THE new year starts rather where we left off in 2013 – lauding the rebirth of the village pub.

Just before Christmas, what was the Three Tuns at Sadberge, just east of Darlington, reopened under private ownership as The Tuns at Sadberge. It had been shut for at least nine months.

Villagers are dead chuffed by all accounts. Sadberge is once more a two-pub community and the new people at The Tuns have made a good impression in their first few weeks of trading.

In the interests of journalistic transparency, it needs to be pointed out that we know the new owners. By rights, a colleague should have done this review but the requirements of Christmas/New Year deadlines and other people’s commitments meant that wasn’t possible.

So read what follows, and the ratings, with that in mind. I think we have been as objective and impartial as we could be.

The new landlord is Ross Serino, supported by his partner, Becka, and his mother, Barbara. The Serino name may familiar for Ross’s father, Vince, runs long-established Italian restaurant Santoro in Yarm, a long-time favourite of ours.

So Ross, who has spent many years learning the hospitality business with his family in Yarm, is certainly no amateur. It shows in the way he has gone about refurbishing The Tuns, taking six months to do it, ensuring it was right before opening the doors.

If that suggests The Tuns is destined to be a pubified version of Santoro, we would be giving the wrong impression. The new owners have stamped their personality on the place with a clean, simple, contemporary look, but it is still recognisably a village pub where locals seeking a quiet pint are just as welcome as diners.

The Tuns was at one time the village courthouse (a passage still links the pub’s cellar with a nearby house which served as the jailhouse) and the pub’s history is acknowledged on the walls, where ancient deeds are displayed.

We were there for lunch and what struck us immediately was the keen pricing.

Starters ranged from £2.90 for soup to £3.90 for smoked salmon and prawn tian with baby gem lettuce and Marie-Rose sauce. All main courses were £4.90, except fillet steak in a ciabatta bun with horseradish mayo which was £7.50.

Desserts were all £3.40.

We expected portions to be similarly modest, but that proved not to be case.

Sylvia’s starter of cheddar cheese and spinach soufflé (£3.90), as well as being of handsome proportions was a perfect combination of smooth, rich cheese sauce and feather-light casing.

My chicken liver parfait (£3.50) was very smooth and surprisingly light. The onion chutney was a stickysweet foil for the parfait and there were also some nicely dressed salad leaves and toasted ciabatta.

For £4.90 I couldn’t resist Dover sole as my main course, and the two substantial and super-fresh onthe- bone fish were served with a classic French lemon, capers and herb butter sauce. Served with new potatoes and vegetables (mange tout, cauliflower and carrots), it was the best plate of food for less than £5 that I have eaten since around 1995.

Sylvia liked the way her chicken and mushroom pie was prepared as an individual pie and it tasted as good as it looked; good-sized pieces of tender chicken in a well-seasoned sauce encased in light but buttery pastry. The chunky chips that accompanied the pie were fine.

The dessert choices included some old favourites like chocolate brownie and bread and butter pudding, but we shared an apple crumble tart. Sylvia was so impressed by the tart’s crunchy crumble topping that she made inquiries about buying a whole one for a future dinner party at home (£10, by the way).

We could find no fault with the food, which represented superb value. We noted the evening menu is naturally more expensive, but not by much. Service was also spot on and the only negative we could come up with was that vegetarians who don’t eat fish might struggle a bit with menu choices.

When it came to ratings, instinctively we felt top marks across the board were appropriate.

In deference to our previously revealed knowledge of the owners, I’ve knocked a point off three categories, but I defy anyone to challenge our belief that this lunch represented the very best of value.

The Tuns, Sadberge, Darlington DL2 1RU
Tel: 01325-332080
Open for food: noon-2-30pm Tuesday to Saturday; noon-3pm Sunday.
Evening meals 5-9pm Tuesday to Saturday. Closed on Monday.
Disabled access: one small step at front entrance.

RATINGS
Food quality: 9
Service: 9
Surroundings: 9
Value: 10