Mickleover Court is a modern hotel within Derby, offering two restaurants, of which The Brasserie is the subject of this review. Whoever made the choice of format for the dining room took a wise decision since this is a busy hotel with a major commercial turnover and food, as with everything else needs to be business-like and on the ball.

Which it is. We are talking here about tasty, well-prepared food not requiring too much agonizing over choices nor making too many demands upon busy people. A starter might be melon with passion fruit and strawberry syrup, a timbale of prawns with mozzarella, tomatoes and crème fraiche, or a selection of mezze and hors d'oeuvre from the attractive range at the deli bar. The breast of duck with sweet and sour bell pepper sauce, asparagus spears and spring onion mash combines a number of cuisines in a rather breathtaking way but if you are not up to it consider the penne pasta with wild mushrooms, cream, blue cheese and herbs.

The wine list meets the challenge well. Lunch is very much an affair of business, with the table d'hote at £10.95, making it a good proposition. Dinner a la carte averages around £25.