Orgasmic, 12 St Martin's Courtyard, Coney Street, York

QUITE a name to live up to. Especially when you display it in big illuminated letters on the city centre waterfront, so that bemused passers-by on Lendal Bridge wonder if City Screen is having a blue movie festival.

But what kind of eatery lies behind the name, occupying the site of the de:funct De:Alto's, in the Coney Street complex?

Titillating though the name is, when me and my dining companions, (my partner Vix and our friend Pete) arrived, the entrance to Orgasmic is positively demure, hidden away, unsigned, at the far end of the courtyard.

There was no sign of life from the unmanned bar behind the doors - we weren't even sure if it was open. Beyond lay a long deserted corridor, like the Marie Celeste designed by Ikea. But soon, there were the distant sounds of chatter and it broadened out into a large, modern and stylish bar and dining area; the bar sporting an impressive rack of wines.

Two friendly blokes in the open, canteen-style kitchen were the first to greet us and beckoned us to the bar, where a girl, who seemed to be flying solo as barmaid and waitress to the whole place, told us to sit anywhere we liked downstairs. The upstairs was shut, it being a weeknight - Orgasmic seems very much a weekend place. However, though it was early on a Tuesday night, there were already a few groups there, and by the end of the evening, pretty much the whole downstairs was full.

We were keen to figure out exactly what Orgasmic was. Is it a trendy bar with a nice line in food on the side, like Casa or Ha! Ha!, a restaurant, or a tapas-style deal where you graze on a few dishes alongside drinks and conversation?

The menu, on a simple piece of paper, showed Orgasmic likes to leave its options open.

It offers a limited range of pleasant-sounding stuff - salads, gourmet pizzas topped with things like smoked salmon and shredded duck, burgers (of the 'served on toasted foccacia bread with sun-dried tomatoes' kind, of course), skewers, and light bites, including risotto and crab cakes, all very reasonably priced. You can just tick off what you want on the menu and pass it over the bar to order, or take a seat and have table service. So, though the service was friendly and efficient (despite the lack of visible staff), the usual restaurant touches of handing out menus or asking if you want to taste the wine were absent.

The starters (or "foreplay" as the menu inevitably termed them) included a meze platter to share, which sounded just the ticket. Though, at £8, it was actually more expensive than all the main courses (the other starters are exceedingly cheap - £2.50 maximum). The waitress told us it was not really enough for three, so Pete ordered sun-dried tomato dough balls (£1.75) as well. We also ordered a bottle of Merlot (£14.50). The platter was billed as halloumi and mozzerella cheese, olives, flat breads and sun-dried tomatoes. The waitress explained they were out of both the cheeses, so we got goat's cheese and blue cheese as substitutes. We couldn't really moan - the cheese, and indeed everything was extremely tasty, especially the tomatoes. However, despite the price, there wasn't a lot of it.

Pete had no complaints about the dough balls, especially at the bargain basement price, but they were still an appetiser rather than a restaurant-sized starter.

For my main course I'd ordered a large skewer, and gone for the chorizo, pepperoni and roasted peppers option (£5.95, small version £3.95). It was two skewers loaded with meat, a pot of yoghurt, Orgasmic's trademark warm, pitta-style flat breads and some token vegetation. All of which tasted good, but again, it was lacking in quantity for a main course, and not terribly exciting.

Pete wasn't blown away by his burger with sun-dried tomatoes (£6.25), noting that it could do with "sexing up". He was even less impressed with the accompanying potato salad, which was simply unpleasant, lumpy and vinegary. It did the rounds, and none of us wanted anymore after an initial taste.

Vix, however, hit the jackpot with her posh pizza - aromatic chicken, red onion and roasted peppers, topped with yoghurt and mango chutney (£6.95). She liked the unusual mix of flavours, pronouncing it a hit.

There was nothing mentioned in the way of desserts, and so our final bill for three people, including two restaurant-priced bottles of wine, was £57.90.

We left still puzzled by what niche Orgasmic was aiming for. Its website bills it as "an independent caf bar which is passionate about food and drink", offering "informal gourmet food at sensible prices", none of which I'll argue with, and it certainly has a prime spot on York's new drinking and dining circuit.

But there's a lot of competition out there. In the food department, we found Orgasmic a bit of an anti-climax.

David visited Orgasmic on Tuesday, November 18, 2003.

Orgasmic, 12 St Martin's Courtyard, Coney Street, York. Telephone: 01904 631541. Website: www.orgasmic-cafe.com

Updated: 07:52 Saturday, November 22, 2003