If you hired him out as a restaurant consultant he would cost an absolute fortune. Justin Rowntree got him for free.

His was the ailing tapas and music bar Runaway Girl, in Arundel Street, Sheffield, which a few weeks ago became the latest subject of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares show. It looks like the episode will be shown in January.

Ramsay stayed most of the week, scaring the life out of his hotel and ordering the entire menu late one night.

The Girl became Silversmiths and the opening night had the usual teething troubles. Service ran slowly and some customers were advised to go to the local pub and come back later.

"If Gordon tells you to do something, you do it. It was a masterclass," says Justin, when we dropped in for a meal to see what Ramsay had done.

The live music has gone, the lighting is brighter and so the place looks bigger, although too much of the long narrow room is given over to a wasteful bar. There are three tables, seating six, on what was the old stage at the far end.

Despite all the publicity the place was quiet on a Thursday – about three couples plus Food & Drink – so perhaps the Ramsay magic is taking its time to wear on.

When you book they unusually ask for a Christian name (I had to do a bit of quick thinking as I always use an assumed surname) but forget to tell you that it's cash or cheques only.

They spent a bit of time trying to get us to order some expensive cocktails but we weren't having any of that.

Ramsay can't supply a magic ingredient but what he has given Justin and his head chef Richard Russell is an almost foolproof menu.

Most of the starters can be made in advance, or swiftly assembled, and the mains are uncomplicated.

There's a lot of toast about: toasted ciabatta with garlic prawns (£6.50), salt beef with mustard and toast (£5.50), chicken liver paté with Melba toast (£6), as well as assembly jobs such as grilled mackerel Nicoise salad (£5.50) and goat's cheese and beetroot salad (£5).

I had the paté because it said homemade on the menu. It was extremely good, rustic and rugged with plenty of flavour, a spoonful of chutney and Melba toast out of a packet.

Melba toast is the easiest – and cheapest – thing to make, if you've got the oven on.

A chilled pea and mint soup (£5) wasn't bad although we couldn't detect an underlying stock and it didn't come with any bread.

In fact, the only bread you get here is toast.

Mains follow the same formula. Apart from the obligatory steak, there's marinated chicken salad with artichokes (£13), a Yorkshire blue cheese and spinach tart (£11), and pan-fried salmon with sweet and sour peppers, which can also be used in the pan-braised halibut with chorizo and peppers.

The halibut (£13) was very pleasant, a fried off steak doused with white wine, chorizo, peppers, capers and parsley adding a kick, along with some halved potatoes. I seem to remember a slice of toasted ciabatta as garnish.

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