Cafes are perfect for passing an hour or so during the day, reading the paper over a cappuccino or catching up with a friend over a light lunch.

However, some cafés stay open all hours and offer dinner too.

Café No 8 in Gillygate is a case in point. Open from ten to ten (except Sunday, when it closes at 5pm) it's a smartish place, which feels quite posh for lunch or coffee, but cosy and rather intimate for dinner.

The menu is pretty smartish too.

The breakfast menu features toasted ciabatta, homemade compots and frazzled Italian bacon.

Bruschetta, tapas, blue cheese tart and wild mushroom risotto are some of the specialities on the lunch menu.

Prices are pretty smartish too, at the upper end of the York dining-out market.

The evening menu features seven starters and seven main courses, most of which sounded so delicious it was a struggle to make a selection.

For me, it was a toss up between the black pudding and crispy bacon salad (£5.95) or the gorgonzola tart with spiced fig chutney (£5.95).

Then I spotted the salad of warm king prawns in garlic and chilli butter with Whitby crab, avocado and lime (£7.95), which sounded too divine to resist.

For my main course, I was lured by the exotic description of ginger and tamarind spiced chicken breast with coconut, sweet potato and squash curry with rice, almonds and beetroot raita (£14.95).

My friend Jo was more decisive, plumping for the baked field mushroom with wild mushroom and herb gratin and pesto dressing (£5.95), followed by gorgonzola tart with onion marmalade and goats cheese in a tomato and olive sauce (£12.95).

Café No 8 is a small place, with eight to ten tables. It was about three-quarters full on the Wednesday night we visited. Our orders were taken about 8.15pm and our starters arrived about 8.50pm. Our mains came a good while later, and it was after ten before we had to find our charming but very laid-back waiter and ask him if we could see the sweet menu.

We didn't mind the leisurely pace of the meal, having lots of catching up to do, but I would imagine some diners might think differently.

Our dishes were a real hit and miss. Jo's starter of mushrooms with mushrooms turned out to be a rather large portion of mushrooms with, well, mushrooms. On reflection she decided it was a poor choice. Things didn't pick up much with her main course: a cheese tart topped with - yes, you remember, cheese. It was all a bit, cheesy.

Jo didn't like the texture of the pastry, which was soft and soggy, rather than crisp, as if it has been reheated or, heaven forfend, defrosted. Another disappointment was the accompanying sauce, a rather thin jus which tasted more of red wine than tomato. The roasted vegetables on the side were delicious.

In contrast, my two dishes were hard to fault. The starter was a joy from start to finish. The cold, meaty crab was moist and subtly flavoured with garlic and chilli.

The prawns were warm and succulent. The buttery slabs of avocado were drizzled with lime. Quite perfect.

My next course was a triumph too. The lightly-spiced chicken breast was beautifully cooked and a perfect sponge for the creamy coconut sauce that covered chunks of soft sweet potato and squash.

There were some roasted red peppers and tomatoes in the dish too, giving a tangy zing to the sweetness.

The only odd note were the cubes of beetroot which crowned the dish - their earthy taste didn't fit with the sweet and subtle flavours of the curry and they left a rather unsightly pink stain on the chicken.

Desserts are all home-made at Café No 8, and we'd been recommended by friends not to miss out.

However, all our portions had been very generous, so Jo and I agreed to share the pavlova with rhubarb and custard.

This time, Jo struck lucky. It was a fabulous affair and the chef deserves a medal for putting together such an outstanding combination of crispy meringue, marscapone laced with vanilla and a sharp rhubarb compot. The only off-note was the handful of honeyroasted nuts sprinkled on top which had a jarring salty taste.

Again, it was a huge serving, easily enough for two, and worthy of its £4.95 price.

After a filter coffee (£1.60), we had to get up to ask our waiter for the bill.

On leaving, we discussed how best to score Café No 8 given we'd had such a mixed experience. I wouldn't hesitate to give my meal four stars, while Jo said she could only give hers two.

So we agreed to compromise and score it three, but readers should be in no doubt that very fine food can be enjoyed at this café, so long as you pick the right dishes, and are prepared to wait for them.

Café No 8 Bistro, 8 Gillygate, York. Telephone: 01904 653074

Maxine visited on Wednesday, February 28, 2007.

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Food: hit and missService: slowValue: priceyAmbience: smartDisabled access: NO