The General Tarleton Inn, Ferrensby

THE General Tarleton Inn is a class act. Flawless food served by deferential staff from a mouth-watering menu in classy, comfortable surroundings.

There I said it. Heck, if you paid me to eat there every night next month I would probably roll back on November 30 and tell you I could just try that crisp confit of duck one more time.

It's the Yorkshire Life dining pub of the year, it has three AA stars with two rosettes for food, the Good Food Guide gave it five points and then it's been awarded something called the Michelin red M for brasserie food.

Who am I then, mealy-mouthed Chris Greenwood of the Evening Press, to go in, enjoy their hospitality and then walk away and tell you lot that they soured it all by charging me £3 for a jug of water?

That's my money buddy and no matter how hard I tried to find it, the flecks of 22 carat gold at the bottom appeared to be missing.

And here's another thing. A cynic would say that charging up to £3.95 for "side dishes" (that's potatoes and vegetables to you and me) on top of main course prices of up to £16.50 was an easy way of bumping up the bill.

Not me of course, I was delighted to pay £4 for some green beans and mashed potato. If money did grow on trees I would have been tempted to try the chips (£2.50), carrots (£2) and rocket salad (£3.95). Sadly that day has not yet come.

So if you don't want to read any further (and if you work there I would as this review gets kinder) here you have the Tarleton in a nutshell. Race there as fast as you can - with someone else's credit card.

Catherine (that's the wife, regular readers will have met her before) and I drove over to Ferrensby on a night when ducks were huddled under bushes because of the pelting rain. As the saying goes, it was as wet as an otter's pocket. So the contrast when we stepped inside the Tarleton could not have been greater. There was a roaring fire that Guy Fawkes would have been proud of, setting off a classy, comfortable and welcoming room.

Halloween was just around the corner. The place was decorated with all kinds of knobbly and weird pumpkins. Needless to say this is not the kind of place where you'll find an orange one with the face of Shane McGowan carved in it.

It was pretty empty, but other diners soon started arriving. We had opted for the brasserie instead of the restaurant because it gave us more flexibility. The restaurant offers an impressive three-course set menu for £30. You can see it on their website.

At the bar we bought a bottle of Merlot from the bottom end of a wine menu that starts around £15 and quickly surges into mortgage territory.

There's little point giving you too much detail about the menu. It rocks. Smaller dishes were distinctly fishy with scallops grilled in garlic butter (£6.70), moneybags of seafood with lobster sauce (£6.50) and smoked salmon terrine (£7.50).

We chose to share a parfait of chicken livers with foie gras. That came with brioche and grape chutney (£4.95). It was rich, smooth and luxuriant. I could've eaten it all night.

Onwards to the main event and Catherine plucked crispy spiced pork (£11.95) from a star-studded line up that included everything from fish and chips (£9.95) to curry spiced pumpkin (£10.95) to a Birstwith rib-eye steak (£16.50).

I went for the General's fish pie (£12.95) and we got in those vegetables I mentioned earlier to give us a talking point.

The pork came rolled with those little brown Japanese shitake mushrooms, pak choi and a sweep of plum sauce. Ooh, it tasted good. Catherine doesn't like the fat, but the tender meat was a delight with the tangy spices and sauce.

My fish pie was pretty perfect. Mixed colour fish (cod, halibut and salmon) with prawns and scallops in a rich cheese and herb sauce with more mashed potato on top. We didn't think that through I admit.

It was delicious. Hot and wholesome, probably the only meal that could give me strength to face that rain again. I saw Jamie Oliver fail to impress some Italians with his fish pie earlier this week. They'd clearly never been to Ferensby.

We shared a poached pear for desert (£5.25). It was soft and sweet with a crisp caramel on the outside, with rosemary and honey ice-cream. Need I say more? Other options were a warm cobble pudding (£5.25) and sticky toffee pudding (£4.95).

With two coffees (£3.20) the bill came to £59.45. And there you have it. The General Tarleton Inn: great food in great surroundings with a great big bill at the end.

Chris and Catherine dined at The General Tarleton Inn on Saturday October 22, 2005.

The General Tarleton Inn, Ferrensby, between Knaresborough and Boroughbridge, 01423 340284.

Food: flawless

Service: clinical

Value: expensive

Ambience: posh bistro

Disabled access: Yes

This is Chris Greenwood's last review. Read about his four gut-busting years of eating out in Wednesday's Evening Press.

Updated: 16:30 Friday, October 28, 2005