DAVID WILES hunts down a great eating spot in the moorside village of Sinnington

Style over content is a criticism that can be levelled at a lot of restaurants, bars and pubs these days. Some leave you feeling they should invest as much time and creative energy in their fare as they do in their decor. Others serve food that looks great but fails to please the tastebuds as it does the eyes.

But an out-of-the-way, country inn in the unassuming moorside village of Sinnington, near Pickering, proves that you can have it all: edible works of art that taste out of this world. And I must not be the only person to come to this conclusion about the Fox and Hounds, as it has an entry in this year's Good Food Guide.

This immaculate, but homely restaurant, boasts the most adventurous menu I have come across in North Yorkshire and marries it with friendly, helpful staff and modest prices. Three courses cost us £48.30 - a good £15 less than we have shelled out at other establishments in the area - for dishes which were easily as good, and in some cases better. And the restaurant was totally smoke-free and complemented by a snug and rustic adjoining bar area.

My starter, a terrine of chargrilled Mediterranean vegetables and smoked chicken with a sun-dried tomato, tarragon and balsamic dressing, at £5.95, looked fantastic and matched that in taste. It almost seemed a shame to tuck into it and spoil the carefully set-out patchwork of colours.

My partner, Karin, chose sweet and sour king prawns on a bed of stir fried vegetables, at £5.75, which got an enthusiastic thumbs-up, and followed it with an 8oz fillet steak with Jamaican peppercorn cream sauce, at £13.65, as recommended by the waitress.

A truly tropical dish, it had a strong but not overwhelming clove flavour which complemented the steak perfectly. It came a little less well done than Karin wanted it, but this was promptly dealt with by the cheery waiting staff who returned it complete with two fully-replenished dishes of vegetables.

And the veg, unlike at some other establishments, was not just an afterthought to the meat part of the dish, but cooked just right and obviously not just spooned out of a holding pan on a hot plate.

The art of food presentation was taken to a new level by my main course of pan-fried salmon, set on braised leeks with a light fish broth (£9.25). It had all the visual impact of a hat from Ascot Ladies' Day. Crisp and golden on the outside but still succulent inside, the fillet was topped with curls of red and yellow pepper and shoots of chives and was a marvel of culinary craftsmanship. Straight tens for artistic merit.

The dessert menu is a fascinating blend of the exotic, the unusual, and the conventional, listing a Harvey Wallbanger cheesecake with red currant and grenadine compote, apricot jalousie with cider and honey sauce, and apple and white chocolate mousse with currant syrup.

I went for the passion fruit souffl with mango coulis, priced, like everything else, at a very reasonable £3.95. Absolutely delicious, and again aesthetically extremely pleasing.

Karin had the double chocolate tartlet which, unfortunately, was served with the wrong ice cream (chocolate, not vanilla as requested, but this has also happened in at least the last three restaurants we have visited). It was a bit rich for her taste, so it fell to me to be the poor soul to put it out of its misery. Rich, yes, but very, very tasty.

Overall, the Fox and Hounds has got to be one of the best restaurants in the county, blending a traditional Yorkshire setting with cosmopolitan cuisine. A feast for both the eyes and the palate.

Fact File:

Food: Unbeatable

Service: Friendly

Value : Excellent

Ambience: Homely but classy

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Telephone: 01751 431577.