The City of Bristol College offers food that would rival many a meal at a good restaurant for a fraction of the price – getting away from the old tradition of students eating beans on toast every night.

In the City Restaurant, on the College Green campus, a two-course lunch will set you back a mere £5.95, while three courses is just £7.50.

You can plump for salmon and crab, terrine of duck or honey-roasted goose, and a Roquefort trifle for dessert.

Every day 40 youngsters between the ages of 16 and 19 learn everything from how to poach an egg to correctly laying a table, then apply the fruits of their learning in the restaurant, in their diploma in introduction to professional cooking.

Adrian Kirikmaa has been restaurant and kitchen manager for the City of Bristol College for the last six years, overseeing restaurants in College Green, Bedminster and Ashley Down.

"The idea is to provide real working environments for the youngsters to train in to give them real industry experience," he said.

"The students run the restaurant and the kitchen, doing everything from making their own bread to serving customers and washing and tidying up afterwards.

"When they leave here they can go into jobs and know what it is all about because they have already done it."

But it is not just the students who benefit from this real-world training environment.

Mr Kirikmaa said: "Members of the public can walk in here and eat at any time. The prices are a lot cheaper than a normal restaurant.

"We have had everything from companies eating here for their Christmas parties to couples coming for a romantic night out."

The City Restaurant is also rather trendy, with leather couches, wooden floors, a wine and spirits bar and canvas prints of Bristol photos.

The City Restaurant is closed for Christmas, but reopens on January 6 for a credit-crunch beating meal out.

For more information call 312 2712, or 312 5087 for the Cabot Restaurant in Ashley Down.