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Brewer's Fayre restaurants offer a warm welcome to those who want a reliably tasty meal in pleasant surroundings, with plenty of choice, minimal fuss and friendly service. With a reputation going back 25 years they should have a fair chance of doing that, but don't take our word for it. Give them a try and see if you agree that this is how good quality pub food should be served.

Whether it's snacks, grills, pub classics, fish, Sunday roasts or side dishes they think their way through the options, talk to their guests, and then come up with the goods. Not everybody wants a full meal so they've considered the needs of those who want to keep the gap filled and the children contented, perhaps on a journey or a day out.

Hot filled baguettes are always popular be it sausage and red onion or a classic BLT. Wraps include tuna mayonnaise, and add chips and coleslaw for a little more. Jacket potatoes are good on their own but filled with mature cheddar cheese and beans they take on a new dimension.

More paced occasions demand a wide menu, perhaps with starters of crispy fried whitebait, lamb kebabs or breaded Camembert bites. Grills are there for the hungry and whole rack of meaty BBQ pork ribs served with extra sauce, chips and coleslaw can be very welcome. The days of the mixed grill are back - or did they ever go away - a 4oz rump steak, two pork sausages, and a gammon steak topped with a fried egg served with all the trimmings will remind you if they did.

Fisherman's pie combines tasty pieces of white fish, smoked haddock and salmon in a creamy white sauce covered by a mashed potato roof and finished with a sprinkling of Cheddar cheese, served when a nice golden brown. A combination of sea and land comes with a rump steak, whole grilled chicken breast and breaded wholetail scampi, served with chips and a side salad or garden peas.

The rise of eating out in pubs has brought into our daily lives a whole legion of what might be termed 'pub classics'. Many of them have their roots in what used to be called 'good home cooking' and include such dishes as sausage, egg and chips, beef and ale pie, cottage pie and for the very daring a beef lasagne. Well, all of them and many more are on the menu at Brewer's Fayre, supplemented by such new regulars as Thai green chicken curry, minted lamb loin, chilli con carne and grilled chicken and bacon salad, otherwise known as Caesar's salad.

It has often been said that chicken tikka masala is now the most popular dish in Britain. Some may not really want to believe that, much as they love curry, but travel, population movement and other factors have widened our scope and they are probably pretty keen on fish and chips in Timbuktu.

What is certain is that the great British Sunday roast is exclusive to these islands, though copied maybe elsewhere or in ex-pat outposts. No surprise therefore that it's on the Brewer's Fayre menu. A trade of three roasts with an opportunity to trade up to a mega roast for a modest sum. With it come two Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes, fresh seasonal vegetables and that important element - gravy.

A fine list of immensely tempting desserts may well bring the most ardent weight-watcher to their knees, but comfort yourself with the thought that for every £1 spent on food and drink you claim two Nectar points. A short but well thought out wine list offers all choices, except champagne, by the glass. Staying the night - check to see if there's a Premier Inn next door - chances are you'll be lucky.

A quick click on their Website is always worth while. The only thing that stays still permanently is the quality which is helped by a changing menu, and some very special offers.

This is about as Jacobean as they come. For admirers of Charlotte Bronte and the Jane Eyre cult, Holdsworth House remains a fine example of these low-slung, sturdy houses with their robust mullions and stone slate roofs. Within it is even better, with an oak panelled dining room that is one of the most inviting of its kind to be found. It is one of those rooms where the business of eating could easily become secondary.

A winter menu could have amongst the starters a duck, vegetable and new potato ragout, a pave of fresh market fish and crayfish salad with saffron aioli, or Isle of Lewis smoked salmon, layered with cos lettuce, anchovies and parmesan. Main courses include pan griddled veal cutlet with Orkney clapshot, pommes parisienne and Calvados jus, a char grilled fillet Galloway steak, or a tranche of salmon with a red onion and caper crust. A delicate iced fig and Satsuma parfait is pretty innocent, for others there is the house plum pudding, baked in crisp filo pastry with brandy and butter custard. Amongst the cheeses on offer look for Fountains Gold , made at Hawes, Northumberland smoked from Blagdon, and the up and coming Yorkshire Buffalo Blue, a blue veined, soft cheese made at Cropwell Bishop.

All this and more in that outstanding dining room, with the open fire flickering gently, the murmur of conversation and perhaps the thought that the weekend lays open before you as you reach for the port list that caught your eye earlier.

Formerly known as Stafford Arms, Luigi's Restaurant and Pizzaria on Huddersfield Road has garnered a loyal following in the Halifax area owing to its friendly staff, comfortable and welcoming ambience, and extensive menu of traditional Italian cuisine. Luigi's also offers live music on Wednesday and Saturday evenings which serves to enhance the vibrant atmosphere.

The menu embraces a broad repertoire of dishes such as pasta, pizza, breads, salads, fish and side dishes. So for a light start to your Italian journey try mussels steamed in creamy white wine, lemon and garlic sauce, or melon and Parma ham. Main courses include delicious chicken with apricot sauce or fillet Rossini, prime fillet steak on toasted bread, topped with pâté in Madeira sauce and honey crusted salmon fillet. Pasta dishes include classic dishes of spaghetti carbonara, seafood linguini and lasagna while vegetarians are catered for with dishes such as wild mushroom risotto; gnocchi with feta cheese, olives and cherry tomatoes. Children are welcome and have their own customized menu which includes dishes such as spaghetti Bolognaise and sole goujons and chips.

No Italian meal is complete without its wines and Luigi's has a well tailored list of new and old world bottles in addition to a range of refreshing cocktails.

Traditional style restaurant featuring, memorabilia from the Wallis Simpson era (60 covers). The choice is between TDH or a la carte English European cuisine. Wallis Simpson Café Bar has a reception area and archive suite for larger party bookings (120 covers). Private dinner parties and breakfast meetings can be catered for. It is situated directly opposite Halifax railway station and only 2 minutes from the Town Centre (walking).

Somehow, and I freely admit this may be illogical to some, a tapas bar does not seem quite right in deepest Yorkshire. So my object here is to demonstrate how wrong one can be!

The idea of course is to have a series of small dishes brought together into a meal for you and your partner, or party, thus giving a whole range of flavours within an informal situation that encourages conversation in a relaxed atmosphere.

Hams and salamis include acorn fed Jamon Iberico from Barcelona, cheeses from Spanish Regions are served with fig and almond wheel and quince pasta, and bread could be the Catalan variety with olive oil, garlic and fresh plum tomato, or sour dough.

Amongst the meat tapas expect to see chargrilled fillet of beef with wild mushrooms and caramelised shallots, classic meat balls with Fritada sauce, or grilled baby lamb chops with roast parsnips, whilst seafood comes in the form of tiger prawns with rosemary, chilli and garlic.

All these, and the many other dishes, have tremendous flavour and sit lightly on the palate but memorably as an experience. And be sure

Jan Rayner, writing in The Observer Magazine, says 'Yorkshire's finest have welcomed El Gato Negro Tapas with open arms'.

And in so doing have caused me to review my instincts.

Set in an elegant Georgian building on Rawson Street, in Halifax, guests dining at Le Metropolitain can unwind in an atmospheric art deco setting while ordering from a modern European menu with a distinct emphasis on French cuisine. The restaurant's 'grand salon' is available for weddings and other events.
 
Brunch from 11 a.m. serves dry cured bacon with Paris brown mushrooms and black pudding, omelette Arnold Bennett or eggs Florentine. Dinner could begin with five spice belly pork with apple purée and toasted hazelnuts, gravadlax, risotto of tomato and brie or moules marinière. The grill offers a range of steaks made from locally sourced beef, aged for at least 28 days, options include 10oz rib eye and sirloin or surf and turf, an 8oz Balmoral estate veal steak with sweet chilli king prawn. Other options include corn fed chicken breast cooked with thyme, garlic and lemon or grilled calves liver herb marinated, then cooked and served pink. To finish consider bread and butter pudding, Eton mess, or a cheese board with Wensleydale, Westcombe Cheddar and Soumaintrain, a luxurious triple crème cheese from Bourgogne.