FOR years, the Croft Spa Hotel, south of Darlington on the A167, traded on past glories. Like the Scotch Corner Hotel, it had once been a landmark hostelry – the place for your wedding or christening do, a family anniversary or the Rotary/ NFU/Round Table dinner or YFC dance. While never quite posh, it was a place of renown, of solid reputation.

Then it fell on hard times and passed through several owners who tinkered with it here and there, but could never quite seem to get the formula right. At one point, it seemed destined to be converted/demolished for residential development.

It changed hands yet again last year and this time the new owners have spent serious money on a comprehensive refurbishment. The new Croft Hotel is almost unrecognisable from the old.

Apart from a few stretches of the old rough plasterwork on the way to the loo and a couple of massive wooden ceiling beams, there’s virtually nothing left of the old establishment.

The new look is modern and tasteful, if a little bit corporate. It reminded me a little of the Otter and Fish in Hurworth. In a pub, the natural wood/stone/slate/subdued earth tones colour scheme looks superb, in a hotel it comes across as a tad formulaic. Anyway, interior design niceties aside, it is a big improvement.

As part of the changes, a tea room has been built in what used to be a gym and, given the current enthusiasm for all things baked, that could be a smart move, especially as they have also invested in some talented pastry chefs.

The dining offering at the Croft is branded gastro pub, which I may have said before here is a pretty awful word – or phrase as the Croft would have it. Strictly speaking, it is used to denote pubs which offer restaurant standard food.

Now the Croft has never been simply pub – even in the days when the licensing laws allowed half-an-hour’s extra drinking time in North Yorkshire compared to County Durham and triggered an 11pm stampede across Croft Bridge for last orders. But what the new owners are trying to say, I guess, is that the Croft is aiming to offer seriously good food in an informal setting. And based on our Sunday lunch experience, they are making a pretty good fist of it.

The staff were very accommodating and made sure we had a table which suited the needs of the invalid member of the party (Sylvia’s second knee replacement op was just 13 days before) with plenty of room for her to stretch out her operated leg.

The full a la carte menu is offered on a Sunday plus six or seven specials including two roasts (pork and beef).

Laura – home from Rum (see Letter from Rum in last Friday’s Weekend) for a few days with a roof over her head instead of a tent – ate a la carte for her starter and main course – a twice-baked cheddar cheese and spinach soufflé (£7.50) and roast chicken breast wrapped in air-dried ham and served with herb risotto (£15). She pronounced the soufflé to be excellent, as light and airy as could be expected and rich and cheesy. The chicken was good too – moist and tender – but she was a little perturbed by the herb risotto which, although perfectly acceptable, appeared to be primarily a red pepper and pea risotto.

My starter, a rare breed pork Scotch egg (£6.50) – one of the specials – was honest simplicity. Just beautifully loose-textured and well-seasoned minced pork surrounding a still-softyolked egg and lightly deep fried. It came with a small but attractively arranged and dressed mixed salad.

Sylvia, happy as ever with decent bread and butter, skipped a starter but enjoyed her honey roast loin of pork which came with a mildly lemon and thyme stuffing patty. It was lean, tender and robustly piggy in flavour.

My topside of beef (both roasts were £9.50) was generously sliced, still had a suggestion of pinkness about it and shared similar attributes to the pork. Both meats were billed as locally sourced (the pork from Teesdale, the beef from Northumberland, which is local-ish I guess).

The gravies served with both were okay and the vegetables were excellent – topnotch roasties, almost crisp carrots, broccoli and mange tout. The Yorkshire pudding served with my beef was a little too crisp for my taste (I do like a slightly doughy bottom – no sniggering at the back there) but others would have thought it first rate.

Puds – wonderfully “homemade” creamy ice cream (£4) for Sylvia and me; classic crème brulee (£4.50) for Laura – more than passed muster, as did a bill for £65 – lightened by us not being charged for the desserts on account of my starter being initially forgotten about (and profuse apologies being offered). Very kind given there was no real hardship, but an indication nevertheless that the new Croft is trying very hard to rediscover old glories.

Ratings (out of ten): Food quality 9 Service 8 Surroundings 8 Value 8