STEPHEN LEWIS is charmed by a Bishopthorpe Road eatery, but disappointed by the cuisine

THE night we dined at the Casa Alberto there was the threat of rain in the air. It was one of those heavy, humid evenings when you never quite know whether it will pour or the sun will break through.

So, as any sensible person would, when we set off on foot along the riverside to the Bishopthorpe Road restaurant, we took our umbrellas.

Only one problem with that: you have to remember to bring them with you when you leave. I, as usual, forgot.

I didn't realise until I received a phone call once we got home. It was the gracious woman who had served us at the restaurant. I drove straight round to collect my umbrella. It was late, and staff were saying goodbye to the last party of diners. But they were all kindness and smiles when I arrived, producing my umbrella with a flourish from behind the bar.

It was a lovely way to end an evening which had been characterised by the quiet, friendly, attentive service throughout.

With a name like the Casa Alberto you'd expect this to be an Italian restaurant through and through. But while there was a small selection of pasta dishes at the end of the hand-written menu, there wasn't a pizza in sight. And the cuisine, while including some obviously Italianate dishes such as a seafood and vegetable risotto, seemed on the whole more modern European than simply Italian.

Starters ranged from the aforesaid risotto to Parma ham, soup of the day and spicy roast beef dressed with chilli. Main courses included the likes of roast salmon fillet with honey, mushroom and black pepper seasoning.

It's a small, intimate restaurant with just a few tables, a sweet trolley parked prominently in the centre of the room when you arrive. Nothing obviously Italian about the decor, either, unless perhaps in the hint of Mediterranean colouring; cool blue carpet, half-striped walls in pink and alabaster. A cool and pleasant place to eat on a summer evening.

Our coats were taken and we settled in our seats. We ordered drinks and then, for starters, Lily chose the seasonal melon and fresh fruit with wild flower honey and balsamic vinegar syrup, at £3.95. She asked to have it without the balsamic vinegar, which was no problem. I chose mushrooms sauteed in butter with tarragon, vodka and cream, at £4.25.

As we waited, the waitress came round with an assortment of crusty bread rolls on a large silver tray. We helped ourselves and, hungry, polished off what we had taken. Seeing we had finished, our waitress promptly brought the tray round with some more: a nice touch.

My mushrooms, when they arrived, were piping hot and delicately flavoured - though with perhaps just a little too much cream for my taste. Lily pronounced her fruit salad 'very fresh'.

So a good start. For the main course I chose half a roast duck, the meat cooked off the bone, the breast and leg sauteed in an orange sauce, at £15.95. Lily opted for the lemon sole mornay - a fillet of sole topped with prawns and a cheese sauce au gratin, at £14.50. She's a big fan of lemon sole but not of cheese sauce. Would it be possible to have the sole cooked without the cheese sauce, she asked? It wouldn't have much taste, the waitress said. They could offer it cooked in a different sauce, but the cheese sauce was very light...Lily decided to try it as offered.

As we waited, more diners arrived. Many were greeted with a kiss on both cheeks by our waitress - who, we presumed, was probably also proprietress or manageress. The Casa Alberto clearly has a select clientele of well-known regulars.

My duck, when it arrived, was very tasty; dark meat, beautifully cooked, in a tangy sauce. The only disappointment was the side dish of vegetables. Don't get me wrong; in themselves, the vegetables - cauliflower in a cheese sauce, potato, broccoli, carrots and peas - were very tasty. It's just that the cauliflower's cheese sauce clashed rather unpleasantly with the duck in its orange sauce. Who dreamed up this combination?

All became clear when Lily's sole arrived - with a side dish of exactly the same vegetables.

It strikes me as an odd oversight when a restaurant such as this, which in many ways takes great care over the details, makes such an obvious mistake as serving up a standard vegetable side dish no matter what the main course.

Our disappointment was compounded when Lily's lemon sole turned out to be rather drab and tasteless. Lemon sole can have a wonderful, delicate flavour just begging to be woken up by ginger, garlic and a few well-chosen spices. This was bland and, once Lily had scraped aside the cheese sauce, reminded me more of the cod at your local chippy. A waste.

Still, relative disappointment over the main courses aside, on the whole we enjoyed our meal at the Casa Alberto.

The coffee I had to finish was delicious - and there was always that kindly late-night call about my umbrella.

At just over £40 for the two of us, drinks and coffee included, it was a little on the expensive side, given that the food hadn't really lived up to expectations.

Fact file:

Food: disappointing

Service: considerate

Value: pricey

Ambience: intimate

No disabled access

- Casa Alberto Ristorante, 23 Bishopthorpe Road, York. Tel 01904 623220.