Daffodil, The

Think Cheltenham, think Regency, think horseracing - and then think Daffodil. Whoever had the wit to acquire an art deco cinema and convert it into a stylish restaurant redolent of the roaring 20s, deserves a medal. A big one, because the result is one of the most attractive eating out locations in the West, lending renewed lustre to chic Montpellier quarter of the town.

With its warm golden yellow as a primary colour, the sweeping staircases leading up to the balcony and acoustics that absorb sound into the mellowness of the décor, Daffodil is all you would expect - and much more. By some magic touch the restaurant lends itself equally to the intimacy of a special one-to one night out, or the hilarious, hair-loosening abandonment of a party where time stands still whilst the live jazz and blues weaves a potent web of pleasure.

For instance on Jazz Mondays there is a two course menu at £15, or the standard à la carte, available at all times. But earlier in the day lunch may have beckoned between appointments, and lunch became an option, so you headed for the three course express lunch, say homemade salmon gravadlax, followed by a pan fried pork cutlet, and to get the show back on the road some traditional bread and butter pudding with sauce anglaise.

Had the à la carte been an option you could have selected from around a dozen starters and soups, say crayfish and Dublin Bay prawn cocktail with a Bebeto sauce, or deep fried organic Cotswold brie with cranberry chutney.

For main courses a wide range of cheerful options line up for your attention, with very thinly sliced Dutch calves liver and bacon, Thai monkfish curry or roast saddle of wild rabbit on a creamy mash, with tasty braised Savoy cabbage and grain mustard sauce.

Somehow the classic glazed lemon tart, with all its empathy with the little black dress, seems the right pudding for such surroundings, but there are plenty of other choices too.

A sensibly succinct wine list has simply oodles of numbers by the glass, considerable emphasis on New World contributions and, apart from the champagne, nothing over £40.

Check on their elegant Website for menu changes and details of arrangements for party, wedding, and corporate events.