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A positive start. But then we were led into a side room filled with comfy chairs and sofas and handed menus to look at, quite a nice idea in theory.

In practice we sat staring at a flush plywood door with a "PRIVATE" sticker on the front giving the feel of a GP's waiting room, minus the goldfish tank and three-year-old magazines.

And it would have been nice to have something else to read, say, for example, something like the wine list which wasn't presented to us until we were eventually led to our table after ordering our food.

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Not only did we have to request it, when the wine (a fantastic pinot grigio) did come it was left at the side of our table in an ice bucket for us to pour. Even the downturned wine glasses (not white or red specific) were not turned the right way up. As for having our glasses topped up, forget it.

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We were wondering why we weren't offered a dash of freshly ground black pepper from a mill when we spotted a pot containing the loose variety of powdered pepper to tap onto our food.

The food went some way for making up for the shortfall in service. Our starters were a very hearty portion of risotto and goats cheese with pesto sauce and balsamic vinegar.

It wasn't beautifully presented and the rice had much more of a feeling of clotted rice pudding than the slightly looser texture of risotto you might expect. Plus it was meant to contain sun dried tomatoes, but we couldn't detect any.

Yet it was surprisingly tasty and all the flavours worked well together. With so many tasty ingredients it ran the risk of cloying but never did and it was all consumed reassuringly quickly.

Much more mixed were the mains. My own choice was a salmon which (my ordering mistake) also came with risotto. The fish was quite well cooked but the whole dish appeared liberally coated in oil, so much so that half way through eating it a substantial pool of the stuff was easily visible at the bottom of the bowl.

My dining partner seemed much more satisfied with his Eshelby sausage in light mustard mash with onion gravy. The meat had a soft squidgy texture which was really delightful and a pungent flavour while the mustard mash packed quite a punch.

Topping things off was Zachary's own Eton Mess with forest fruits, which was flawless, and a perfectly passable coffee.

Now, to be fair to the restaurant, it has to be pointed out here that we took all our options from the dual menu which is a fantastically priced collection of dishes that can be chosen either as starters at a flat rate of £5, or as mains for a straight tenner.

There are more options available a la carte and then there's the chef's own five course special. Perhaps our choices were more modest and thus proved a tad underwhelming.

But considering my own flawed main, for example, only constituted a piece of salmon and risotto it doesn't bode well for the quality of more elaborate dishes. Perhaps the oily offering was a blip, it certainly was if my dining partner's superior dish was anything to go by.

One thing is certain – Zachary's is incredible value for money. Our bill came to just £66 for three courses, a bottle of wine with a coffee and a 10 per cent tip, which is pretty much unbeatable.

And although it might not have been overly attentive, the service was pretty good in terms of politeness and getting the food to us in good time.

Furthermore, the location of Zachary's is incredible. From the main dining area you can look out onto the road which runs through the twee Moravian village of Fulneck or get a vista round the back of the beautiful valley which separates this part of Pudsey from the picturesque Tong Village beyond.

It's just a shame about certain elements of the decor which are a little outdated now. The seats, for example, made of brown and beige fabric with a swirling pattern unfortunately clashed with the green leaf print on the paper napkins.

Aesthetics aside, this place is still rather good and reasonably priced, but that makes it all the more frustrating because it has HUGE potential to look and feel much better.

Zachary's is a gem which needs a fresh polish.