5 The Square Restaurant, Grassington

There are cobbled streets, several good cafs, a famous rugby union club, fine outfitters for both gents and ladies, one charity shop, several hearty inns, purveyors of meat, televisions, a village post office, crafts and knick knacks, a small supermarket. Everything the local or tourist needs. By the river bridge your reviewer as a young man caught a trout on his first ever cast into the river, which was in spate with rich water from Langstrothdale and Amerdale.

Grassington House Hotel has been given a thorough shake-down since my last visit and is now owned by Sue Rudden and her husband John, the powerhouse in the kitchen. The entrance bar, which to me seemed brash, is now a cosy lounge and this ambience enthrals as you progress through the rooms.

The dining room is smart so it was a nice surprise to find it was actually quite casual and you could just have a sandwich and a beer if you felt like it, or a proper meal. The sandwiches will keep you far from hungry for several hours.

On a midweek lunch date in mid December we were shown into this room, empty but not for long the waitress said. Tables filled and sandwiches were requested. An acquaintance simply asked that the chef knew what he liked (fish) and left the recipe to chance. He enjoyed the result.

Pricing is keen. The lunch and early evening menu gives two courses for 12.95 and three courses for 15.95. There is a choice of three dishes at each stage. My friend, an intelligent cook with a good palate, chose terrine of potted corn-fed chicken, with liver parfait and a drizzle of mead syrup, followed by grilled fillet of silver bream, with spinach and crab fishcake moistened with a shell fish sauce. Her pudding was warm poached pear on almond tart with chocolate sauce.

It was all expertly cooked, nicely presented, gracefully brought to the table. The terrine of fowl was moist and flavoursome, the bream was succulent and the slice of pear was fruity. The tart was more like a sponge but let's not get picky because it was all flowing nicely, helped with a glass of house white wine selected by the waitress.

Other choices on the set menu were starters of leek and potato soup with creamed Brussels sprouts, or goat

cheese and pea risotto with cranberry relish.

The main course options were slowly roasted belly pork with Alsace cabbage and cider "jus" (so effete are these Dales hoteliers), or fried pheasant breast with apricot and sage potatoes, and onion jus. The last two options were Christmas pudding with brandy sauce (surely something we could enjoy for much of the year) or Mrs Bell's Yorkshire blue cheese with apple chutney.

The food sourcing is sometimes declared, such as duck and chicken from Goosnargh and the hotel's own hand-reared rare breed but unnamed pork. The rest mostly remains anon, or designated as Yorkshire or local (for all the meat). True, we can have too much foodie information on menus but a little extra here would not be amiss. The O word does not appear at all. Whatever, it is excellent food.

I had the la carte menu, starting with the leek and spud soup and the edifying Brussels sprout on top. This was delicious. It was thick and it was peppery. My main course was a dairy vegetarian recipe: roast aubergine under melting mozzarella, with "blushed" tomatoes, onions cooked in red wine. Something had made it slightly too salty for me to want to finish it. We shared a plate of iron-rich winter greens and another of roast parsnips with cumin seasoning.

I finished with steamed ginger and plum sponge and proper custard. My three dishes cost a total of 21.70. The vegetable side orders were 2 each. Hearty food for a chilly day in the dales.

Other tit bits from the carte: three Colchester oysters (4.50), duck spring rolls (6.50), roast beetroot, watercress and crispy egg (5.95). From the mains, fried venison with mustard cabbage, port jus and Lyonnaise potatoes sounds a steal at 15.95. You can pay much more in the region for a similar dish. Grilled hake with a ginger and mustard broth and carrot tagliatelle is 14.50. Fish and chips with pure of peas is 11.95.

Verdict: Excellent food at reasonable prices. Worth a detour. There is not much on the menu that I would not want to try at least once. The wine list, too, is priced for drinking, not making you blink, with bottles from the 14 mark and 175ml glasses from 3.50. There are no half bottles offered.

Grassington House Hotel and 5 The Square Restaurant, Grassington, North Yorkshire BD23 5AQ. Telephone: 01756 752406; www.grassingtonhousehotel.co.uk

Monday to Friday lunch 12-2.30pm and dinner 6-9.30pm. Saturday and Sunday lunch 11am to 4pm, dinner 5-9.30pm (8.30pm Sunday). Level

access with private car parking to the side.