert's just waiting to be discovered and, as the service was equally excellent, we will most certainly be returning.

Quality of food: ****

Atmosphere: ***

Menu: ****

Service: ****

Value for money: ****

Overall: ****