Cleethorpes . . home of the White Rose Guest House, the Beeches Hotel and the Vines B&B. But here’s a new name: Sugar Sugar. Just that: Sugar Sugar. A little burst of retro chic after the dependable old names.

This restaurant with eight rooms lays claim to “the finest meals you could expect to be served in Grimsby and Cleethorpes” and is “located moments from all that Cleethorpes has to offer”. A tentative self-endorsement, perhaps.

It’s in a corner of the Market Place, which boasts an astonishing array of restaurants: three Indians in a row, two pizzerias, two fish, a Chinese and assorted takeaways and bars.

Competition is keen, particularly when Sugar Sugar, which opened last year, charges up to £120 for a room (even for single occupancy, and breakfast is extra). You can, after all, get a decent B&B here at £15 a night. Sugar Sugar seems to angle for the business market. “Are you a seasoned road warrior looking for a place to rest?” asks its website.

It used to be a guesthouse with 14 bedrooms and one bathroom, but its plain frontage now suggests a café bar. So does the long reception area: a sleek bar on one side, a dozen restaurant tables on the other, and rather too many murals of women in surreal erotic poses.

The rooms are themed — India, Victoria, Warhol (black-and-white stripes: avoid with hangovers) and Morocco, decently sized and imaginatively furnished with a brass four-poster, coloured brass lights, glittery embroidered hangings and a hookah: Casablanca comes to Cleethorpes.

Well, up to a point. The room’s front window gives a fine view of the comings and goings at the betting shop next door, and its back window looks out over a scruffy yard.

A “road warrior” and I have the restaurant to ourselves at 8.30pm, which makes service fast and efficient. It’s a meal of geometric perfection. A lightly spiced circular potato cake topped with a poached egg looks a treat on a large square plate, while the £12.95 main course — roasted halibut with cherry vine tomatoes — is a trim (and delicious) rectangle. Vegetables are extra: £2 for half-a-dozen forkfuls of buttered savoy cabbage, which is pushing it a bit in seaside Lincs.

Breakfast is similarly itemised (cornflakes at £1.95). It’s all pleasant and professional, but it leaves a curiously indefinite impression. Needs a few more road warriors.

Bottom line: Stephen McClarence paid £110 for a double room.

Sampling the fare: Two-course dinner, without drinks, cost £21.35.

What we think: A bold venture in Cleethorpes.

Best thing: Imaginatively presented food.

Worst thing: Uninspiring location.

Access all areas: One ground-floor room for wheelchair use.

Need to know: Sugar Sugar (01472 291350, www.sugar-sugar.co.uk ) 49-51 Market Place, Cleethorpes.

Room: 6 out of 10.

Food: 7 out of 10.

Service: 7 out of 10.

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