THERE really is something rather good about being served French food by French waiters right slap-bang in the middle of Romsey.

It makes you feel as though you're on holiday on the Cote D'Azur.

La Parisienne is something of a Gallic oasis in the quintessentially English market town.

The bustling restaurant is obviously not lacking in custom, with every table full during the lunchtime we paid a visit.

The choice of fresh dishes is vast, as is the wine list, but we stuck to the set menu and found there was more than enough to whet the journalistic appetite.

I had a superb chicken caesar salad, followed by a home-made beefburger with Roquefort sauce (the diet went out the window a bit on that one) and lemon sorbet.

My colleague roared his way through some sole - said to be beautifully fresh - before flirting massively with his chocolate mousse, downing it in four mouthfuls and smacking his lips loudly to show his appreciation.

The coffee was perfect and really made you realise just what dish-water many other places serve.

It also helped focus the mind after a glass of the distinctly presentable house white wine.

Mind you, the real stars of the show were the waiters.

They kept a discreet distance then swooped down to deposit the starters, purring away in their gorgeous French accents, punctuated with the odd Gallic shrug.

If you closed your eyes you could be in Nice just limbering up for another stint on the beach topping up the tan.

The staff know exactly how to look after their customers and I suspect they are one of the reasons for La Parisienne's enormous success.

That and the chocolate mousse.

Once my colleague had recovered from his enormous sugar rush and was finally able to talk coherently again he said the pudding's excellence lay in the fact that it was thick and bittersweet.

Sounds a bit like one of my ex-boyfriends who was, in all fairness, rather tasty as well.

La Parisienne Restaurant, 21 Bell Street, Romsey Reservations: 01794 512067