The General Tarleton Ferrensby Near Knaresborough (from Darlington and Stockton Times)

AWARD-winning restaurants are ten-a-penny these days. There are so many awards schemes it is getting to the point where soon even the most humble roadside greasy spoon will be sporting an award - Yorkshire's best fry-up and a cuppa for under a fiver perhaps.

Too frequently we have eaten at award-wining establishments that deserve only to have the honour stuffed down the complacent chef's throat.

But awards do mean that places get noticed, as The General Tarleton, a few miles south of Boroughbridge on the road to Knaresborough, did in 2007. The Yorkshire Tourist Board declared it Yorkshire's Pub of the Year and it was also honoured for "Best Use of Regional Produce on the Menu" in the deliciouslyorkshire awards.

Sounds impressive but, as we had also received independent positive recommendations, a trip down the A1 was called for.

Never have two gallons of diesel been burnt to better effect. We had lunch. It was superb and, in terms of the quality of the cooking, easily on a par with the Michelin-starred Star at Harome, the last place we really enthused about.

Although at the busy roadside of the rather dull Ferrensby village, the General Tarleton has been neatly spruced up with quality fixtures and fittings, managing to retain a pub atmosphere while being sufficiently commodious to attract the sophisticated ladies-wholunch crowd from nearby Harrogate.

Always at home among the ladieswho- lunch crowd (Sylvia particularly), we found ourselves at a cosy table for two in the bar dining area (there is also an evenings-only formal restaurant), positioned perfectly to hear the animated conversation of a group of ladies adjacent who were working themselves into something approaching a frenzy as they feverishly consulted their diaries to find a convenient date for another get-together.

This Battle of the Filofaxes was moderately diverting until our starter arrived. We had decided to share a warm shredded duck salad (£7.50), which turned out to be a shrewd move as there was more than enough for two. The duck was tender-sweet, the chorizo and pancetta give it a more savoury kick and the salad leaves were just wilted without being soggy.

Sylvia thought her rib-eye steak (£17.95), sourced from an Angus/Longhorn herd at nearby Birstwith, was among the best rib-eye she had ever tasted - and she's eaten some rib-eye steak in her time. Cooked to a succulent medium, it was full of flavour and tender as a piece of red meat could be.

It came with excellent hand-cut chips, salad and a garlic butter sauce (from a choice of three - the other two being peppercorn and Yorkshire blue cheese).

My seafood pie (£11.95) was a gloriously creamy and herb-enveloped collection of white fish, scallops and prawns. There was also a touch of vermouth in the mix which turned out be Noilly Prat, which may not be from Knaresborough but the local produce imperative has to have its limits.

It was topped with slightly crispy cheesey potato crust and was accompanied by purple sprouting broccoli. Perhaps the pie was slightly over-salted but it was damn fine in every other respect.

I finished with a trio of apple (£6.50) - pannacotta, green apple sorbet and frangipan tart - all fragrantly and not-too-sweetly excellent while Sylvia contented herself with a coffee.

The bill, excluding drinks (Black Sheep and Timothy Landlord among the beers served) came to less than £50 and we had eaten from a la carte menu.

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