THE advert said a three-course lunch for £6.50 was available from noon to 2.30pm on Tuesdays to Fridays. It was just midday when we arrived.

The Sidings is in a former train carriage off the A19 and features a range of railway memorabilia.

It used to be one of our favourite eating spots when haggis was a regular feature on the menu.

The artefacts don't seem to have changed since our last visit although many of the pictures were skew-whiff.

We were presented with two menus, one, the standard lunch menu and the other the special. This is what we had come to try. The choice was limited; two starters, two main courses and two sweets.

After a ten-minute wait our order was taken. Soup of the day (cream of asparagus) for Ann and sauted mushrooms in a rich tomato and basil sauce for me.

It was a further 35 minutes before our food was ready although ours had been the first order taken. The soup was extremely thick, not very hot and certainly not to Ann's liking. I was given a generous helping of button and a few wild mushrooms. The sauce was rich in tomato but lacking in basil. Not a very good start.

Sitting track-side we were amazed at the number of passenger and especially freight trains that thundered past. Some customers stood on the observation platform making the most of digital cameras. For us the activity filled in the time until the main course appeared.

We chose both of the main courses on offer. Ann had the pork stroganoff which was diced meat with mushrooms. This was accompanied by a dish of new potatoes, green beans, carrots and celeriac strips. Although the potatoes had a good flavour the rest of the meal was bland.

The other main course was billed as Ribbons of Pasts (sic) topped with tomato and basil. I had been there before. Despite the typographical error the 'pasts' was hot but the topping disappointing.

Moving on to the sweets it was one and a half hours since we had arrived.

The chocolate and mandarin gateau with cream for Ann was not bad but had clearly been in a refrigerator. For me, the winner was hot pineapple upside-down cake with ice-cream.

We had now run out of time and refused coffee and tea for an extra £1.95.

I accept that for a budget lunch you cannot expect the works. But at a venue that had pleased so much before, our verdict from this visit must be "could do better".

Updated: 16:15 Friday, April 08, 2005