Crosby Village Inn (from Darlington and Stockton Times)

AFTER the previous week's sublime offering at Wolsingham's Mill Race Hotel, we came down to earth with a bump.

It served me right, Sylvia said, with a snort. Any man who combines work with a Valentine's night meal out deserves to be disappointed.

I'll admit I didn't think discussing the finer points of broccoli would be such a passion killer, although I can understand that treating the missus to a romantic meal out loses its edge if she realises that the whole thing's on the company.

Brownie points were also lost for thinking out loud that £18.95 a head for a three-course meal on a night when pub and restaurants traditionally whack another 10 per cent at least on their prices looked like a bargain.

But then again, I should have known better. The advertisement for this bargain Valentine's meal appeared in Another Paper, a tatty tabloid to boot (not the Echo I hasten to add, which is a classy compact). For when we turned up at the Crosby Village Inn, Thornton-le-Beans, near Northallerton, the £18.95 had suddenly become £21.95.

But we remained positive, for the Crosby has a big reputation. It is the current pub of the year in the Flavours of Hambleton local food awards. It was also a finalist in the equivalent category in the Moors and Coast Tourism Awards.

The bar was certainly welcoming on a bitter night. A log fire was blazing and the smiles of Chris and Jim Robson were almost as bright. As we looked at the menus over a drink we noted some couples were cosily eating in the bar and were disappointed to be taken through to the back of the pub, where the main restaurant is situated in what is clearly a later extension to the original pub building.

These extensions are commonplace, are usually tacked on the back and almost without exception they tend to be characterless spaces with inadequate heating.

That wasn't quite the case at the Crosby but the atmosphere, despite the presence of other couples, was markedly different from the warmth of the bar.

Starters arrived swiftly. Sylvia had leek and potato soup, which some of may recall was her choice the previous week at the Mill Race.

Comparison in this instance was decidedly odious. The Crosby's version, although not lacking in flavour, had the gloopy consistency of wallpaper paste left for a couple of days, suggesting the use of some artificial thickener.

My black pudding fritters and Toulouse sausage with a creamy cider sauce sounded like a coronary on a plate but was actually not so heavy-going.

The sausage was fine, the black pudding nothing special, the cider sauce rather good.

I followed up with salmon en croute with a lobster sauce. Again, the sauce was the highlight but unfortunately someone had poured it all over the pastry case, turning what came out of the oven as probably light and slightly crisp into a soggy blanket.

Sylvia thought her fillet steak and black pudding stack ordinary and not just because she had decided to have it without the mushroom sauce as suggested on the menu.

The black pudding was as my starter and the steak was two thinish slices cooked well beyond the requested medium.

Chips were crisp outside but had that cotton-wool texture inside which suggested they had come from the freezer.

A brandy snap basket filled with rum and raisin ice cream and white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake continued the theme, being so unremarkable we can't remember anything noteworthy about them.

We didn't feel particularly hurried at any point, and Sylvia probably wasn't in the mood to have sweet nothings whispered into her ear anyway, but the sense of occasion was rather lacking, even with complimentary roses for the lady diners.

As a resident of Thornton-le-Beans, I am obviously biased towards my local. I think the problem was that you ate in the restaurant, the bar is much more sociable and cosy. I also think that you were a tad unfair Chris and Moira do a lovley job and the food is what you expect from a pub Good Hearty grub with no pretentions and thats what makes it good.

Ihave eaten there on 2 Friday lunch times (with in a month) The first time they turned the lights out because"they thought we had gone". Fair enough an honest mistake. The second time we were told to hurry up and finish our meal because they wanted to go shopping. Never went back

Ihave eaten there on 2 Friday lunch times (with in a month) The first time they turned the lights out because"they thought we had gone". Fair enough an honest mistake.
The second time we were told to hurry up and finish our meal because they wanted to go shopping.
Never went back

Chris.I do not intend getting into a public arguement so this is my last comment on the matter. The times I went into the pub I walked through the front door approached the bar immediately in front of me, got served turned and entered a front bar through a horseshoe shaped arch to the left of the main door. In fact I sat at the same table immediately on the right.If this sounds like your pub then it DID happen. Goodbye

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