Dining Out - bistro offers a taste of France on the coast

A taste of France on Whitby's bustling Skinner Street was our lunchtime treat at Mademoiselles.

The business, which recently celebrated its first anniversary, appears to be flourishing since starting life as a French bistro (it was, for many years, an antiques emporium).

I was curious to see how Mademoiselles compared with other Whitby eateries on Trip Advisor, with yet more high quality recent additions in the town. The good news for the bistro is that it currently ranks as number one; out of 220 reviews, 206 were excellent.

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So that was another reason to look forward to a Friday lunch date with the better half, the other being that my mother-in-law very kindly agreed to keep our youngest amused and give us a rare child-free couple of hours out.

We decided to eat early, at noon, as there were two parties of seven booked in for half past, a sign of the bistro’s popularity. The first thing we noticed was the how quaint and eccentric the interior is; with lots of different lights and lamps, enhanced further by the twinkling Christmas lights, really adding to the atmosphere. There is even an ‘imaginarium’ round the back where you can relax and enjoy a tipple in peace.

Not wanting a threecourse meal at this time of day, we opted for a salad / sandwich and a dessert.

My wife Emma had smoked salmon salad with fresh horseradish, which tasted nice and fresh.

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The warm croissants looked appealing, I opted to have mine stuffed with ham and gruyere (although it was a close-run thing, as the croissant with brie and redcurrant jelly also appealed).

It was nice enough – the sun dried tomatoes in the salad were lovely.

So, on to the desserts, which are displayed tantalising close to the dining tables, we tried slices of the lemon drizzle with poppy seeds and the chocolate cake, with the latter my favourite of the two.

We even shared a white chocolate cheesecake with fruit coulis as a one-off Christmas treat!

I would advise booking ahead here if you fancy coming for lunch or dinner.