Wharenui, Main Street, Haworth

Haworth Main Street is contradiction of a place. As the picturesque, cobbled epitomisation of "Bronte country" it has adorned many a postcard and chocolate box since the scribbling siblings themselves no doubt walked its length. Yet despite (or perhaps because of) its historic place in the English literary landscape, it remains an astonishing contrast of the tacky and the post-modern, with its cheap exploitative souvenir peddlars and empty junk shops standing alongside contemporary galleries, delicatessans, Cath Kidston-themed tea-rooms, and restaurants that eschew gravy for 'jus'.

It is also contrastingly either heaving or dead, depending on when you visit. The Main Street traders admirably organise several successful themed weekends to draw in the punters, and most of the half-dozen or more serious eating places are recommendable in their own right, yet one feels Haworth's proximity to the grim urban sprawl of Keighley will always hold it back.

A recent 1940s weekend, blessed with good weather, had the street thronging with enthusiastic locals and tourists dressed up in the Dunquerque spirit. Visit on a wet week night in November, however, and you may well not encounter another soul, save the ghostly presence of Anne, Emily and Charlotte which inhabits every nook, cranny and shop window.

I digress. An evening visit to Wharenui, tucked away at the less touristy bottom end of the street, had been on the cards for some time. I was looking forward to it, mainly because it was to be an enjoyable night out with good company, but not least because the place has been temptingly available to buy for quite a while, and had made the (apparently) successful transition into the kind of cafe-by-day-bistro-by-night that had been my own dream just a couple of years previously.

Wharenui is a Maori word meaning (depending on who you believe) either 'Big House' or 'Meeting House'. This isn't a big house, at least not until you get to the four bed-roomed private accommodation upstairs - the building is two 280 year-old weaver's cottages combined. But it is a convivial meeting place - the low ceilings, bare stone walls and small 20 cover eating area, along with the  industrious though not intrusive hum of kitchen clatter, make for a relaxing, laid back atmosphere

Menu items carry New Zealand placenames and my 'Lindis Pass' - Chicken Breast with Cranberries and Brie wrapped in Parma Ham was superb. I rarely - if ever - order chicken in restaurants (and did so here only becaue the beef special had run out - a little disappointing so early in the evening) but this was delicious - the sweetness of the cranberries ably complementing the savoury brie and salty ham. I recall a perfectly passable brulee of sorts too.

I hadn't set out to blog the night, so further recollections of the others' food are sketchy, but there were no complaints, and to be honest it was as much the service, the attention to detail and the genuinely welcoming personalities of owners (at least of the happy couple that I assumed to be the proprietors) that really won me over. Very good value too - three of us ate and drank well for £60, then hobbled over the cobbles for a couple of beers and a toast to the spirit of Cathy and Heathcliff.

Wharenui is at 27 Main Street, Haworth, West Yorkshire, BD22 8DA. Tel 01535 644511. www.wharenui.co.uk Closed Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.