In the great pub evolution there have, as always, been winners and losers. The weak have gone to the wall, the strong have survived, and the newcomers have led the renaissance. The emergence of modest groupings of revitalised pubs has brought some real stars, of which The Alford Arms is undoubtedly one, a verdict supported by a string of awards; six time winner of Herfordshire Dining Pub Award in The Good Pub Guide, most recently for 2010; Regional winner of Best Gastro Pub at the 2007 Morning Advertiser Pub Awards and included in Eat Out magazine's 'Best of the Best Top 100' pubs in their April 2008 edition.

The advantages of a dignified Victorian building have been skilfully combined with new ideas, modern management with heart, and an adherence to good taste in matters of décor. Character and atmosphere is there in abundance. For dog walkers in on-the-doorstep Ashridge forest the Alford is a beacon of hope as they stagger the last few yards in to the welcoming arms of the pub and its friendly staff, who understand. They see it all the time. At bluebell time the woods are blue with beauty; later in the year a search for mushrooms there can prove rewarding, whilst in between the summer months can be whiled away in the pretty pub garden over a few glasses.

The menu reflects the rural nature of this delightful place and plenty of fresh local produce is encountered in the dishes that Head Chef Rupert creates for an increasingly large and appreciative clientele. A choice of small plates is likely to include grilled mackerel fillet with basil and slow-dried tomato crust, rocket, crispy capers and lemon oil, or bubble and squeak with oak smoked bacon, free range poached egg and Hollandaise sauce.

Moving on to more weighty matters, guests may encounter the excellent char-grilled 21-day aged British rib-eye steak, a veritable tour de force of its kind, served with fat chips, smoked garlic butter and ?Sarratt? watercress. Hertfordshire this may be, but nothing wrong with some Stockings Farm sausages from Amersham, or a pan-fried mullet fillet with tomato, samphire and pearl barley risotto.

But be sure to leave space for the sheer joy of selecting a little something from their seductive selection of puddings. How can anyone resist a Nettleden honey baked peach and thyme galette with white chocolate cream, or even the dark chocolate and coconut torte with orange curd ice cream? For those to whom a meal is not really complete without a pass at the cheese consider the merits of some Barkham blue, Cornish yarg and Saval from Surrey, and all of it comes with Alford oatcakes, sticky malt loaf and apple and ale chutney.

From extolling the virtues of a food that derives from the cow, let's consider the wine list, a stunner of its kind, wide choice in a consistent quality filled smallish list with very little over £30, plenty by the large, or not quite so large glass, ably extended by the attention it pays to pudding wines which, given the quality of the puddings is the very least they could do. So with your sponge pudding and cherries with ice cream, you can choose perhaps a glass of Vin Santo di Capezzana Riserva 03, known better to some as 'the wine of the saints'.

An evening with the saints might be the right terminology for dinner at this outstanding pub with restaurant, which brings us back to those awards, of which we shall see even more winging their way to 'the pub on the edge of the forest'.

Their Website is full of fun and gaiety, an informative and intelligible extension of the character of this pub and those who run it.