Bistrot Pierre, Harrogate

So no delegate, tourist or shopper is ever going to starve on Cheltenham Parade. Nor is it a strip that ever stands still. Recent cold winds have seen the closures of Bower's Bistro and Arezzo. Even Pinocchio's, an epitome of noisy, good time, pizza/pasta party Italian, has sung its last Happy Birthday. On the top floor of Cheltenham Parade's most modern block, the local branch of the supposedly gold-plated Loch Fyne chain has gone under, too. But restaurateurs are an optimistic breed and the ashes of Loch Fyne had barely cooled before Bistrot Pierre swept in.

They've done so with some chutzpah. This is no petite Parisian bistro but an aircraft hangar of an operation with a daunting 100-plus covers and a long outdoor balcony with French-style woven chairs, views across town and blankets for the chill.

Indoors has had a bold overhaul. Even if it's a bit weird to impose Tiffany lamps, exposed stone and yards of fibreglass Alpine beams on a modern building; but it's still an impressive space.

It adds up to the sort of investment that could probably only be handled by a big name chef with City finance backing, or by a chain on the upswing. This is the eighth Bistrot Pierre to roll off a production line launched in Nottingham by two old school mates, Robert Beacham and John Whitehead. Having worked a Pierre Victoire franchise, Beacham presumably knows a thing or two about the perils of the restaurant chain game: Pierre Victoire's 90 outlets went spectacularly bust in 1998. In contrast, Bistrot Pierre is expanding. Sheffield got its version in 2009; Harrogate opened this June.

No doubt part of their success is down to highly competitive pricing: two courses for 9.25 at lunch; 13.50 for the two course early bird; la carte mains are held at about 12; and there's a universal policy of half price for children eating smaller portions. If Harrogate has a better value 175 ml glass of house red than their Vin de Pays St Jean at 3.35 then we'd like to know about it.

Also commendable is the effort to break out of the straitjacket menus that afflict so many chains.

Exhibit 1: a shared appetiser of a whole roast garlic. A slow-roasted bulb was cooked until it had lost its harshest punch, leaving a soothing paste to squash onto chewy bread with a dipping bowl of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Exhibit 2: starters from the Bistrot Favourites menu included a little pot of melting St Marcelin cheese served with genuine sour dough bread, nicely matched with a spiced pear chutney.

Exhibit 3: from the specials blackboard, a good old coq au vin which looked and tasted plausibly French. The big white dish of chicken leg and thigh with mushroom, bacon dice, shallots and a thumping red wine sauce was just the kind of homely, hearty food you might expect to find in a bistro in the Marais.

But then again a chain is synonymous with shackles. Another starter of grilled sardines was let down by a strident salsa verde. Instead of singing with herbs and garlic, it was green, raw and bitter as if someone had chucked a bunch of spinach into the food processor and not dipped their finger in to taste the result. Perhaps something vital had been lost in translation from head office to Harrogate kitchen.

The Assiette Mediterraneenne was rather like the interior decoration scheme, full of disparate ingredients that didn't always hang together. It safely coasted around the eastern and western Mediterranean with fat olives, cornichons, semi-dried tomatoes, a rather bitter houmous and some rather tasty honey glazed chorizos, but then took curious detours to the Scottish Highlands for smoked salmon and to India and China for (admittedly rather good) curried crab claw. Overall, however, it was a dish that would work better as a starter for two than a main course for one although at 9.50 they certainly put the money on the plate.

We chose from what looked like the more enterprising ends of the menu. They're also big on bistro regulars like duck confit, beef bourguignon and porc a la moutarde. At dessert, crme brle passed muster. Generous again to a fault, it was closer in size to a side plate than the usual ramekin and while it was a bit soft and runny it came with a good crunchy brle topping.

Service was super-friendly and attentive without any tedious bowing and scraping. While this is never going to be a restaurant to fall in love with or choose for proposing marriage by candlight, it's certainly worth knowing about for a shopping break or for a cheerful, good value fill up before an evening show.

If it can iron out the glitches and operate consistently to its own best standards, then it may even pull off a rare trick a chain restaurant: delivering both quantity and quality.

n Bistrot Pierre, 15 Cheltenham Parade, Harrogate HG1 1DD. 01423 533070, Email: [email protected] www.lebistrotpierre.co.uk

Open: Mon-Fri noon-3pm and 5.30pm-10.30pm. Sat 9am-4pm and 5.30pm-11pm. Sun 9.30am-4pm and 6pm-10pm

About 60 for two, including a bottle of house wine.

Street parking.

YP MAG 24/7/10