Banks Bistro, Wolverhampton

Our undercover meal reviewer

uncovers a stunning restaurant experience that's a grammatical winner too.

There are occasions when I wonder if my obsession with punctuation and grammar is getting a bit out of hand.

Remember the agonising debate about whether Basils in Kinver should have an apostrophe?

Or the time I took a pen to the menu of a pub in the Walsall area, highlighting around 30 errors?

And I never failed to bristle at that dreadful advert for Sheila's Wheels car insurance. Not for its infuriatingly catchy jingles, not even for its brazenly sexist sentiments that "women make for better drivers, and can save a bunch of fivers".

No, the thing that really made me angry was the chorus line: "For ladies who insure their cars, Sheila's Wheels are superstars."

Taken literally, this means that each of the wheels belonging to Sheila is a superstar. Which I don't think is what they meant.

Rather, I think the bolshie sisters were trying to say "For ladies who insure their cars, the company which trades under the name of Sheila's Wheels is a superstar." Is. Not are. It's a company, not a collection of wheels. Sheila's, or otherwise.

Now if you wonder why I'm rambling again, it does relate to the subject of this week's column. Well, sort of.

This week The Insider comes from Banks Bistro.

Note Banks. Not Bank's. Not Banks'. And definitely not Banks's.

"We called ourselves Banks Bistro, because it is a little different to Banks's," explained the young gentleman who looked after us during our evening.

This delightful little gem, brought to my attention by reader Marcus Little, has nothing to do with Banks's brewery just up the road. In fact, it doesn't even sell the stuff.

It does sell Pilsner Urquell, though. If you're into your lager, you will be interested to know that this is the original Pilsner, commissioned by the authorities in the Bohemian city of Pilsen in 1842 because the burghers didn't like the dark, cloudy beers of the time. I discovered all this after I was given a glass on the house - what a nice touch. And while I would generally say I'm more of a mild man, it was a very pleasant tipple, and showed that there is more to lager than Fosters.

The restaurant, which opened in November, is located just off that strange road junction at Chapel Ash. If you're approaching from the centre of the city, you are not allowed to make a right turn into Bath Road, and have to make the bizarre detour of driving past, finding somewhere to turn around, and then approach from the opposite direction.

A curious one-way section, measuring all of five car lengths, adds to the fun. There is on-street parking around the restaurant, although on the night in question we had to park a two-minute walk away in neighbouring Summerfield Road.

The building is brand new and styled in a contemporary fashion. There is smart, good quality parquet flooring, and the attractive plants work well with the minimalist furnishings.

Each small, square table is adorned with a set of tealights, a simple but effective vase, a white cloth napkin rolled up inside a metal ring, and an impressive collection of cutlery. A modern venetian blind hangs behind the large picture window to the front, and the subtle lighting gives just the right ambience. There is a larger, loft style dining room on the first floor.

There is a subtle Gallic flavour to the menu, with many of the dishes served in wine sauces. The roast breast of duck in port sauce was Marcus Little's favourite, and the braised blade of beef with wilted spinach and dauphinoise potatoes sounded tempting too. But in the end I decided to go for the braised lamb shank, while my dining partner went for the fillet steak.

They were both excellent choices. My experiences with lamb shanks have been rather mixed, with some of them seeming to be more bone than meat. But this was a lovely generous, soft and tender cut, which just fell of the bone. It was served in a superb red wine and rosemary sauce, which had a well balanced, yet tangy, flavour. It came with French-style glazed carrots and a nice serving of creamy mash, although I would have preferred the dauphinoise potatoes.

My companion's steak came with a stack of hand-cut chips; when I say a stack, I do not mean an excessive quantity, what I mean is just that, a stack: they were neatly arranged in a small tower.

The steak was, if anything, even better than the lamb; I know this because I could not resist the temptation to try a few bites, purely in the name of research, you understand. I would say it was a near-perfect cut of beef, superbly cooked, and the fat, golden chips were gorgeous.

For afters I went for the sticky toffee pudding, which was elegantly presented and a nice way to finish off the evening.

The total bill was £54.20 for two mains, two glasses of wine, two glasses of orange juice, a dessert and a coffee, so it is not cheap by any means.

But, for a high-end dinner, it is hardly extortionate, either. I would say it is one of the best experiences I have had since starting this column, almost three years ago, and that has included places considerably more expensive than this.

The one thing that did surprise me was that on a Friday night, there were no other customers in the restaurant - not one.

It didn't really matter though, the friendly staff kept us company for the evening, and they were more than happy to chat to us about the place. One of them did tell me it had been packed to the rafters on New Year's Eve, so perhaps it was just a slow evening.

I hope it does well. It is a lovely, elegant place with superb food and exemplary service, in fact there's really not much I can find fault with at all.

Even the menu was free from grammatical errors.

ADDRESS

Banks Bistro, 40c Bath Road, Wolverhampton, WV1 4EP

Phone: 01902 238433

Website: www.banksbistro.com

MENU SAMPLE

STARTERS

Rustic bread, olives, slow roasted garlic and tomatoes (to share) £5.95; Grilled asparagus, poached egg, Hollandaise sauce £5.75; Prawn risotto with seared scallops, herb oil £8.25

MAIN COURSES

Braised blade of beef, wilted spinach, dauphinoise potatoes,roast shallots, red wine sauce. £12.95; Roast breast of duck, braised red cabbage, fondant potato, port sauce £13.95; Scallops, monkfish, prawns, saffron new potatoes, asparagus, vermouth cream £16.95; Grilled breast of chicken, crushed new potatoes, wild mushroom fricassee £12.95; Veggie Club - char-grilled peppers and roasted vegetables with mayo on double-decker toasted sandwich, served with fries £5.95

DESSERTS

Irish cream cheesecake, fruits of the forest, raspberry coulis £4.95; Fresh fruit salad, mint syrup, lemon sorbet £4.25; Eton mess £4.95