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 the 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.

The kitchen has been cunningly located where the screen originally provided moments of passion and suspense, so that from every table in the house you can have a wide angle view into the kitchens and thrill to a sizzling steak rather than the curvaceous advantages of the current cinema squeezes, or both if you have a vivid enough imagination

For instance on Jazz Mondays there is a sumptuous three course menu at £22.50, 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 a meal from the dailies menu, available every lunchtime and early evening until 7.30pm, and feast on, say pan-fried squid, followed by a sirloin minute steak with roasted thyme field mushrooms, and to get the show back on the road some panettone bread and butter pudding with a vanilla bean anglaise.

Had the à la carte been an option you could have selected from fourteen starters and soups, say crayfish and Dublin Bay prawn cocktail, or a crispy aromatic duck salad with hoi sin dressing. The spiced parsnip soup is a delight, with crispy bacon and focaccia, but my money would be on the omelette Arnold Bennett.

For main courses a wide range of cheerful options line up for your attention, with seared calves' liver, braised Savoy cabbage, ham hock, and blue cheese dumplings; monkfish and prawn Goan curry, or local game pie topped with creamed mash, roasted parsnips, and garlic sautéed wild mushrooms. A Gloucestershire sirloin steak au poivre arrives at table with hand cut chips and roasted vine tomatoes, and vegetarians will purr over the butternut squash and leek risotto.

Somehow the classic glazed lemon tart with a raspberry compote and crème fraîche 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 £55. Check on their elegant Website for menu changes and details of arrangements for party, wedding, and corporate events.