At ''The View'' Whitsand Bay

Last night Mrs The Millbrooker and I were the grateful recipients of a slap-up guzzling at The View, generously hosted by Rosemary and Harry to celebrate Nicky's recent coming of a bit more age. A kindly fellow customer relieved us of the camera to take the group shot above.

What can you say about The View? We'd not tried it since its make-over into a posh eatery; the last time we graced the building with our presence you could still buy an egg & bacon sarnie and a cup of builder's tea for fourpence ha'penny.

Well, we were seriously impressed. The menu is heavy on fish (never a bad thing) and the service was just the right side of polite and formal whilst remaining friendly and helpful; we'll happily forgive the young waitress for not knowing what a pastis is (I wouldn't have known when I was eighteen or so). The starters were beautifully presented: Nicky enjoyed a prosciutto, fig and shaved parmesan platter whilst Rosemary and I tucked into roasted scallops; Harry had the soup (courgette and something or other).

Mains was every bit as good with Nicky "winning" by having a superb fillet of turbot accompanied by celeriac mash. My duck with chocolate was pretty damn good, but with 20/20 hindsight I'd have the turbot. Harry tucked into another two starters instead of having a main and Rosemary slurped away merrily, but I can't for the life of me remember what she had. That's probably the effect of a couple of bottles of decent pink wine and the generously proportioned aperitif.

Puds were also very good indeed, this time we reckon Rosemary "won" with the hot chocolate mousse and vanilla ice cream. Harry's Creme Brulee was very nice indeed and Nicky enjoyed her white peach soup with raspberry sorbet (how poncey is that?). Not making you hungry am I?

Enough of listing what we ate; I mentioned above that this was generously hosted and I meant it. The View is not a cheap option. With starters averaging £7 to £8 each, mains around the £18 mark and puddings all at £6 a bill well in excess of a hundred notes is very quickly run up. Add on the wine and coffees and it can get a little eye watering.

I'm pleased to say, though, that I don't think you're paying for the beautiful location, but for the food and service which I can't really fault.

Nicky & I did a quick count as we retired to bed last night of the number of decent eating spots in our immediate locale and we reckon we're well blessed in that department: Posh Nosh does a good, inexpensive meal out; the D & C has often been praised in these postings, Russell does a great job in the kitchen and provides real VFM; the Mark does very good pub grub at low prices. We've got The Edgcumbe, back on track and offering very decent fare after a couple of poor years. We've got the Cross Keys in Cawsand - always worth a visit. And now we've got The View as well for those special occasions when the wallet can be stretched a little.

The absence from the list of The Rising Sun, The Devonport, The Halfway and The Galleon doesn't mean they're no good. They might be excellent, they might be godawful, but I've not eaten in any of them for quite a while so it's a bit difficult for me to say. To be fair, the last time I ate at the Riser it was very nice indeed.

So, thank you to Rosemary & Harry for taking us out (and for bringing us home again) and I recommend The View to anyone in the vicinity looking for something a bit up market; try to get a window table if you can - the lovely view over Rame Head and Whitsand Bay is always a pleasure.