Real Eating Company, The

There is a real movement afoot to ensure that the food we eat is of decent quality, even if this does mean a slight lift in the price, though that is far from being inevitably the case.

It evidences itself in the supermarkets that can be trusted, in farm shops where quality can be controlled from source to sale at the table, and in a general realisation that we are indeed what we eat. And drink.

The Real Eating Company has a mission in life to ensure that whatever they offer is the most wholesome and genuine. Not only is the place one big deli, you can also eat there, and most people who do wish that it could go on forever. There is no reason why it should not.

From an impressive list of menus that includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and kids we have selected the dinner version. Expect to see soup made from mussels, rabbit and tomatoes, yes, all in the same pot, or a duck confit with blood orange, roast hazelnut and chicory salad. In amongst the mains there is a creamy fish pie with green beans, or feel tempted by the braised oxtail and kidney pudding, with baby turnips potato and shallots. The fish of the day has its own blackboard to mirror the market.

Pudding of spotted dick with golden syrup custard sounds like the best of both worlds, or prune and Armagnac ice cream with chocolate sauce just go to prove that healthy eating can still be naughty. For the cheese buffs there is Beenleigh blue and Lincolnshire poacher, spiced fruit compote, oatcakes, all supported by a glass of 10 year old Somerset apple brandy, all for less than £8.

The list of extra dishes reads like a litany of culinary righteousness, with curly kale, spiced red cabbage and spring onion mash only slightly tainted by homemade fat chips.

One would like to think there is a certainty about the proliferation of places like this - I believe it is quite strongly on the cards.