Endeavour, The

In 1768 James Cook set out from Plymouth on the first of his great voyages of discovery and charting in a Whitby collier-type vessel, one that he knew only too well from his Yorkshire background. Had he known then that a restaurant with rooms not far from his birthplace would commemorate the name of that vessel over 200 years later he would probably have been quietly pleased.

He would certainly have enjoyed the culinary achievements of Brian Kay and Charlotte Willoughby who are not altogether unaided by the fact that if the local fish jumped the wrong way they would end up in the kitchen - should that be galley?

The sweet potato soup makes a memorable starter, never mind its humility, and the cold venison with fresh figs puts a refreshing new light on that excellent commodity.

A turbot and smoked salmon sausage with lumpfish caviar demonstrates the originality that permeates proceedings, leading into main courses such as a whole Staithes lobster with garlic and hazelnut butter, a delicious rabbit casserole with tomato, fennel and chicory or a wild turbot fillet with an apple and calvados sauce.

Puddings are more conventional but fiendishly tempting, witness the chocolate and rum terrine. Quality abounds, from the presentation, through service to atmospherics and setting. A modest wine list satisfies, with prices from £11.50.

Sadly it would have been lost on Cook that TV's Inspector Morse revealed, shortly before his dramatic demise in an Oxford quad, that his other name was Endeavour.