IF you like your Sunday dinner served with a generous dollop of history, then make tracks for The Alice Hawthorn Inn, in the time-stood-still village of Nun Monkton.

Or should that be gallop of history? The pub was named after Alice Hawthorn, a champion racehorse from the early Victorian era that won more than 50 races in five seasons.

Originally called the Bluebell Inn, The Alice has been a pub since 1787. As you drive along the narrow road into the village from the A59 at Green Hammerton – about half an hour from York – it feels as if you have arrived at a film set for a historical drama.

Victorian, red-brick cottages line the way, separated from the road by a burn criss-crossed with individual bridges. In the heart of the village is a large pond and giant maypole – and cows are allowed to roam freely and graze on the village green. The pub is a handsome, double-storey, red-brick affair: just the sort of place where you'd hope to find a prize-worthy Sunday lunch.

So did The Alice Hawthorn Inn live up to this expectation – and the winning ways of its namesake?

Things got off to a great start when we were led to a table right next to the open fire. The dining area is split into three sectors and the decor is country chic: rustic wooden tables, wool-check upholstered chairs, with animal skins thrown over some benches for added warmth.

Service was swift, friendly and attentive. There is an a la carte menu; cue expensive. This is no place to score a bargain three-course Sunday lunch; more of a place to celebrate a special occasion (there was a large table of about 20 doing just that during our visit).

The menu has many of the usual contenders, but also a few outside hopefuls too: homemade soup (curried parsnip and coconut, £5.50), home-smoked salmon (£7.95), and ham and goose liver pressed terrine (£8.50) among the starters; a choice of roast beef, pork or chicken (£17.50, £15, £14.95 respectively), crisp confit duck (£15) and the veggie choice of Jerusalem artichoke and truffle ravioli (£14) for mains, and sticky toffee pudding (£6), apple crumble (£6.50) and the intriguing sounding Hendricks (crisp lemon meringue, cucumber sorbet, gin gel, dehydrated black olive at £7.50) among the desserts.

As you can see, it's a bit chefy, hence the hefty price tag – by my reckoning, a three-course lunch is nosing £30 per head.

For starters, three of my party rounded on the Queenie scallops (£8.50), which were served in their shells and smothered in thick, oozing, melted Cheddar and Gruyere cheese. There was a hunk of bread on the side to scoop up the silky cheese and the scallops were soft, sweet and succulent beneath. No complaints, but everyone agreed my choice of Popcorn tiger prawns (£7.95) which were cooked in a crispy, light, tempura batter and served with a lightly spiced Cajun mayo was the better dish. The prawns were generous in size, were perfectly cooked and still tasted of the sea.

We each eyed our own favourite among the mains; this time, my hubby and mum were the winners when they backed the chicken and beef roast dinners. He said the roast breast of chicken, which came with a lemon and thyme stuffing, bread sauce, pigs in blankets, Yorkshire pudding and gravy "could not have been better cooked", with special praise for the thick slices of juicy breast meat. Mum was equally satisfied: the beef was cooked pink and came with a Yorkshire and gravy too. "I enjoyed every bite and did not want it to end," was her verdict.

My daughter and I fancied the fish choice: roasted cod loin with creamed potato, baby spinach, and a prawn and chive beurre blanc (£16). I did have a wobble over this while ordering, as cod can sometimes be rather bland. Unfortunately, this turned out to be the case. The fish was beautifully cooked, with large glistening white chunks flaking away as soon as it was touched by my knife – but woefully under-seasoned. The smooth mash and lacklustre sauce did nothing to perk it up. We were told the fish came with a selection of vegetables (as per the two roasts). These failed to materialise, but our waitress quickly popped to the kitchen and brought us a large serving of glistening roasted veg (gratis) – which rescued the meal, adding a welcome burst of colour and flavour.

Only two of our party had the stamina to tackle a dessert. My hubby placed his bet on the sticky toffee pudding, declaring it one of the best he'd had, while the teenager stuck her neck out on the chocolate brownie sundae (£7.50), a greedy, indulgent tower of vanilla, chocolate and caramel ice-cream, chocolate brownie, whipped cream and caramel sauce, and could not fault it.

Mum enjoyed two glasses of white wine, while we stuck to water, but we finished off with a round of coffees, which were each served with a tiny almond cake.

So was The Alice Hawthorn a winner? We loved the setting, the interior, the service and most of the food was very good. For a special occasion, it's worth a canter out to Nun Monkton for a foodie flutter.

The Alice Hawthorn, The Green, Nun Monkton, YO26 8EW

T: 01423 330303

W: thealicehawthorn.com

Food: Mostly very good 3.5/5

Service: Attentive 4/5

Ambience: Relaxing 4/5

Value: Pricey 3.5/5