FOR years the Guildhall Tavern was one of Poole's many characterful old town pubs. It was a popular haunt in what has to be one of the best places in the country for a good old-fashioned pub crawl.

And being a strong-armed stone's throw from the world's second biggest natural harbour, it was always known as a good place to get a pint of prawns or a plate of fresh fish, usually accompanied by nothing more exotic than boiled potatoes.

But times, places and tastes change. And it can take a long time to catch up with the changes. Years, in this case.

For the last seven years the Guildhall Tavern has been owned by a French couple and although the layout inside still resembles the old pub it once was, it's now a very fine fish restaurant.

I knew about this transformation by reputation, but when I suggested going there for lunch one Wednesday lunchtime, my husband had the unspoken idea that he was probably going to be in line for a pint and a prawn baguette.

The look on his face when we entered the Guildhall was priceless. It was as though he'd walked into a phone box and ended up in the Tardis. Immediately warmly welcomed and swept to a table, we were given menus and had a specials blackboard propped up next to us.

All around us there were clues that this little corner of Poole now believes itself to be firmly planted across the Channel. There was a basket of baguette slices already on the table, as well as a little dish of olives to nibble. Every one of the plentiful, helpful staff appeared to be French, and the nautical decor and tantalising smells gave it the air of any number of family-run seaside restaurants in France.

We thought it was surprisingly busy for a non-holiday weekday, with business people and retired lunchers, but we found out that diners are quite lucky to get a table at any time without booking.

The menu is long, informative and wonderfully fishy. I'd spotted my main course straight away, and knew I had to choose something light as a starter. Fresh sardine fillets with basil oil fitted the bill perfectly. Cliff chose a French favourite, fish soup, which was delicious, garnished with prawns and presented exactly as it should be with separate tiny bowls of rouille, Gruyère cheese and croutons.

Cliff's main course was stuffed fillets of red bream with an unusual mango, pineapple and plum sauce. The sauce was very sweet, but complemented the fish well. A good selection of accompanying vegetables incuded red cabbage, broccoli and garlicky beans.

My main course, crab gratin, had me positively purring. I'd had it only once before, sitting in the sunshine in Brittany, and it was one of those occasions that lives in the memory forever. English chefs tend to think crab needs taming with ingredients that cut through the richness, but not the French - they smother it in melting cheese and make their customers very happy indeed. It was an absolute delight, with prawns and mussels mixed with the lovely crab, and I could have been back in sunny France rather than in Poole on a grey and rainy day.

We drank a bottle of house white, attentively poured for us, with the loveliest lunch we'd had for ages.

Our bill came to just over £61.

12:58pm Monday 14th April 2008

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