The Bistro, Copper Dragon Brewery, Skipton.

Successful as a lunchtime eaterie, and popular for its good value breakfasts, the Bistro has recently started opening for dinner Thursday to Saturday nights. The initial impression is of an upmarket works canteen or a light and airy city centre pub. The high ceilings and minimalist decoration are in keeping with its daytime function as a restaurant for the brewery's visitor centre. It's convivial

as an evening venue but feels a little lacking in atmosphere.

The website mentions live jazz music as evening entertainment, but not on the night of our visit. One can imagine it would add warmth to the otherwise fairly utilitarian surroundings.

The lighting could be more a bit more subdued and candles could be put on tables to create a more intimate ambience. But these are fairly minor – and subjective – quibbles. Judging by the exclusively favourable and enthusiastic comments in the visitors' book, this venture is already proving to be a favourite among locals. The Friday night diners consisted mostly of groups and this is the kind of venue that would suit a family celebration or night out with friends.

The menu offers traditional pub fare with an individual twist – steaks, homemade pies and fish and chips, sausages, liver and onions all have the added ingredient of a splash of one of the brewery's own beers. All dishes are freshly prepared with locally-sourced Yorkshire produce.

There's is a daily specials board – though neither the specials nor the main menu offer a great deal of choice for the vegetarian who doesn't eat fish. From the specials menu, the wild mushroom soup of the day was delicious – creamy and full of earthy mushroomy flavour – and served with two huge chunks of granary bread and butter. A starter of smoked chicken Caesar salad from the main menu was a meal in itself. The dressing was excellent – piquant and tasty, with a generous ratio of meat to baby gem lettuce leaves and with the saltiness of the fried bacon a pleasing contrast to the other flavours. Perhaps this portion could be offered as a reasonably-priced main course with a smaller version as a starter.

Homemade cheese and onion pie with hand cut chips and mushy peas as a main course was tempting. But I opted for the arti-mushrooms from the specials menu – artichokes, wild mushrooms and basil tossed together with fresh tagliatelle, rocket and parmesan shavings. The fresh tagliatelle was nicely "al dente" while the artichoke and mushroom combined wonderfully both in texture and taste with the crunchiness of the rocket and the saltiness of the parmesan. A side salad of tomato, rocket and red onion was a perfect accompaniment. The portion was again very generous which meant that while I thoroughly enjoyed the dish, I was unable to finish it.

The similarly substantial plate of "firm and meaty" haddock, with accompanying vegetables was well presented. This was a baked dish inspired by a Portuguese recipe, and topped with a chorizo, tomato and peppers sauce. The fish did not inspire great confidence. It had been baked to a consistency where there was none of the succulent, "melt-in-the-mouth" appeal normally associated with white fish. The spiciness of the sauce was a little too overwhelming. The side dish of steamed vegetables – carrots, green beans and red cabbage – was a welcome relief, alongside the appealing garlic roast potatoes.

The sensible option would be to drink beer with your meal and many of our fellow diners were doing just that. There is, however, a decent, reasonably-priced wine selection – although the Copper Dragon Sauvignon Blanc we chose was a little insipid and not sufficiently chilled. This was quickly remedied without any fuss by our helpful and friendly young waiter.

Restaurateur Marie Reader who runs the Bistro along with husband Karl is something of a dessert specialist and there's a mouth-watering and wide-ranging selection.

In addition to the main menu, there are also daily puddings specials which are impossible to resist. The Dragon's Mess dessert was a pleasing mix of cream, berries, meringue and ice cream. To be picky, there really ought to have been more ice cream than cream, and it's certainly a dish to appeal to the sweeter tooth.

The warm triple-chocolate brownie with raspberry coulis and ice cream, however, was absolutely perfect.

A chocolate-lover's dream, the brownie was soft and nutty, warm and gooey; this was top-quality chocolate, so not too sweet, and coupled with the sharpness of the raspberry coulis it meant that the vanilla ice cream was the ideal partner. This was all washed down with a glass of delicious Elysium Black Muscat dessert wine.

A three-course meal for two with wine and coffee cost 59.05 excluding service. If you are looking for good quality food, generous portions and reasonable prices, the Copper Dragon Bistro is hard to beat.

The Copper Dragon Brewery Bistro, Snaygill Industrial Estate, Keighley Road, Skipton, North Yorkshire BD23 2QR, tel. 01756 704560. www.copperdragon.uk.com The Bistro is open seven days a week for lunch and for dinner on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings – booking recommended.