217 Jesmond Road, Newcastle Upon Tyne. Tel: 0191 281 7179.

This restaurant is preceded by a good reputation. A friend of mine, Duncan Fisher who owns the Apartment and Mr Lynch bars in Newcastle took me there last time I was up North.

When we went there was very much an Asian theme to the menu. It could be that the chefs were trying out that cuisine as the owner is opening up another restaurant to cater for Asian cooking.

For some reason, and probably a good reason, the decor and especially the signage makes it out to be a Tex-Mex kind of restaurant. The name and the cowboy hat does it no favours. Hopefully I won't get shot down in flames for that as I hear the chef has a fiery reputation. Don't send the bouillabaisse back without eating it all! Is it an urban myth? I heard otherwise.

I had the Vietnamese spring rolls for my starter. Actually it was one spring roll that was halved. It was tasty and I particularly like the small salad that came with it. The touch of mint gave it that authentic touch I thought. However, my wife's family is Vietnamese and they do their spring rolls with lots of glass noodles inside so these were quite meaty in comparison. Then again I am sure there are hundreds of ways of making it.

I can't remember what Duncan had for a starter but his grilled seafood sounded great. It came with a good selection on the plate. I just wasn't sure on the amount of pesto sprawled over it. I love seafood and as such would have perferred it much plainer.

My monkfish tempura was bang on though. Light and fluffy batter and perfectly cooked fish inside. Fantastic finger food to pick up and chomp on. I loved mine.

We shared a cheese platter and a Brown Brothers Orange Muscat and Floral for dessert. Shame about Mister tatoo man just plonking it down on the table without actually telling what was on the plate. Only a minor gripe as overall I really liked the place. Was very full when we arrived and seems a very popular place, even mid-week.