"This is real old Mexico" said Blanca "My father took the family here once a month when I was a girl, and it hasn't changed at all" I could see what she meant, and although everything in the room looked pure 1955, nothing was dilapidated. The only naff note was the 10" santa on every table, which the waiter lit up when he showed you to the table. "My father would have had a fit" snorted Blanca.

Maria had the Ensalada Italiana: a hot salad of mixed vegetables, Blanca had a fish soup: Sopa de Mariscos and I ordered Enchiladas de Langosta, because I still had not tried enchiladas, and I can't often afford to eat lobster in London. Oh, life is one long educational trip sometimes, innit ? Somewhere in my heart, I knew that enchiladas would turn out to be another way of serving tortillas, and yet I dared to hope otherwise. It looked wonderful when it arrived, the lobster's head having been reunited with its innards, now wrapped in three molè smothered, sour cream drizzled tortillas, and all set about with vegetables. Pure Fanny Craddock. The dish was competently cooked and served, I suspect by someone in his seventies who had learned it as a boy. I enjoyed it more as a history lesson than a meal, if you know what I mean.

Maria and Blanca fared much better, and their dishes were less than half the price of mine, too. We drank the best drink in Mexico - limonada, which is squeezed fresh limes with ice and water. Limes are called limon, and as they don't seem to have the yellow ones, there's no confusion. We ordered Queso y Membrillo (cheese and a kind of jam, sounds odd, but trust me) to share. It came garnished with a strawberry, which we ate last and which turned out to be mouldy inside. Blanca went into full Fanny Craddock, I was terrified. The waiter took his cue, became Johnny Craddock and meekly accepted that, no, this would not have happened in the olden days, when Luisiana was a "restaurante de cualidad" and agreed that we should not be charged for the dessert.

Everything was done really well: hot rolls in a napkin, a grand piano playing romantic old Mexican tunes, attentive service by waiters who were dressed up as - waiters. And with two coffees and a tip the whole thing came in at under £30. I liked it and if ever in Monterrey again, I'd eat here. Time warp heaven. Approved DM 2005