You come across some country pubs by chance - as you are driving along. You think it looks nice, park the car and pop inside for a look around.

Not the Appletree Country Inn at Marton. You need a good reason to drive out all the way to this pub from York, along with an equally good road atlas.

I'd never even heard of the village, located down a rather narrow and winding country lane several miles from Pickering, until the Eating Out editor suggested I try out the pub for this column.

I had asked if I could go somewhere a bit posh with my wife to celebrate her birthday. The Evening Press reported earlier this year how the Appletree Inn had been taken over by "TJ" Trajan Drew (formerly of Melton's in York) and Melanie Thornton, and they wanted to put a strong emphasis on good quality and highly presentable food... English with a European twist. My mission was to discover if they had succeeded in their aims.

We went on a Monday lunchtime (I have to say I wouldn't fancy driving to Marton on a dark and icy winter's night) and it was therefore inevitably quiet. But there was a real log fire roaring in the bar and we received an equally warm welcome as we were shown to our table in the restaurant area.

A mere glance down the lunchtime menu had my taste buds tingling in anticipation. I eventually settled for mussels in whisky cream sauce for £5, while my wife asked for wood pigeon breast on goats cheese and red wine sauce, for £5.50.

But before they arrived we were brought some rolls. So what? Well, these were a little bit special. Little mini-loaves, warm, and with hazelnuts concealed within. A very nice touch.

Then came the starters. And were they as tasty as they sounded? You bet. I'm not that keen on whisky, but this creamy sauce was something I'd never tasted before and I liked it. Ditto my wife's dish. And the food was indeed attractively presented on those huge white plates often favoured in fancy restaurants.

For my main course, I chose herbed escalopes of veal with cherry tomatoes, balsamic dressing and parsley oil, for £10, washed down by a pint of the guest ale, Gales. My wife asked for chicken with wild mushrooms in a creamy Chardonnay sauce, for £8, accompanied by a half of Stowford Press cider. Both dishes were beautifully cooked, and pretty filling, and I began to wish I hadn't eaten so much of that bread.

We were both pretty full, and so decided to order just one sweet which we would share. This was when the chef, already pretty high in my esteem, really hit top gear. We asked for marshmallow parfait on miniature raspberry and lemon tart. But we asked if we could just check if there were eggs in the ingredients, because my wife has an egg allergy problem. The waitress returned to say unfortunately there were eggs in all the puddings. But that was no problem: the chef would prepare one specially without them. And she came back a few minutes later with a mix of four sorbets in a brandy snap basket, for £4. Now that's what I call service.

And the Appletree Inn is what I call a very good restaurant. The total bill came to a pretty reasonable £35 for an excellent meal for two, including drinks. I recommend you give this pub a try. But don't forget your atlas.

Appletree Inn, Marton, near Pickering. Tel 01751 431457.