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Part of the Whitbread family, Table Table restaurants aim to bring great value tasty pub food to an ever increasing eating-out public who like well prepared and genuine food served by friendly staff in relaxing surroundings. If that sounds too much like a dream come true be assured that at Table Table they also walk the talk, and are pleased to have the chance to prove it.

Their well located restaurants are spread across a wide range of decors and styles, and all of them share a determination to provide comfort, warmth and relaxation. Their buffet menus for special occasions are remarkable value.

In keeping with modern trends they provide dishes to nibble or share as guests consider the spread of options on a menu that could be described as British with welcome incursions. So as you share long Italian flatbread, and dough balls and dips, or a sharing platter with an imaginative range of finger food starting with garlic and breaded mushrooms, it's time to think about the relative merits of aromatic duck parcels, a prawn cocktail, breaded Camembert or sticky chicken goujons to name but a few.

Many an innocent dish from the past has been hi-jacked in the best possible sense into becoming what is now called a 'pub classic'. Wiltshire cured ham with eggs is served with chunky chips and beef, mushroom and ale pie, or chicken and chips are all familiar with British tables, be they in the dining room or the kitchen. Now they have been added to by chicken fajitas, a sweet red pepper, crème fraiche and fennel tart, a leg of duck slowly cooked and served with a Bramley apple and cider sauce, or chilli con carne with basmati rice, sour cream and guacamole and nachos. So is the humble burger with six enticing toppings.

The point is they, and others, are all here at Table Table, well prepared with quality ingredients, and presented in a way that makes you hungry even if you thought you weren't.

Getting down to the more serious side of the table keep an eye open for the seafood pie, a delightful assembly of things fishy including crayfish, red snapper, prawns and clams. Many of their steaks are 28 days matured, including a 7oz fillet. All steaks are served with watercress, roasted cherry tomatoes, a flat mushroom and chunky chips. A choice from 4 sauces adds the final touch of enjoyment.

Pastas and salads embrace some well known and loved names, but for sheer enjoyment the hot smoked salmon salad takes some beating - flakes of hot smoked salmon mixed with a house salad and soy and ginger sauce. A real winner.

Snacks aplenty cover hot baguettes with the like of grilled pork loin and Bramley apple sauce, sandwiches filled with Cheddar cheese, or prawns and Marie Rose sauce, and jacket potatoes with such temptations as chilli con carne. Add a bowl of chips for only a little extra.

lagers. All in all it would appear that Table Table are more than achieving their aims, providing the opportunity for people to eat out enjoyably, with excellent value for money. Long may they continue to do so.

For completely up to date information on menu changes and special offers do make a regular check on their lively Website.

I have to admit that until now I had never looked upon Rochdale as a centre of excellence when it came to gourmet eating. Nothing snobbish, mind you, just horses for courses with a faint undertone of tripe and onions. So having said that it is real joy to come across After Eight, located in a handsome house on the outskirts of Rochdale, a regular entrant in the Good Food Guide and a source of pleasure to an ever increasing coterie of regulars.

What makes it so special? Geoff and Ann Taylor, who have run the place for some 15 years (Geoff does the cooking) seem to have the knack of combining a friendly and welcoming approach to their customers with razor sharp skills at the stoves. Starting with good local ingredients the food has an integrity about it which shows through in dishes like the chartreuse of asparagus and spring onion, or such simple dishes as Morecambe Bay shrimps in filo pastry, a commonplace enough item yet transformed from the usual to the exceptional. And this perhaps is their real gift, to take unexceptional quality and deftly mould it into something in a class of its own.

The chocolate and raspberry gateaux is in the same league but cheese buffs will be over the moon at their array of old and new Lancashire cheeses, such as Garstang Blue and Lancashire Black Beauty. Sorry, but white stilton with candied fruit is strictly for the birds, but let's be tolerant.

The wine list is a good collection with most areas represented, reasonable prices and house wine at £11.50. The a la carte menu offers five choices at each course and is keenly priced with mains from £12-£16. But if that's a problem go for the price fixee dinner on Tuesday-Friday for between £18-£24.

Andrew Nutter manages to combine running his restaurant Nutters with being a well-known chef on TV, seemingly doing both with success. Certainly he is cooking up quite a storm these days and the Good Food Guide 2009 gives him a decent rating of three for food. Once a pub, the attractive stone-built exterior provides a bit of a contrast to the interior, which is rather strong on the patterned carpets and chandeliers, belying the contemporary feel to his well thought out, modern style of British food.