RETURNING to York from a short break, the thought of preparing a meal was too much. And as we were passing the Whaler, why not call in?

Fish and chips twice within a month is something of a record for us, so what would we find this time?

Since our last visit to this establishment it has been extended. Was it coincidence or a deliberate policy that the new section appeared to be child-free? All families were located in the original area. Sitting at a window table beside the raised ring road we were hardly aware how much traffic was about.

The tables were neatly set, each with clean bottles of tomato ketchup, HP sauce and vinegar. The menu was easy to read.

Soup (£1.40), regular and large haddock (£5.90 and £7.50), plaice (£6.75) and ice-cream (£1.50) are just some of the items available. Ann would have liked cod, but recent publicity about over-fishing this variety may explain why it was not on offer.

Hot sweets at £2.50 caught Ann's eye, especially the brandy snap dream.

But a quick reminder brought Ann back to earth. We were here to work! The senior citizens special (£5.75) was to be our target, available much to our delight on a Saturday.

Our waitress informed us that as an alternative to soup we could have a portion of mushy peas or baked beans with our fish. No thanks, we'll have the hot starter. Before this we received a pot of coffee, one of tea and two jugs of hot water.

Tomato soup for Ann and chicken for me got us off to a good start. The soup was hot and flavoursome. Two slices of bread, one white, the other brown and neatly cut, were included.

Haddock was the offer for seniors and so haddock we had. The fish arrived at our table piping hot with just the right sized portion of freshly-cooked chips, plus buttered bread. Delicious.

It wasn't clear from the senior citizens menu what kind of ice-cream was included. It turned out to be the whipped variety to which Ann added a butterscotch sauce and raspberry was put on mine.

This venue has excellent supervision. The waiting staff were all dressed identically, working vigilantly and efficiently throughout our visit.

We were especially impressed by the young lady who served us, with a pleasant smile and excellent eye contact. What a pity we only knew her as assistant two.

Along with the bill for £11.50 came two wrapped mints. And two very satisfied customers paid up willingly.

Updated: 16:07 Friday, October 31, 2003