Blue Ball, The

The Blue Ball, said to be Rutland's oldest inn, is the sort of place you dream about as you get sand in everything on some foreign shore when, having made the supreme sacrifice, you have transported your nearest and dearest to a part of the globe where the sun is alleged to shine all the time.

Which is fine - except that sometimes it does not, and other inconveniences, associated with an uprooting from the familiar, crowd in upon you. And so it is that thatched roofs, wooden beams, open fires and reliable/fresh local produce come to mind.

Owned by the Rutland Pub Company, an up and coming group based in England's smallest county, whose motto is "multum in parvo", or ''much in little''. Seldom is this more true than in the case of The Blue Ball, a delightful country inn, presided over by Nicholas Bayne, an experienced publican well versed in operating successful gastropubs and, having won a few awards along the way, is ready to give the same treatment to this illustrious old pub. With a new team of very talented chefs they have transformed the place, with the result that this old English tavern now thrives on the popularity that comes from people who appreciate true hospitality.

A satisfying selection of light meals is served at lunchtimes and evenings as well as a well thought out a la Carte menu. On Mondays it's curry night, an all you can eat buffet for £8.95. With fish and seafood on Fridays with 72 hour pre-request service available. How's that for choice in the middle of rural Rutland?

Fish features prominently on the menu and others you can expect to find such delights as pan-fried fillets of red mullet on polenta drizzled with saffron infused oil or wild sea bass fillets on red wine boulangere potatoes with a leek and thyme sauce.

Effort is made to represent most meat groups in a tantalising way with such dishes as shank of lamb rested upon a nicoise of root vegetables and drizzled with redcurrant jus or fillet of organically reared beef on sautéed shallots with hand-cut chips, plum tomato and a wild mushroom sauce.

Located as it is in the middle of some of the best sporting country in Britain, it's hardly surprising that they specialise here on game when in season. Expect to see Rutland Water Trout on the specials board. Pheasant and venison make regular appearances also. The specials board is used solely to represent the best of local producers and changes as frequently as it sells out!

Bar snacks offer such delicacies as poached eggs Florentine, smoked salmon with creamy scrambled eggs, local Melton Mowbray pork pie as the main ingredient of a ploughman's lunch and Sausages & Mash (made for the pub by Northfield Farm, featured in Local Food Heroes. Nor is the wine list for the faint-hearted.

Fourteen wines by the glass include a very decent champagne, some hefty numbers from Chile, France, New Zealand and Spain, and a great selection of carefully chosen and well annotated bottles from a range of sources that makes the UN look like beginners.