WHEN we stepped inside the Mandarin Palace in Tadcaster, our first impression - after an odd little ante-room we had to pass through - was that we must have got the wrong place. It wasn't like a Chinese restaurant at all - more typically-English smoky pub.

The tiny room was packed, with people standing at the bar and clustered around the pub tables nearby. Disconcerted, we looked about - and then noticed at the back of the room, through an entrance guarded by two stone Chinese lions, a cool and elegant restaurant.

We moved toward it, still wrapped up in thick coats against the cold outside - only to be stopped by a white-coated waitress.

"We've booked a table," I said.

"Not a chance," she said, obviously mishearing and thinking we were asking if we could have a table. "Tonight, not a chance."

"No, we've booked," I repeated, emphasising the word. "A table for two."

Her face cleared. "Oh, sorry. Would you like to take a seat?"

She waved us to a tiny circular table in the bar - one of the few that wasn't occupied - and left us sitting there in our hats and coats. An ashtray filled with cold grey ash was its only ornament.

We declined drinks - I was driving, and it was icy and foggy outside - and after a few minutes, she brought menus for us to order our meals. We did so, wondering when we would be invited to move into the restaurant - and then we were left.

For more than twenty minutes, nobody noticed us. No one even offered to take our coats. It was all the more puzzling since the restaurant area, apart from two or three tables, seemed mostly empty.

Then the mystery cleared. The 20 or more people who had been crammed into the tiny bar area suddenly got up as one and moved through to the restaurant, occupying two long tables at the back. Suddenly the bar was almost empty.

Expecting that now perhaps we would be invited to move through, we waited - and waited. It was only when we asked if we could be shown to a table that the waitress, with a look of surprise, said yes, yes of course.

Eventually, we found ourselves seated. Still nobody had offered to take our coats, so we draped them over the back of the chairs. This restaurant was going to have to be good to make up for such a poor beginning, we thought grimly.

The menu was certainly extensive - though for a Chinese restaurant (and a Mandarin as opposed to Cantonese one at that) fish, other than prawns, was oddly missing.

For starters, we were unable to resist the crab claws with prawn meat stuffing - pricey at £5, but they sounded delicious. We each ordered a soup, too - won ton soup at £2.35 for Lily, sliced duck and vegetable soup, also £2.35, for me.

The crab claws were distinctly disappointing - essentially two giant prawn meatballs, with the tip of a crab claw stuck in each for effect. No fresh, steaming crab, just a mound of processed prawn. Not too bad as prawn goes - but certainly not what we had expected.

The soup was oddly sweet, too. Mine was a thin, sweet consomme - but at least it was filled with tender slices of duck and crunchy vegetables. The sweetness apart, it was very tasty.

Lily, too, said that her soup was too sweet - and the won ton themselves (small Chinese dumplings with a meat filling) were too salty. She suspected they weren't that fresh.

From here, thankfully, things began to improve. For our main course we ordered a dish of roast duck in soy sauce (£7.45), fried pork with Chinese mushrooms and bamboo shoots (£5.35) and mixed vegetables in kung po sauce (£4.35), together with boiled rice for two.

The fried pork was tasty and the vegetables it was cooked with were delicious - crunchy and bursting with flavour, particularly the bamboo shoots. The duck was crispy and succulent, with the soy sauce adding a delicious tang, and the mixed vegetables were crunchy and tasty, with a hint of spicy chilli imparted by the kung po sauce. We polished the lot off, washed down by a pot of Chinese tea, with no difficulty.

Replete, we asked for the bill and went to the bar to pay. For a decent meal for two, £31.35 wasn't bad value, though it didn't include any drinks. The bartender was chatty, and engaged us in a long conversation which made us feel at last as though we were valued customers. It was a good way to finish - but after the poor start it all came a little too late.

Food: good in parts

Service: poor

Value: fair

Ambience: can't make up its mind

Disabled access: No

The Mandarin Palace Chinese Restaurant, 30 Kirkgate, Tadcaster. Telephone: 01937 833633.