WE meandered into this modern, brightly lit chain-pub, spied laughing post-work drinkers, noted the relaxed-if-slightly loud atmosphere and thought we knew what we were in for: standard, warmed-up pub grub.

We were wrong. The food here, reasonably priced with goodly sized portions, was much better than that.

In truth, on this particular night, we would have been happy enough with a more everyday pub meal.

It was Friday night but a late finish at work meant I hadn’t even got changed.

Simone, thinking the night would have to be cancelled, did her amazing last-minute -make-up-in-the-car routine.

We wanted a couple of drinks and a chat of the day.

A half-decent meal was all that was required.

In fact, and at the risk of sounding a bit snobbish, we were more interested in being moved away from the large hen party next to our reserved table, worried it was all going to be a bit drunken and raucous.

We were taught a lesson.

We chatted to some of the girls, simply having a pleasant time, later in the evening and they were good company. And, in any case, our friendly waiter, seeing a quiet couple, moved us to a different table without even being asked.

The first realisation that the food was going to be much better than I expected at this attractive village pub, probably still known to most by its former name The Yorkshire Dragoon, was when my starter, spiced crabcakes in a fennel salad, £5.95, was served.

It’s my suspicion that in pubs the likes of scampi and crabcakes come straight from the packet, which is fair enough. Maybe they were, but if so they were unlike any packet crabcakes I’d tasted before.

Crisp on the outside, they had a lightness and freshness which strongly suggested they were home made. Excellent.

Despite my best efforts to persuade the dieting Simone that she had to order a starter for professional reasons and I would gallantly help her eat any leftovers, she declined. Instead she sensibly chose a hearty main course, an 8oz bravette steak, medium rare, served with salad and fries, £11.95.

“All our steaks are 28-day aged and cut in-house,”

boasted the menu. Unsure about how unusual that was, we decided to simply trust in our tastebuds.

It was a soft, deep steak, cooked just right, a long way from all those overcooked, rubbery affairs we English devoured for decades.

I went for the lamb shank, a fail-safe favourite of mine, which was being served as a special at £12.50. To use the cliché, the meat fell from the bone and the sauce was tasty but not excessively heavy although the mash was a little claggy.

This was definitely superior pub food and the menu reflected that. There was nothing too fancy: a choice of pizzas, Parmesan chicken, lamb koftas…a pub selling simple, but well done food.

By now the last-minute mania of filing copy at work and the rush to the pub had melted away, no doubt helped by my pint of Peroni (£3.85) and half of Simone’s Guinness, (£3.30) which, a good Irish girl, she had ordered out of nostalgia and because it went well with the steak.

We decided to share a sweet and sticky toffee and banana pudding, at £4.95, felt like a good Friday night treat. Ordering drinks at the bar, one of the girls in the hen party said they were off to Middlesbrough for the serious fun and, looking around, I saw that there were a few large-ish groups of people drinking beer and bottles or wine.

In other words, the Manor House is, emphatically, a working pub, not a fancy restaurant.

On the other hand, this was Friday night straight from work, and I felt sure was not entirely typical.

Really, it had more of a feel of a family pub, as evidenced by its Sunday roast specials and children’s menus, than a genuinely boozy venue.

Part of the Sir John Fitzgerald chain, it’s the kind of inoffensive identikit modern pub, with its soft furnishings and bright lights we’ve all been to many times before.

Never having ventured inside the old Yorkshire Dragoon, refurbished and renamed a couple of years ago, I don’t know if that was an authentic, old-style village inn.

If so, I suppose Maltby may have lost something. What it has got is a friendly, clean, modern venue with – surprisingly – good food.

The Manor House

High Lane, Maltby, near Ingleby Barwick, Stockton, TS8 0BN
Telephone: 01642-764153
Website: www.themanorhouseteesside.co.uk
Open: Noon to 9.30pm, seven days a week
Disabled access, vegetarian choices limited