During the warm, sunny days of spring, al fresco dining is a popular choice for many of us.

Plenty of York's bars cater well for this, especially Oscars, the city's original bistro bar.

As well as the cosy and intimate interior, with its rustic wooden finishes and tealight candles which make shadows dance off the walls, there's a heated Mediterraneanstyle outdoor patio area, complete with vines climbing the walls and a little water feature tinkling away in the corner.

Oscars is a sociable place that attracts groups of friends either catching up over a few drinks or sampling some of the variety of dishes on offer.

I went with my friend, Kate, on a busy Tuesday evening, and we grabbed a table on the patio, because the other areas were full.

The menu is extensive, with a selection of snacks and starters, including options from chips and cheese (£2.75) to something more substantial such as the Mini Mezze, containing houmus, tabouleh, taramasalata, tzatziki and olives and pitta bread (£6.95), or Muchos Nachos, a mountain of corn tortilla chips topped with melted cheese, chilli, salsa, guacamole and soured cream (£7.50), to prawn cocktail (£4.95), feta cheese and sunblushed tomato salad (£4.95) and paté and bread (£4.95).

There is a variety of main courses too, including a selection of speciality burgers, hot bistro and grill dishes, with a sirloin steak platter (£11.95), Cajun chicken (£8.95), Thai red chicken curry (£8.50) and chilli wrap (£7.25), to name but a few.

The vegetarian choices are varied, from a Sunshine Platter - a selection of dishes including houmus, tzatziki, mixed olives, tabouleh, feta cheese and sunblushed tomatoes with olive oil, mixed leaf salad, French bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping (£8.50), a selection of burgers, vegetarian chilli (£6.95) and a courgette and aubergine lasagne (£6.95).

There is also a variety of salads and sandwiches, and if nothing tickles your fancy from the main menu, try something from the specials board, which also has a small choice of desserts.

The drinks list includes wine, beers, spirits and cocktails pitchers.

We were both very hungry after a busy day at work, so we were looking forward to trying some of the tasty-sounding dishes.

After studying the menu for a while (with so much on offer, it took a while to decide on our choices), we decided to share the Muchos Nachos to start, and Kate opted for a double bacon and guacamole burger (£9.50), served with lettuce and mayonnaise (though she asked for onions instead of mayo), while I went for the courgette and aubergine lasagne (£6.95), with side dishes of garlic bread and cheese (£2.95) and onion rings (£2.20).

You have to order your food at the bar, and get a wooden block to pop on your table for the serving staff to see. We also decided on a pitcher of sangria (£6.50), to quench our thirst.

As the menu states, Oscars is not a fast-food restaurant, and it asks customers to be patient and allow chefs time to prepare the meals.

However, after waiting for more than 30 minutes, we were starting to wonder where our starter was, but everything soon became clear when two waiters arrived with not only the starter, but the rest of our food, too - in fact, one waiter was heard to comment, "Where are the rest of you?" as there was so much food!

It transpired that, even though I had specified that the nachos was a starter, it had not been noted when the order had been taken, but it was swiftly dealt with when we asked if the main courses could be kept on a hot plate in the meantime, and so they were whisked away once again.

The large plate of nachos was piled high with the corn chips, plus a mound of vegetarian chilli, salsa, guacamole and sour cream and smothered in cheese, and it tasted as good as it looked. In fact, it was more than enough to feed us both.

So having already had a preview of the enormous main course dishes, we left some of the nachos to make sure we had some room left.

The main courses didn't disappoint either - Kate said her homemade burger was cooked to perfection, and that the meat was delicious. The pile of onion rings complemented it well, and the chips were crispy and hot.

My huge oven-baked lasagne was mouth-watering and moreish, with lashings of a creamy cheese sauce, and plenty of courgette and succulent aubergine sandwiched between layers of pasta. The accompanying salad was fresh, the garlic bread was crispy, and there were more onion rings than I could possibly manage.

We couldn't finish the dishes - there was just too much food, and had no room left to try the desserts.

Oscars is very good value; the whole bill came to £35.60. But here's a tip - if your eyes are bigger than your stomach, then the enormous portions might beat you as they did us, so unless you have an enormous appetite, be careful of ordering too much.

factfile

Food:tastyService:politeValue:excellentAmbience:relaxedDisabled access: NOOscars Wine Bar And Bistro, 8 Little Stonegate, York. YO1 8AX.

Phone 01904 652002.

Natalya visited on Tuesday, April 3, 2007.