Sun Inn, Long Marston

THE Sun Inn pub is everything a country pub should be - good food, at reasonable prices in a lovely setting with friendly staff who make you feel at home.

We visited the pub, in the heart of the picturesque village of Long Marston, on a rainy Friday evening.

When we arrived we were welcomed by a cheerful barman who served our drinks: a diet coke (90p) and pint of Ayinger Brau lager (£1.19) before we settled by a roaring fire.

The pub is split into two parts which means you are not sitting among drinkers when eating your meal.

The whole place has a nice, friendly and relaxed atmosphere and when we were there it was fairly busy with locals and those eating in the restaurant.

The menu is quite extensive and has a good range of traditional pub foods, along with vegetarian options and kids meals.

For a starter, we ordered one portion of garlic bread (£2.75) which was more than enough to share.

For the second course I ordered the vegetarian lasagne (£5.25) and my other half had the Sun Inn mixed grill (£9.25).

Often vegetarian food can lack flavour and has just been thrown together in a vague attempt by the chef to cater for non-meat eaters.

But my food was lovely. The vegetables were fresh, crisp and not over-cooked and the sauce was creamy and very tasty.

The mixed grill provided plenty to get stuck into. It was freshly cooked to perfection which always adds to the taste experience.

Even the onion rings were home-made in a succulent batter, unlike the poor imitation frozen variety often served in pubs.

For the pudding I ordered good old treacle sponge and custard (£3.25) and my other half had fruit pie and cream (£3.25).

You can't really go wrong with treacle sponge and mine was lovely, although the custard was slightly runny.

The pastry on the fruit pie was perfect and well complimented by the fresh fruit filling. The only grumble was the fact it did not come with whipped cream - but that is being overly fussy on what was a true taste sensation.

Throughout the meal the food came promptly but not too quickly to make us feel rushed. The staff were friendly and helpful and always on hand.

Be warned, the pub does not take debit cards, just cash and cheques, and we were caught out by this. Luckily we checked before we sat down to eat and drove down to nearby Tockwith to the cashpoint.

The Sun Inn is certainly somewhere I would visit again. For just £24.94 we enjoyed three courses of lovely home-cooked food.

It is also a good place for families with children as there is a play area at the back of the pub.

It is a welcoming place which has a pleasant, friendly atmosphere and we left feeling well fed and relaxed.

Sun Inn, Long Marston. Tel: 01904 738258.

Rosemary visited on Friday, May 16.

Updated: 09:00 Saturday, June 14, 2003