After a very stressful few months we decided on some 'me/us' time. The kids were in school so that made things cheaper, we didn't have to get a babysitter or take them with us!

So after a bit of retail therapy and sight-seeing we stopped off for lunch in the beautiful village of Farndon.

The Farndon is a huge building with all the charm of the olde world.

Inside, however, is a totally different perspective. The 'pub' has recently undergone refurbishment, and very tasteful it is too.

There are large restaurant areas and what I would call an 'easy lounge'. The colour scheme, seating/tables and incidentals such as scatter cushions and artwork work extremely well, but the most noticeable thing about The Farndon is the space, it is so airy, light and roomy and nothing is cluttered or crammed.

After ordering our drinks at the bar (cask ales on offer) and perusing the menu we quickly made our choices of field mushrooms stuffed with stilton on a bed of dressed salad for myself and Thai fishcake with sweet chilli sauce, again served with dressed salad for Phil.

Our starters arrived in good time and they were nicely presented if a little lacking on the salad side. We agreed that a little more variety would certainly have improved these dishes both visually and in flavour. The mushrooms though were mouthwateringly juicy and I must admit I was tempted to ask for a chunk of crusty bread to mop up the juices!

Although Phil enjoyed his fishcake and couldn't specifically fault it, he felt it lacked a little in flavour. That didn't stop him polishing it off though!

A very acceptable pause followed before our main courses were served, a trio of Farndon sausages served with creamy mashed potato and onion gravy for myself and the 10oz gammon steak with egg, grilled mushroom, baked tomato, fat chips and onion rings for Phil.

Both dishes looked extremely appetising – and they tasted absolutely delicious. The sausages – locally produced – were certainly up to standard, the potato was 'creamy' as described and the onion gravy was rich beyond rich. All very more-ish indeed.

Phil's gammon steak comprised of two smaller pieces of gammon, cooked to what I would call perfection in that all of it was edible. The hand cut chips looked and tasted delicious, as did the onion rings and mushroom. Not being tomato lovers, he had opted out of this part of the dish.

The only downside was that he had to remind them that the dish should have been served as 'gammon and egg', but the egg was missing!

However, this was quickly and very apologetically rectified and a freshly cooked egg soon materialised alongside his gammon, and that soon shut him up!

So to finish, the service was just as impeccable as the pub – it was friendly but discreet, polite, efficient, knowledgeable – perfect to be honest.

And my only other passing comment was that there were not enough vegetarian options on the main courses, there being only one meal available, and that was pasta-based.

But, and a big but, this was apparently the very first day of this particular 'summer' menu, so it was "new" to everybody, including the chef.

Did our visit to The Farndon complete the day for us? Yes, it did. I certainly would like to go back and try their a la carte menu one day, it looks absolutely divine.

Our menu choice:

Starters
Field mushroom with stilton on a bed of dressed salad £4.50
Thai fishcake and sweet chilli sauce £4.95
Mains
Trio of sausages with creamy mash and onion gravy £7.95
10oz gammon steak with egg £9.95

The price: £27.35