Diners at the restaurant Coses de Menjar can expect a refreshingly different menu in pleasant surroundings. What more can you ask from a restaurant?!

Waiters all wear white linen trousers and shirts that according to the proprietor were chosen because they did not want to dress all the waiters in standard formal clothes. Certainly the restaurant, with it's otherwise high-priced look, feels less formal as a result.

The menu is changed four times a year according to the current season, with the latest menu for spring, in a surprisingly tacky way, presented as a label on a wine bottle. (Available in English, French, Castellano and Catalan).

Starters range in price from 790 pesetas for sweet pea soup, to 1,310 pesetas for monkfish layers with soft garlic and mushrooms. I started with duck salad with orange vinaigrette, which came as a nicely presented salad of duck and lettuce, interspersed with a variety of woodland fruits that contrasted very well with the rich flavour of the duck. It was excellent and just wet my appetite for my main course.

Main courses ranged in price from 1,650 pesetas for guinea fowl with mustard and artichoke, to 2,350 pesetas for grilled foie duck livers with parmesan ice cream.

As a rule, I like to go with a restaurant's recommendation so as to constantly widen my repertoire of dishes that I have tried, at least once. The grilled foie duck livers will unfortunately be one of those dishes that I try, just once. For a lover of liver, I would not hesitate to recommend it - the liver literally melted in my mouth and had a very delicate flavour, while the parmesan ice cream made a good accompaniment. It was not, however, enough to overcome my personal dislike of liver.

If I were to go by my own instincts, I would consider the salmon with dates, almonds and bacon, or the meat kebab with prawns, both of which sound delicious.

For desert I had a nice classic cream desert with orange, while alternatives included tiramisu or pear and apple tart amongst others. Deserts cost 600 pesetas each.

For families, the restaurant also offers a cooking workshop for children aged 4 to 10 years old, which is designed so that the children can cook whilst the parents enjoy their meal. The workshop, including lunch, costs 2,500 pesetas and runs from 1:30-3:30 on Saturdays.

Coses de Menjar, located at Avenida Pla de Palau, 7, is open all year round from 1:30 to 4 p.m. Monday to Saturday, and from 9 p.m. till 11:30 p.m. Monday till Thursday. Fridays and Saturdays it is open till midnight, and it is closed all day Sunday.