WE visited the Village Inn, at Brompton, near Northallerton, the week the clocks went back.

Which might explain why we seemed to experience two completely separate time zones in the course of our three-course meal.

We’ll call the first time zone Brompton Standard Time (BST) and the second one Brompton Dessert Time (BDT).

BDT kicked in at around 9.30pm, just at the point where we had asked for the dessert menus. At that point the night closed in and it was like someone had hit the slo-mo button on the DVD player.

Before that point, when the place was still running on BST, everything about the service was absolutely 100 per cent and the place was packed – pretty good going for a midweek night.

We were looked after by a highly personable and efficient manageress who marshalled her staff well. We had turned up 20 minutes early but she found us a table, immediately proffered menus and took our drinks order.

And everything went swimmingly until the arrival of BDT, which seemed to coincide with the departure of the manageress.

We then waited 20 minutes until we could attract a waiter’s attention and then there was another 20 minute wait for two desserts which are simply whipped out of the fridge.

It made for a frustrating end to an evening that had started so well.

The Village Inn was refurbished a few years ago with a change of ownership and today it looks clean and modern.

There’s a bit too much apple green for my liking but it does make for a fresh look, the overall impact of which is rather spoilt by the rather dingy half-light in the dining area.

The traditional bar is centre stage but it is clear this is a dining pub rather than a pub which offers food.

The array of menus is slightly bewildering. There is a bar menu, a “twilight dinner menu”, a grill menu and then a range of specials.

Many of the dishes could appear on more than one and diners free to mix and match. It makes for a rather difficult to decipher bill but conversely everybody should be able to find something to tickle their fancy.

Sylvia’s starter fancy was cheese and bacon potato skins (£4) – a ridiculously large bowlful of crisp skins, smoky bacon and melted cheddar cheese. And very acceptable too, she declared.

Daughter Laura rated her parsnip and cider soup (£4) very highly for its slightly tangy sweetness and she loved her mini loaf of fresh bread which came with it.

I had one of that night’s specials – pulled beef in a tortilla wrap with an Apple Caesar salad – which I think cost £6 but I can’t work it out looking at the bill a week later.

It was pretty good even though I’m not convinced that pulled beef is ever going to be preferable to pulled pork. But the Caesar salad was refreshingly good.

Laura loved her mushroom and spinach risotto (£8) served with truffle oil and Parmesan although I sampled a forkful and thought it could have been creamier, a little nuttier and would have also benefited from some more truffle oil.

Sylvia’s “Catch of the Day” (£10) was battered haddock, a hefty piece of well-cooked fish with decent dry chips and mushy peas.

My chicken and chorizo pasta (£10) was a bit unexciting – the sort of dish one would make when raking in around the back of the fridge for inspiration.

The chicken and chorizo elements were fine, the tomato sauce, unfortunately, just tasted of passata that hadn’t been cooked through.

Then BDT kicked in. When the desserts finally arrived, they were almost worth waiting for.

Laura’s crème brulee was a little bit lumpy but had a nicely crisp top and was accompanied by a dinky gingerbread man.

My lemon curd Eton mess scored well for the high volume meringue content and the way the lemon curd worked well with the mixed berries piled on top but was a bowlful of monstrous proportions.

Being on BDT meant getting the bill was by no means straightforward but standing at the bar and demanding meant we paid our £61.50 bill (food plus two glasses of Merlot at £4.95 and a small bottle of Prosecco at £7) at 22.21 but then that might have been 21.22 depending on whether the till was on BST or BDT.

FOOD FACTS

The Village Inn, 88 Water End, Brompton, Northallerton, North Yorkshire, DL6 2RL
Telephone: 01609 771040
Website: www.villageinnnorthallerton.co.uk
Open for food: Noon-2pm, 5-9pm; Sunday noon-3.30pm
Vegetarians and gluten-intolerant catered for.
Disabled access.

Ratings (out of ten): Food quality 7, Service 6, Surroundings 7, Value 8