Down the winding lane to a good value meal

THE long and winding road that leads to the door of The Watermill is slightly unnerving in the dark.

Signs and lighting are modest at the entrance to its lengthy lane at the furthest reach of this village next to Thirsk.

So if you’re making the trip for the first time – read on and you’ll discover why I urge you to do just that – persevere with the signs and directions painted on the road, past the various fishing lakes and holiday lodges, and you will get there.

On our visit last Thursday, I was slightly shocked to get my first burst of Christmas music and to see one table with a works do in full swing, complete with party hats.

It turns out though that theirs and our table was the only one occupied after our 8pm arrival that night among the 95 covers, so we had plenty of space in which to fend off the festive season from our end of the quite stylishly furnished, comfortable open plan bar/restaurant/lounge/conservatory.

The surroundings are modern – The Watermill (there is no mill) was built and opened in 2007 – so I had worried slightly that it might lack atmosphere or character. In the event, this was not really an issue, and we lolled in one of several leather sofas to take in our menus – a roaring log burner would have been nice at that point (it was seriously cold outside), and perhaps some art on the walls.

But on the other hand, this place doubles up as a venue for some pretty serious partying – live music and discos take place at least once a week this month – so cosy fireside settings would probably not fit too well with that.

A daytime visit in warmer weather might be particularly rewarding, as there is an enormous outdoor seating area.

Anna began with a mountain of mussels, cooked in a creamy white wine and herb sauce and topped off with a good crop of glossy flatleaved parsley (£6.50). A keen devourer of molluscs, she enjoyed the sauce’s good peppery/garlic tang and even conceded there were almost too many mussels.

I opted for a slab of the “chef’s daily-prepared pate” (£3.95). This came with a good dollop of delicious mango chutney and salad leaves doused in a delicious walnut oil-based dressing that really made it stand out. Both the chutney and the salad sauce were home-made, I was told , and both were excellent touches.

A bowl piled high with slightly dry (and unwarmed) bread sat between us and steadily emptied as we soaked up said sauces.

Such greedy mopping- up came back to haunt us somewhat though, when the size of our main courses was revealed. These were seriously generous servings at a keen price.

My wife, clearly opting for familiarity, chose lasagne with salad and chips (£7.95). She said the pasta dish was “standard, but dependable”, and she particularly enjoyed the salad, with its nice touches of sun-dried tomatoes, radicchio, and that lovely walnut oil dressing.

The chips were perfect, too.

I had one of only a couple of specials offered verbally by our immaculately turned-out waitress: chargrilled chicken with blue cheese and parma ham, served on a bed of steamed spinach in a puddle of creamy sauce (£9.95).

This was a bounteous plateful – the carefully-presented poultry breast was perhaps a little on the dry side for my liking, but the spinach (for “bed”, read king-sized) was a good antidote to that.

A large not-too-seasonal side dish of mange tout, green beans, baby sweetcorn, carrots, new potatoes and gratin dauphinois tipped me over the edge into discomfort eating.

I hate to leave a plate unemptied, but there is a limit...

Nothing was going to keep Anna from a pudding though, and she managed a Belgian chocolate praline (£3.95) – a surprisingly light affair, apparently.

All in all this was really very good food, served with style and an attention to detail. Apart from a puzzling lapse at the end, when we were not offered coffees or anything else to drink (too near closing time?) the service was thoughtful (“is the music too loud for you here?”) and efficiently unobtrusive.

We’ll look forward to a daytime trip down that long lane soon.