Lucky people, the villagers of Mill Bank.

The Millbank at Mill Bank specialises in modern European cooking with a Yorkshire twist. The former village local looks out over spectacular views and, under the leadership of Nico Ladenis, trained head chef Glenn Futter has built quite a following. You try getting a table on a Saturday night! We did – but only if we were prepared to give it up at 9.30pm.

Three things mark out a top-class restaurant: cooking fish well, using the freshest produce and selling Champagne by the glass. Full marks there then.

The place was already buzzing as we arrived on a wet and windy night – be warned, parking is a bit of a nightmare – but Mr P was more than happy as he downed a glass of beautifully-kept Timothy Taylor's Landlord.

Then came the hard decisions. As always there was far too much to choose from. How do you decide when the menu contains temptations ranging from roast scallops to little pies of spiced duck or English muffin?

In the end Mr P plumped for roast monkfish in shrimp bisque with truffle oil and cabbage and I went for crab fritters with chilli oil, roast tomatoes and raita. They were to die for.

Monkfish is notoriously difficult to cook well. One moment too long and you may as well be eating rubber. This was done to perfection, crispy on the outside, tender but firm on the inside and perfectly complemented by the bisque. The crab was light, delicate and very tasty.

The Millbank has a comprehensive but generally well-priced wine list, sorted by style rather than origin. It also sells 12 wines by the glass. I was driving but Mr P chose a glass of the fabled Cloudy Bay sauvignon blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand. Unfortunately they had run out – hardly surprising really, it's not a wine you usually find sold by the glass – so he opted instead for a big glass of chablis. For the main course I went for duck breast from Goosnargh with Anna potato, orange sauce and beetroot. The duck melted in the mouth – exquisite.

Mr P opted for deep fried pollock in beer batter with home-made tartare sauce, pea puree and chips. The pollock was light, flaky, perfectly cooked.

But there was a problem. The chips were well done – to the point of cremation. They were inedible.

The Millbank regularly features in the Good Food Guide. It even has a bib gourmand from Michelin. If a restaurant has big ambitions it cannot afford to get something as simple as chips wrong. What made it worse was that the chips going out on other plates looked fine. Very disappointing.

Still the desserts helped to make up for it. Mr P had raisin and cinnamon creme brulee with apple sorbet and I went for a citrus plate – blood orange and cardamom jelly, lime and vodka sorbet, almond and pink grapefruit sponge and lemon rice pudding. Yummy.

Service was friendly but slow, and a little haphazard. Which is not great if you have a 9.30pm deadline.

The bill came in at a whisker over £70 – not bad value for mostly great food.

Fact file
Name: The Millbank
Address: Mill Bank Road, Mill Bank
Telephone: 01422 825583
Ratings:
Food: 4/5
Atmosphere: 4/5
Service: 3/5
Value: 4/5

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