THERE was once a hostelry in this small, oddly-named village, known to all as The Pub That Never Opened.

In the mid-1950s, if Wikipedia is to be believed, the landlord, Mr Heslop, would peer through the pub window to see if the thirsty customer looked respectable enough to pass threshold. It was a local pub for local people, no doubt.

Thankfully we had a very different welcome at this modern, atmospheric pub.

Instead of a suspicious man glaring through a window, possibly shaking his head at my unshaven chops, we were greeted by a smiling barman at an open bar.

Far from busy this Thursday night I took the opportunity to chat to the barman about the modern-looking pub and was surprised to learn it was about 70 years old. However it was refurbished about six years ago and has a clean, contemporary look although, with lowered lighting and homely-looking fires, still has a cosy feel.

Chatting in the comfy seats we were left to peruse the fairly simple, but mouth-watering menu. My Irish girlfriend, Simone, still relatively new to the area, wondered how come she thought she had heard the name ‘Potto’ before and I pointed out the logo Prestons of Potto, a major haulage firm, is plastered on wagons the length of the land. In fact it was the late Richard Preston who was presented with The Pub That Never Opens’ old Johnnie Walker copper serving tray which is still preserved by the famous business family.

Eventually our friendly barman came over with a modern day tray for our drinks in order to escort us to the restaurant area. Happy sipping my cold Peroni (£4) in the soft seat by the warm fire chatting to Simone enjoying her glass of Malbec wine (£4.95) it was hard to leave.

But it was worth it for the food. I decided to start with the spicy sausage salad (£5.25). Fresh with cheese and salad leaves it was a simple, but fairly substantial and tasty affair. Simone went for the tempura prawns (£5.45), which was also all one could reasonably expect.

For my main course I devoured a dish called Pork 3 Ways (£13.95). One of the ‘three ways’ included ‘Doreen’s black pudding fritter’ as part of the description. The menu didn’t explain who Doreen was, but it was delicious as was the pork belly, confit shoulder and the apple and cider ‘jus.’ My vague worries that the description of this meal had a kind of 1990s pretentious about it – wilted spinach and cider fondant etc – were dispelled by the fact that it tasted very good.

Simone went for a more straightforwardly-named lamb rump (£13.05). Cooked to a turn on a bed of delicious tapenade and pak choi, there was plenty of it. The waiter had suggested we buy side orders and more vegetables would have been nice, but there was plenty of food for us. No one will leave this pub hungry.

In fact, well-sated, it almost felt like a duty to order a pudding in order to complete the review. We decided to split a sticky toffee pudding (£4.95). Rich and heavy, it would have been hard to eat a whole one but it was, once again, heavenly. Sodden in a butterscotch sauce what really made it, for me, was the Drambuie cream. In fact, my only criticism of this entire meal, except for the lack of vegetables, was there wasn’t enough of that cream.

After forming my own opinions I glanced at first the Food Standards Agency (where the restaurant was given top marks possible for hygiene) and TripAdvisor, were 40 reviewers had given it a four-out-of-five rating, although, inevitably, there were a few bad reviews. That certainly was not my experience and I feel certain we will return the welcoming pub that, thankfully, does, in fact, open.

Ratings:

Food Quality: 8/10

Service: 9/10

Surroundings: 8/10

Value: 7/10