Lynne martin heads back to an old favourite but comes away feeling a little disappointed

It was a delightful balmy evening after the hottest October day for centuries as we set out with great anticipation for dinner at the Three Hares at Bilbrough. We had enjoyed a superb meal there some time ago, but heard on the grapevine that the pub had changed hands.

However, a friend still recommended it highly, so, avoiding the A64 roadworks we took the back way to this tiny village between Askham Richard and Tadcaster.

We were surprised on arrival to discover only three people in the bar and the restaurant was empty. We were offered a table in the restaurant, but rather than dine in splendid isolation we opted to eat in the bar, fully expecting one or two more diners to join us.

The inn doesn't rely on knick-knacks and general assorted pub paraphernalia to get in the way of the food and drink. Some might think it a little austere - not even a curtain dressed the window - but there are blackboards offering an excellent selection of bar food, hand-pulled ales and wines.

We sat down with a half of Theakston's Landlord for me, and a pint for him, to make our choices. A difficult matter, lots of choice - from braised oxtail to brill - and everything sounded so delicious

For starters, Chris ordered ragout of wild mushrooms with asparagus and spinach, costing £4.50. This creamy concoction arrived in a small pastry case sitting amid a swirl of tomato and olive oil dressing. The mushrooms were a bit thin on the ground as was the asparagus, though the whole was deemed quite tasty.

My American-style crab cake, £4.50, sat a-top a mound of sliced cucumber with a blue cheese dressing. The savoury fishcake was excellent, the sauce rather bland.

In no time at all our main courses arrived. My chargrilled rump steak (£11.95) was a sizeable piece, tasty and nicely cooked; it was served with browned saut potatoes and a tangy plum chutney.

Accompanying both our meals was a dish of leeks in white sauce, sauted potatoes with onion and lovely sweet, nutty roast beetroot.

Chris without a moment's hesitation had ordered the oven roast cod (£14) from the restaurant menu.

The very small portion of fish arrived sitting on a bed of spinach, accompanied by three ravioli parcels filled with a savoury crab mixture on a Thai green curry sauce. The cod was meaty, tasty and sweet but the green curry sauce could have done with more oomph was the verdict.

It was a strange experience to be eating in a room accompanied only by three other people who were just having a drink. Our fault, I suppose, for choosing such a quiet night, but we had been looking forward to eating at the Three Hares again.

So we decided to call it a night and forgo puddings, although I was tempted by the warm fig pudding and lemon and port sorbet. Chris had fond memories of the ice cream he ate there on his last visit, but the atmosphere just didn't seem conducive to lingering and eating big sticky puddings.

Perhaps our expectations had been too high. Sad to say, we headed home feeling slightly disappointed.

Fact file:

Food: Hit and miss

Service: Quick

Value: Quite pricey

Ambience: Quiet

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