QYPE*

Rosemary Lane came highly recommended by a City friend and to back it up, he invited me to lunch with him there. It's formerly a pub which, despite the fancy address, is in a pretty nondescript part of the East End under the DLR track. However, the area has now been brightened by a smartish-looking Indian restaurant and a cafe and newsagent, and with the transformation of the pub into a very high-quality French restaurant, is definitely on the rise.

We came early and had booked, which was just as well as the place quickly filled up with eager diners - but the effect was only a muted murmur from the ten well spaced tables - a sure sign that serving customers comfortably comes before profit.

The chef, Cristina Anghelescu, works magic on high quality ingredients. Indeed, I would describe the cooking as every bit as good as Le Petit Maison and better than many full-service French restaurants. The menu has a superb value £17 lunch - which comprised an amuse-bouche before a totally delicious soup and a sorbet before a mouthwateringly good pork chop - while my companion raved about his mushroom risotto from the a la carte menu. The wine was an excellent Californian Calera Pinot Noir at £35 from a short but promising list. The service from the Alsacian maitre 'd and his Romanian staff is attentive and the room small enough that a raised eyebrow is all one needs to be noticed. We lingered long after my parking meter had expired, but the gods declined to extract the full price for my hubris and I escaped without a ticket. A return visit is high on the agenda!