'DON'T go in there", screamed the drunken woman as she staggered down the steps of York's Ambassador Hotel.

She then let rip with a number of colourful obscenities about the place, before being led away by her boyfriend, still gesticulating and telling us to "get a life!".

Just what had we let ourselves in for?

Luckily for us they weren't disgruntled diners, and their comments could not have been further from the truth, as we found out later.

"They'd been refused a room and were none too happy about it," the receptionist told us after we entered the hotel lobby looking rather shell-shocked.

After the excitement had died down, we ordered some drinks, relaxed in the lounge of the former 19th century Georgian townhouse and examined the menu.

I'd already made my choices from the menu on the hotel's website, but this, unfortunately, bore little resemblance to the menu we had just been given. The website obviously had not been updated (and as of yesterday it still hadn't), so it was back to square one.

After making our selection we were led to the basement and to the stylish Grays Restaurant, where we could hear the distinctive sound of someone tickling the ivories.

Pianist Janet Laughlin plays at the hotel every Saturday night and her repertoire is a welcome change from the CDs of Vivaldi's Four Seasons or Pavarotti which seem to be the staple musical diet of many restaurants.

Warm, terracotta colours, soft lighting and candles give Grays Restaurant an intimate and romantic feel and the ornate, highly-polished round tables and large wall portraits add to the air of sophistication.

Anyway, down to the food.

Starters, priced between £3.95 and £5.25, included mussels moncalde, smoked mackerel parfait and warm goats cheese salad.

My first choice, poached quails eggs in a basket of deep fried vegetables, was unfortunately not available, so I picked the Summer Plate Ambassador (£5.25), which consisted of smoked salmon, Parma ham, aubergine in melon, sun dried tomatoes and parmesan shavings.

It was delicious, especially the sun dried tomatoes, which were sublime. But it would have been nice to have had more than just a small sliver of Parma ham, which was well hidden under a pile of rocket lettuce.

My wife, Jayne, was impressed with her tomato and vegetable soup (£3.95), and its presentation - a spider's web of cream had been created on the surface.

The main course choice was fabulous and included lemon grass plaice, monkfish, grilled tuna, lamb with black pudding, breast of chicken with green curry, mango and lime, confit of duck with red cabbage and apples. Prices ranged from £10.95 to £16.

After much deliberation I went for roast guinea fowl, served with cider, chestnut and chervil cream (£10.95).

I've never tried the bird before, so was quite surprised to find it was white meat - not as moist as chicken, but not as dry as turkey. The skin was crispy, but the meat nice and tender.

The sauce, although fairly rich, complemented the meat perfectly.

Jayne, who was offered a separate vegetarian menu, picked mushroom stroganoff with rice (£10.95) and was not disappointed. The mushrooms were extremely tasty and the rice light and fluffy as it should be.

Our dishes came with tureens full of crinkle-cut carrots, crispy cauliflower, and cheesy scalloped potatoes, all cooked to perfection.

The dessert menu was varied and adventurous. It included steamed marmalade pudding, raspberry crem brulee and honeycomb and Benedictine iced parfait. Prices ranged from £3.95 to £5.25.

We were both quite full, so shared a delicious coconut tart with crem anglaise (£3.95).

The meal, complete with a few drinks, came to just over £42, good value considering the quality of the food.

Grays has been awarded a rosette by the AA for its food and no wonder. Head chef Alexandra Trenholme and her team should be applauded.

Grays Restaurant at the Ambassador Hotel, 123-125 The Mount, York. Tel 1904 641316.

www.ambassadorhotel.co.uk