IT was Saturday evening. Accordingly, we had taken the sensible precaution of booking a table.

But we were late, and well late thanks to the roadworks on the A1 which as many of you will know are something of a lottery for the unwary traveller at the moment, especially at weekends.

Reaching Kirkby Fleetham from Darlington via Bedale seemed to add an age to our journey and we walked into the Black Horse Inn almost half an hour late.

We fully expected an icy welcome but it was anything but. Our explanation was readily and smilingly accepted; perhaps they have got used to diners being routinely late as the motorway works grind on.

I knew we had been to the Black Horse before but didn’t realise just how long ago it was until I spotted my original review framed on the wall in the corridor to the loos (best place for it, I hear you say). It was 2009, not long after it had re-opened and comprehensively refurbished. We liked it, the headline being “Revived Black Horse is a beauty”.

Then, as now, the Black Horse was part of a small group of inns and hotels owned by Harrogate businessman Philip Barker. Mr Barker also briefly owned the famed Black Bull just down the road at Moulton for a short period before shutting it rather suddenly.

We’ll not bore you with the ins and outs of that saga but suffice to say the Black Horse has kept on running while the Black Bell fell away and was sold on. It’s clearly a stayer.

However, changes are afoot. The warm welcome we received was from licensee Philip Capon who we later learned was only 10 days into his new job having moved to the Black Horse from the King’s Head at Masham.

There’s also a new head chef on the way, but based on what we ate we are not sure he or she will make a huge difference. Whoever is in the kitchen right now is clearly more than capable.

It might not have been perfect but it was a country mile ahead of anything else we have eaten so far this year.

Our starters were preceded by a couple of canapés – pretty substantial smoked salmon and cream cheese or crème fraiche roulades. Light and fresh, they went down a treat once we had decided whether to pick them up with our fingers (messy) or deploy a fork (the better option it turned out).

Sylvia rated her tomato and basil soup highly. It was so intensely flavoured she described the taste as “almost beefy”.

My chunky pressed ham terrine (£6.50) was served with a nicely piquant baby apple barbeque sauce and some really very good pain d’epice – a rustic-style bread made with honey and nutmeg. Despite my vow last week about not eating bread in restaurants, this really was the making of the dish and not to be skipped.

We both went next for fish and that proved to be a good call. The Black Horse sources all its seafood from Alan Hodgson at Hartlepool which usually guarantees quality and freshness.

Sylvia thought her sea bream (£16), simply flash-fried and served with some herby, lemony Parmentier potatoes, samphire and a smooth, light, mussel fish cream sauce, as a good a fish dish as she could remember.

My pollock (£12) was served on a bed of chorizo and pea risotto was equally well cooked. Large flakes of surprisingly white (pollock can sometimes look a little grey) flesh fell apart under the fork and were coddled by the creamy, slightly nutty, splightly spicy risotto.

Sylvia had done really well to lay off the bread with her soup and, amazingly, had room for a pud – a prettily presented smooth timbale of raspberry cheesecake (£6) topped with mixed berries.

My chocolate pave (£6) was rather plainer to look at but no less scrummy and topped with a scoop of rich and creamy caramel ice cream.

We were well looked after by new manager Phil and a lovely waitress whose name we sadly didn’t catch but whose talents include furniture restoration. Not long after we sat down she let slip that she had hand painted our table - and very professional it looked too. I wonder if she does commissions?

Overall, the Black Horse is very well turned out in a contemporary shabby-chic way. We didn’t think it looked at all shabby in fact.

With a bottle of Italian fizz (£22.50) the bill was £76. Later I realised it listed Sylvia’s dessert as cheeseboard (£8) rather than cheesecake (£6) so we had been overcharged £2. We didn’t begrudge a penny of it, especially when closer examination of the bill showed that the pollock that we had been billed £12 for was listed on the menu as costing £16.50. Swings and roundabouts.

FOOD FACTS

The Black Horse Inn, 7 Lumley Lane, Kirkby Fleetham, Northallerton DL7 0SH

Tel: 01609-749010

Web: blackhorseinnkirkbyfleetham.com

Open: Mon-Thurs noon-3pm and 5-9pm; Fri-Sat noon-2.30pm and 5-9.30pm; Sun noon-7pm

Disabled access. Vegetarian and gluten-free options.

Ratings (out of ten): Food quality 9 Service 10 Surroundings 9 Value 9