NEVER underestimate the power of chips.

“This pub has the best chips in the north,” said the online review, to much agreement, and with a recommendation like that there was little choice but to pick up the phone and make a booking.

This being a wet Tuesday in early January I expected no problem in getting a table, despite this being a well-known pub in the pleasant suburb of Hartburn. I was wrong.

“We might be able to get you in the bar, we’ll try our best,” said the helpful lady on the phone. In the end we were lucky, someone must have cancelled, and we were offered a table on arrival.

But, make no mistake, the place was packed and, sure enough, just about every table had the lovely, browned chips, crisp on the outside and fluffy in the middle. And, yes, they might really be the best chips in the north, as evidenced by the fact this pub represented the northern region in the national Punch Shine Awards.

And yet it didn’t take long to work out that it was not the power of chips alone which was filled this cosy pub. It has clearly had some kind of refurbishment in the not too distant past, but still felt warm and, well, like a traditional pub. Better yet, there was no problem getting served at the bar. It was casual but still felt like you were on a treat. My sister, Kathy, looking smart in her work clothes having worked late and rushing out, lamented that she wished she had dressed up.

Reason number two for the popularity of The Masham was soon apparent: the portions are huge. We decided on starters which looked like main courses. I had a salad, albeit called a breakfast salad (£6.25), in the mistaken belief that it could not be too filling. Containing cut sausages, perfectly done poached egg and black pudding among the usual greenery and tomatoes it seemed unusual but, in fact, worked very well. My sister, Kathy, opted for a corned beef hashcake (£5.95) which was cooked to a turn, but was a decent size and also could have served as main. Full of taste and cooked perfectly, we were in no doubt that the food was of as high a standard as billed.

Now, there is little your reviewer will not eat but the ‘Teesside parmo,’ a dish of chicken, béchamel sauce and cheese, has always seemed easy to avoid. In fact the only time a morsel of this deeply unhealthy-looking meal had passed my mouth was at The George on Stockton High Street where the enterprising, publicity-seeking chef had run a batch of ‘chocolate parmos.’ That’s right, he had melted chocolate on top of a cheese sauce. Told by my newspaper editor that this vital story had to be covered as part of my day job as a news reporter, a dutiful forkful was, somehow, consumed. The look of pain in my eyes in the resulting photograph gave everyone a laugh at the office while I considered never eating anything ever again.

However parmo-duty was calling once again. Both my good colleague who frequents the pub regularly and a close friend, another fan, told me the dish simply had to be tackled. It was what every man worthy of the name has to have at least once in The Masham. Looking at the other, mouth-watering, options on the menu it felt like a sacrifice to actually order the parmo (£12.95). Tellingly there was a half-portion option but, never one to wimp out when it comes to a hearty meal, I went for the full plate. And it was a full plate. It was so big it almost meant I couldn’t eat my chips.

But the real revelation was not the size of the portion but the quality of the food. The sauce had a lightness, the chicken was succulent, it was beautiful and tasty and I was converted: all those rubbery fares you see in down-market take-aways are giving a good dish a bad name.

Kathy, also enjoying the snug pub ambience, went for a traditional pub meal of a steak pie with suet crust (£12.95). It was not fancy, as the starters had been, but the large steak chunks melted in the mouth. Another hit.

Properly full by now we somehow, for the purposes of the review, managed to split a strawberry tart (£5.95) between us, even though we couldn’t quite finish it despite it being superior, sweet and creamy.

My friend, Paul, originally a Stockton lad and long-time fan of the pub, informs me that the prices have steadily risen at The Masham since the Eddy family first took it over in 1993 and started winning plaudits. Certainly it wasn’t cheap and we paid £8.40 for a beer and a glass of wine. But given the high standard of food and the cosy feel of the pub it was worth it.

This place doesn’t pack out on wet January, Tuesday nights for nothing - and it isn’t just the chips.

The Masham, 87 Hartburn Village, Stockton, TS18 5DR

Tel: 01642 645526 Web: themasham.co.uk

Food served: Monday to Saturday lunch: 12pm to 2.30pm. Monday to Saturday evening: 5pm to 8.30pm. Sunday lunch and early evening: 12pm to 7pm.

Food quality 9, Service 8, Surroundings 9, Value 8.