J Baker’s Bistro Moderne

11:27am Saturday 7th June 2008

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IF YOU can't bear the waiting list for a table at J Baker's in the evening, here's a tip - go at lunch time.

Glancing longingly at the blackboard menu outside the Bistro Moderne in Fossgate finally got too much for my friend Haydn and I, so spying the empty tables yesterday, we decided to take the plunge.

Happily, by arriving at 12.20pm we had our pick of the tables, which would not often happen in the evening, when there is a three to four-week waiting list.

We could soon see why this restaurant was so popular. No sooner had we settled by the window than a small dish of salty black olives arrived with our menus, followed by homemade bread sticks with fresh butter and spicy crab pate.

They were delicious, and a real treat considering many restaurants charge for similar dishes of lesser quality.

Mr Baker has devised a grazing menu for lunch time, with small grazing plates priced between £4 to £7, plus a few spring collection dishes at £10 each.

Grazer's options include soup from the can (£4), egg and soldiers with Yorkshire asparagus (£6.50), trifle of whipped Olde York, Bramley apple and almonds (£5.50) and a ragoo' of black pudding, snails and ox-tongue (£6), while hungrier diners could choose fish finger butty of East Coast lemon sole, Scott's home farm spring lamb meat and tatty pie and potato curry with rice crackers.

Side dishes include mash, butter and nutmeg; hand-cut chips; spring cabbage and glazed carrots with anise and fennel, all at £2.50.

Neither Haydn nor I have partners who eat seafood, so we took advantage of the fish-weighted grazing plates and chose house-cured Scottish salmon (£6), Morecambe Bay shrimp dumpling (£6), Whitby crab sandwich (£7) and York ham (£5), and sipped pleasant glasses of Santa Rita Sauvignon Blanc 2007 (£3.95), with notes of citrus and gooseberries which complemented the spicy crab pate perfectly.

Our waiter was polite and attentive, while an equally efficient waitress bought glass cups of cauliflower whisk while we waited.

The whisks, served on Black Sheep Brewery beer mats, were wonderfully light and aromatic, with bright orange oils of Indian spices at the bottom and we ate them greedily with the breadsticks.

Our main courses arrived quickly as well, with two small side plates so we could divide the food.

The presentation at J Bakers speaks volumes, and each meal was coloured well with the choice of vegetables, salad leaves and sauces. The restaurant interior as is nice too; clean, contemporary and coffee-toned, with fairly loud but not intrusive music in the background.

We tried the two plump shrimp dumplings first, which were served with soy sauce, slivers of red pepper and four stalks of wild asparagus which tasted as fresh and delicious as they looked.

The moist dumplings were stuffed with shrimps, seaweed and sesame and we mopped up the soy sauce with the small slices of bread which accompanied the Yorkshire ham.

The small spheres of Scottish salmon were next, and they were surrounded by pickled cucumber and peppers and topped with poor man's caviar and lemon juice, which brought out their flavour wonderfully.

We had been curious to see the Whitby crab sandwiches, which consisted of meaty dollops of white and brown crab meat, mixed with Indian spices and topped with poppy seed biscuits, which were rather like poppadoms.

Finally, we shared the two large slices of salty Yorkshire ham, pea shoot salad and hazelnut and pease pudding, which was much, much nicer than I had expected.

Pleasantly full but not prepared to pass up puddings, we ordered two coffees while we pondered on the likes of lemon tops (curd ice cream, jelly and biscuit), a north of England cheeseboard with saffron and spice fruit chutney and exotic flavours, billed as Alphonso mango salad, coconut cream, Del Monte pineapple ice and lemon grass bubbles.

In the end, I chose sticky spice cake with its own ice cream, ginger caramel and Stamferry clotted cream, while Haydn went for Valrhona chocolate study, intriguingly described as warm, frozen and whipped.

They arrived moments after our coffees, served on square slates and dusted with icing sugar and cocoa powder. Haydn's included chocolate ice cream served on a white spoon and slurped down in one, a chocolate mousse in a glass that was so light you could almost feel the bubbles bursting on your tongue and a rich chocolate tart.

My cake was indeed sticky and spicy, served alongside a dollop of clotted cream and a sprig of mint, a spoonful of ice cream and chocolate sauce - delicious.

All puddings cost £4.50, and you can follow them with plates of handmade Armagnac truffles, £1.95.

The bill was £46.85, including a bottle of still mineral water at £1.95, and while that might sound a lot for lunchtime, it was worth every penny. If you would prefer to dine at night, the dinner menu offers two courses for £23 or three for £27.50.

Without trying to gush, Haydn and I agreed that the food was faultless and the best we had ever eaten.

We will still gaze longingly through the windows of J Bakers every lunch time - especially now we know what we're missing.

• Baker's Bistro Moderne, 7 Fossgate, York, 01904 622688
• Charlotte and Haydn visited J Baker's Bistro Moderne on Friday, June 6