Stone-flagged floors, hessian-style carpets, low timber beams, a wall of sawn log ends and everything else (from bar-top to glassware) polished and cleaned to a brilliant welcoming shine – the first impression of The Black Horse leads on to the discovery of cosy corners, a relaxed atmosphere and discreetly placed dining tables. This is a restaurant and pub well accustomed to providing hospitality, and it delivers ambience, food quality and service with accomplished ease.

Visiting on a hot summer’s day, I ordered a beer, which arrived in an extra-tall glass – it was wonderfully refreshing and put me in the perfect mood to choose from the mouth-watering menu. A choice of around a dozen starters saw my tastebuds tingling, and my order of tiger prawns in a coconut tempura batter served with a splendid sweet chilli coriander dip was an utterly delicious combination. My colleague opted for a pork, apple and cider paté with apricot chutney, accompanied by thick slices of lightly toasted white bread – his plate was cleaned to the last crumb. Next up were sole fillets, wrapped around smoked salmon and served with a creamy chive sauce and spinach – moist, succulent, freshly cooked and delectable. I savoured them from the first to very last forkful. A blackboard details The Black Horse’s dishes of the day, which, on my visit, included pea and mint soup to start, followed by venison fillet served with gratin Dauphinois potatoes.

From an impressive wine list of over 30 world varieties, I chose a glass of Soleus organic sauvignon blanc, hailing from Chile. Its aromatic flavours of lemon and gooseberry, with just a hint of green apple, were the perfect complement to my meal and had me regretting I’d only asked for one glass. I’ll certainly be returning to this fantastic pub.