Joe Willis is lured to a new bistro at Richmond by the promise of cocktails

WHEN I worked in Richmond a few years ago the Trinity Square building next to the Green Howards Museum, now occupied by Penleys Cafe and Bistro, was a delicatessen which served excellent ham and coleslaw sandwiches.

The premises have changed hands several times since with nobody seemingly able to take advantage of what would appear to be an excellent town centre location. But the people behind the popular Penleys of Leyburn – business partners Amanda Penrose and Matthew Colley – who took on the building last year will be hoping to have more success. To add to their daytime offering, they have recently started serving bistro food on Friday and Saturday nights. It was, however, the promise of cocktail aperitifs that lured us away from the television and the Ninja Warrior semi-finals for a bite to eat last weekend.

It's a bit a of a mystery why more pubs and restaurants don't offer cocktails. Yes, they're a bit of a faff – that's faff not naff – to make and they're not to everyone's taste, but a brightly-coloured drink with lots of crushed ice that you can sip through a straw adds a little bit of sparkle to a night out – a reminder of past foreign holidays or a taster of trips yet to be taken. Maybe it's just me.

After settling down with a strawberry daiquiri for Sarah and a mojito with extra mint for myself, we set about choosing our food.

And there is a lot to choose from on the Penleys' evening menu. There is nothing fancy or fussy about the dishes on offer, but everything sounds like it tastes good. And so it proved to be.

Sarah began with a crispy duck pancakes, with cucumber, spring onion and hoi sin sauce (£6.50), which she thought was faultless and much better than the same dish served at a local Chinese restaurant the previous week. My deep fried breaded goat's cheese, thyme-roasted red pepper, tomato and basil salad (£6.25) was also very good. The cheese was piping hot, with a crisp coating and an inside that oozed out when you sliced in.

For main, Sarah's went for grilled 8oz ribeye steak with a big field mushroom, beef tomato, crisp onion rings, chunky chips and a béarnaise sauce (£18.95). The dish was an absolute whopper – almost the kind you get your money back for finishing in some restaurants. There was no suggestion that flavour had been sacrificed however. The medium steak was super-tender, although Sarah reckoned the onion rings stole the show.

My strips of beef, served with horseradish mash, baby onion, mushroom and Dijon mustard sauce, were just as delicious. I could have just had the mash and mustard sauce and I'd have been happy to be fair – good mash and gravy beats any chunky chip or skinny fry I would, and often do, argue. By now we were both pretty stuffed and so decided to share a sweet. Like everything else, the Eton mess served in a wine glass which was crammed to the brim with meringue, fruit and cream was excellent.

All in all, it was a very good meal. The service throughout was unobtrusive and speedy, while the bill came to just over £60, which we thought was decent value. These days Richmond has an abundance of good places to eat out, but there's got to be space for a restaurant which offers reliable bistro dishes, whether it's cocktail o'clock or not. Finally, there's often a free glass of wine to anyone who visits the venue's Facebook page – worth a check before you visit.

Food Facts

Penleys Cafe and Bistro

5/6 Trinity Church Square, Richmond, DL10 4HY

Tel: 01748-824052

Facebook: facebook.com/pages/Penleys-of-Richmond/847621341916395

Food quality: 4/5

Service: 4/5

Surroundings: 4/5

Value: 4/5