IT was a case of now or never. Or, to be strictly accurate, now or mid-September at the earliest.

With the school holidays getting under way at the end of this week, the tourist hotspots of the Lake District become well and truly out of bounds for me, as I'm sure is the case for many other locals.

I wanted to visit Porto in Bowness, a restaurant which was formerly the extremely popular Porthole. It opened in its new guise - modern British, rather than its former Italian - earlier this month; and I was keen to see how things were going.

By the time my husband and I had barged our car through the hordes of jaywalking tourists in Bowness, found somewhere to park (a miracle) and danced around groups of camera-toting Japanese tourists looking for Peter Rabbit (and this before the main holiday season begins), we were perilously close to being late for our 1.30pm booking on Wednesday. No matter. While the tables outside Porto were occupied, no-one was inside the restaurant - and we had the pick of where to sit.

The interior of Porto bears no resemblance whatsoever to the old Porthole, which I loved for its cosy and eclectic bistro charm and its bonhomie-laden owner, who loved to chat to his guests, particularly when they were ensconced in the upstairs bar enjoying a post-prandial coffee and/or liqueur. Now, it is all cool whites and greys, with splashes of vivid lime green. Modern flower arrangements, stark furniture and floorboards give it an airy if slightly soulless feel. Hipster thirty-somethings will absolutely love it.

The friendly waitress was a little confused when we said we had booked - and we spent a few minutes with her mistakenly thinking we had in fact dropped in to book a table for that evening. "What time would you like to come?" she inquired, to our slight confusion. "Er, now... I booked yesterday. For, er, now. So, here we are. As booked."

That sorted, we settled down for drinks and to study the menu. We chose a twice-baked cheese soufflé with creamed spinach and truffle oil (£6) to share as a starter, followed by sea bass fillet with a tomato, chorizo and bean cassoulet, pea purée and hollandaise for Gordon (£16) and monkfish scampi with crushed peas, Porto tartare sauce and twice-cooked chips for me (also £16).

The soufflé, which the waitress brought with two plates and extra cutlery for sharing purposes, was stunningly good. Light as a feather, tangy and fluffy, sitting in a delicious pool of creamed spinach. Top notch and worth every penny of £6.

By the time our main courses arrived, other diners were now sitting indoors, Porto very sensibly serving lunch until 4pm. In a tourist honeypot such as Bowness, a noon-2pm lunchtime service would be financial madness. Gordon's sea bass was excellent. Perfectly cooked flesh and crispy skin, on a rich cassoulet. He particularly liked the chorizo. He was less keen on the accompanying tender stem broccoli and green beans, which were al dente to the point of raw. Our rabbits would have loved them, though we stopped short of asking to take them home in a doggy (or rather bunny) bag.

My monkfish was a clever twist on scampi, but the chef's timings had pretty much gone to pot on this dish. It arrived without the chips, which I was informed were on their way. The crushed peas accompanying the scampi were already barely tepid at this point - and by the time the chips eventually arrived, they (the peas) were completely stone cold. Tasty, mind, but cold. The chips were crispy, thick and fluffy - but really the chef should not have sent this dish out until all its constituent parts were cooked (and hot). Timing is critical and here the restaurant let itself down.

Having said that, the monkfish was beautifully meaty and well-cooked and, if it had been executed more precisely, this would have been an exceptionally good lunchtime dish.

We finished with a shared Pimm's trifle - a huge, dense, feast of Pimm's-soaked fruit, sponge and thick cream. Calorie-laden, but very jolly good. Shortly after leaving Porto, the heavens opened and a good old thunderstorm took hold. It's a pity we weren't still in the restaurant by that time, as I could have then ended this review by saying... any old Porto in a storm. But we weren't still there, so I can't.

Food 3.5 Service 4 Atmosphere 3 Value 3.5

Pros: Clean and fresh interior, roof terrace, Modern British menu, Serves lunch until 4pm

Cons: Timings need to be tightened up, parking a nightmare nearby