DAVID MARTIN finds a country hotel near York that's on top form - unlike Nasser's men

NOVEMBER fog added an air of mystery to our Sunday lunch mission. The destination: the well-regarded Worsley Arms hotel at Hovingham.

You see, our eagle-eyed Eating Out supremo had noticed it had not only merited a mention in the new 2003 Good Food Guide, but it also made mention of the hotel having another bar, called The Cricketers', billed as serving simpler fare to the main restaurant - and it had evaded the Eating Out radar up until now.

Lying between Malton and Helmsley, and reachable either via Malton or via the B-roads from York to Helmsley, Hovingham is an estate village huddled alongside the Worsley family's country pile, which emerged imposingly from the mist.

The hotel is a former coaching inn, on Main Street, and The Cricketers' proved to be a compact side bar, with a separate entrance from the hotel car park. Though fairly modern inside, with an informal bar ambience, as you'd imagine the dcor involves the odd cricket bat and plenty of pictures of white-clad gentlemen putting willow to leather on the lawns of the manor house.

We were swiftly greeted and seated as we entered, and sat back to check out the menu and the specials board. Though towards the pricey end of the spectrum, there was a compact but wide-ranging menu, aimed largely, as one might expect from an establishment in the heart of huntin' and shootin' territory, at the carnivores amongst us.

It was of course Sunday, so there was a traditional roast beef among the day's specials. But the menu stretched from the simple - soups and hot sandwiches - to the overdraft-hurting; haunches of venison, knuckles of ham with foie gras terrines and the like.

I opted for the chicken liver pate with grape chutney (£4.95) to start, followed by the locally-produced duck sausages, with mash and onion gravy (£8.95). The chicken liver pate wasn't available, but mackerel was offered as a replacement. My partner Vix went for the vegetable soup (£3.95) to start, before pushing the boat all the way out and requesting the venison from the specials board (£15.95).

Our friend Louis, visiting from London, was still a little green around the gills from the previous evening, unused as he is to the powers of Northern ale, so he declined a starter, ordered a roast beef baguette with chips and salad (£6.75) for his main course and sat back to wait. And wait.

After what must have been nearly half an hour, a friendly and apologetic waitress informed us that the venison, which was a popular choice, was taking a while to cook through. We asked if we could have our starters in the meantime, but were told, with what seemed slightly odd logic, that that would mean a longer wait between courses. (Surely preferable to a long wait with rumbling bellies?).

Anyway, after a brief daydream involving the chef pursuing a deer around the manor house lawns with a blowtorch, the starters arrived. My substitute pat was pleasant if not out-of-the-ordinary (York's Melton's Too is leading my personal Good Pat Guide by a mile). Vix praised her vegetable soup. Louis looked hungry.

But true to their word, the main courses arrived swiftly, and looked very impressive and well-presented, with a decent dish of vegetables arriving as well. My sausages, swimming in rich, dark and tasty gravy were faultless. Vix's venison was excellent and came with impressively-titled trimmings including celeriac dauphinoise. Again, dark, rich and filling was the order of the day.

Louis' baguette proved to contain two hefty slices of high-quality beef, which was, however, more rare than he'd have asked for if given the choice. As well as the chips and salad, it came with onion marmalade.

We were more than content, and full. However, having protested defeat by the venison, Vix worked her usual miracle and found room for a pudding. She chose the lemon posset from the traditional dessert menu, which also proved a hit, while Louis and I had coffee. The total damage was £50.30 for three people.

The Cricketers is a high-quality establishment, pitched between pub informality and restaurant standards. If you're in that part of the world and it's within your budget, then it's a sound choice.

The Cricketers' Bar, Worsley Arms, Hovingham, telephone 01653 628234

Fact file:

Food: upmarket

Service: friendly

Value: pricey

Ambience: pleasant

No Disabled access:

Updated: 09:42 Saturday, December 07, 2002