Aviator Restaurant, The

This wonderful evocation of flying as it used to be in the romantic '30s is on the edge of the aerodrome at Sywell, and the décor within is pure kitsch, in the nicest possible sort of way. Just forget about artistic purity and all that stuff, and let the place wash over you as a fun experience that has had a great deal of time and effort lavished upon it.

In the Aviator Restaurant the food is good homely fare, with no aspirations to haute cuisine, and therefore entirely in key with the surroundings in which it is served. Inevitably as you enjoy starters of chargrilled prawns wrapped in filo with hoi sin sauce, and chargrilled bread, you are half expecting the doors to swing open and a dishevelled figure in a leather flying jacket stagger in to announce, "Whacko won't be back - piled in from 8,000 feet, didn't stand a chance, poor fella".

Midway through the chicken breast with more hoi sin you will realise that no effort has been spared to preserve and adapt what was once a WW2 military airfield, and still serves in a civilian capacity but clinging tenaciously to its service background.

There is certainly no need to be bored, or indeed a lover of aviation, the place is just packed with memorabilia at every turn and the Number One Hanger is a place on its own, ideal for conferences and events with a difference.

Life would be the poorer without bizarre places like this, and their prices are of a nature that will bring a smile to your face, despite the bad news about Whacko.