Stylish Nosh puts on its Sunday best

I know why they didn't find the Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq - my daughter's got them.

I know this because she's been at home off school for a fortnight and seems to have detonated quite a few in my living room. You can't see an inch of carpet for Barbie dolls and those Bratz things. And the remote control is still missing in action. So it was with a huge sigh of relief that I left the destruction behind and took The Child and The Old Git (though I'm not allowed to call him that any more) for Sunday lunch at Nosh in Skipton.

Now, you need to know that I'm completely biased here. Because I love Nosh. With no offence to our longer-standing and still excellent town centre restaurants, I think Skipton has been crying out for a place like this. It's urban and trendy, yet relaxed and informal.

You can choose to eat in the downstairs bar area or, like us, venture upstairs to the minimalist chic of the restaurant proper. It's like an Ocean catalogue brought to life, with modern place settings that I'm sure won't be on Charles and Camilla's wedding list. But what about the food? Well, I'll get my one and only gripe out of the way now.

There's simply too much to choose from. The Brasserie menu offers a wide selection of Tapas, plus 'simply' starters and mains plus a range of dishes which you can take as a small or large serving.

Then there's the three course Sunday menu too and with the option of mixing and matching between the two, I'd have been choosing all day were it not for my hungry companions.

We went for Tapas to start. Both myself and The Child had the gorgeous wonton tiger prawns with a chilli dip and He (new name) had a delicious vegetarian spinach and cheese tortellini.

Then I was gutted. Because I was going to choose the roast sirloin of beef with all the trimmings, but He got in first. And it was, I quote, "the best Sunday lunch ever", which puts my cooking in its place.

My smoked haddock on a pea and chorizo risotto certainly wasn't far behind and what child isn't happy with sausage and mash? We all dug into the excellent selection of vegetables that came with His meal and, as ever, everything was presented to perfection. In fact, I wanted to pinch the plates, but my bag wasn't big enough.

Restaurant serves up excellent 'nosh'

TWO days after a fairly bloody tooth extraction may not be the ideal time to try out a tasty looking new restaurant. But the booking had already been made and a husband's birthday can't be ignored. So last Saturday night I gritted my remaining teeth, doubled up the painkillers and we set off for Nosh.

Not just any old nosh, but Nosh - the stylish bar and brasserie in Skipton's Devonshire Place. This great new eatery has transformed a formerly dingy corner into one of the town's brighter spots.

When we arrived the place was buzzing. So much so that we had to wait a while in the bar before going upstairs to the restaurant. This was slightly frustrating.

We were famished: Nosh is already so popular that we couldn't get a table until 9.30pm, which felt like a long time since lunch. But the friendly staff looked after us well and it gave us more time to work through the fairly elaborate menu. There are two menus: one where everything can be either starter or main course, around £4.00/£9.50, and a more expensive à la carte menu.

The range of dishes is impressive, in scale and scope, although might be even better if it was a little simpler. After two days of nothing but soup and mashed banana, I was ready for something more substantial and more exciting (but still soft).

I opted for tuna carpaccio with pepper and rocket salad from the à la carte menu. The birthday boy went for duck spring roll, from the same menu. Neither was cheap (£6.00/£5.75), but both were very good, especially the salad. We ordered mixed olives and pickles too (£2.25), but needn't have bothered as complimentary bread and excellent olives were served. In fact, the freebies were much better than the olives we paid for.

The main courses were equally good, but took a while to appear.

The restaurant was extremely busy and perhaps the chef was struggling to fill all the orders. Hors d'oeuvres "on the house" arrived at one point, a nice - and delicious - gesture. But maybe Nosh could streamline its seating, as well as the menu. Some of the tables felt very close together and the noise was considerable.

There's a fine line between lively atmosphere and over-crowded hullabaloo. Maybe I was being too sensitive - toothache can have that effect.

The wait between courses was a chance to absorb the ambience, to check out and approve the modish décor. And Nosh does serve really excellent food.

My main dish of fishcakes with lime crème fraiche and red pepper and beetroot salad was soft, sharp, fresh and fruity - not to mention the first time in my life I've ever eaten and enjoyed beetroot.

My husband said the soy, sesame and coriander chicken on noodles was good, too. Both came from the main menu, at £9.00 and £9.75 (and side order of potatoes, £1.75).