Lamb Inn, The

Ever since a colleague once arrived at licensed premises to find them in the final throes of consumption by fire, arson suspected, I have nurtured a certain reluctance to include such phrases as "you will find a roaring fire to welcome you" when reviewing.

However, you get the drift and the Lamb Inn is peppered with other period features as well, like stone flag floors, ancient wooden beams and bits calculated to guide your thinking towards old England. Which is a good thing because the food derives from there and progresses through the various ethnic additions of the last forty or so years to emerge triumphantly British with a modern twist.

Grilled New Zealand green-lipped mussels with garlic butter, topped with cheese compete with homemade tomato and Basil soup. A Thai chicken curry comes with Basmati rice, poppadum and mango chutney and stands well with an 8 oz Aberdeen Angus Charolais fillet steak with accompanying chips, peas, mushrooms, onion ring and tomato.

The sticky toffee pudding is graced with butterscotch sauce and ice cream and tea and coffee costs a modest £1 a cup. A well-built wine list has plenty of choice below £20 with decent Vin de Pays at £9.50 a bottle or £2.50 for a large glass.

Sadly, the man who used to bring his lamas for a walk to the pub, leaving them tethered outside, with interesting results when they broke loose and insisted on joining him in the bar, seems to be no more.