There are few Leicestershire villages as quiet and quaint as Burton Overy, writes Glen Tillyard. The Bell is a long-established pub in the south of the county, just off the Great Glen bypass. Food is served in the bar area or in the restaurant overlooking the garden. First impressions were good as we were greeted by the friendly, well turned-out staff who showed us through to the restaurant.

This long room, with an enclosed log fire at the far end, was cosy and warm with a pretty voile cloth draped from the exposed beams.

Dark wood was the order of the day, with the heavy tables and chairs reminding me of the furniture in my Gran's house.

The single-page menu contained a tempting range of seven starters including cream of celery, apple and stilton soup, smooth home-made chicken liver pate with apple, damson and red wine chutney and toasted walnut bread and a goats' cheese and rosemary tart.

I settled on potted Scottish smoked mackerel with horseradish and thyme butter and soda bread. This was well- presented but a little too salty and I couldn't really taste horseradish or thyme.

My wife had the black pudding in mustard batter on a cider and apple compote. This was lovely and turned out to be the better choice.

For the main course, Jacqui opted for roast fillet of salmon in parsley and dill sauce with a pea and potato crush, but wanted it with the chunky chips from the pan-fried fillet steak with garlic sauce option.

The kitchen kindly obliged, which gave the chef an extra Brownie point.

The salmon was cooked perfectly and the accompanying fresh vegetables were bright and cooked al dente. I chose the braised Welsh lamb shanks in a port and quince sauce with parsnip and coriander mash, but I was also tempted by the home-made game faggots and the grilled sea bass and tiger prawns with a Thai dressing.

The only vegetarian option was a leek and mushroom fricassee.

The lamb was incredibly tender and fell off the bone into the rich port sauce. It was excellent and I would certainly order it again.

After the ample main courses we felt pleasantly full, but still chose to take a peek at the dessert menu. This had a selection of some really interesting home-made ice creams and sorbets as well as some clever variations on old favourites, mostly at £4.50 each.

I'm a bread and butter pudding fan so I chose the whiskey-soaked raisins brioche version with custard.

This was very sweet but I couldn't taste any of the boozy fruit. This was the second time the menu description had outperformed the actual food.

Jacqui's blackcurrant and mascarpone ice cream, on the other hand, was intensely flavoured and was a fine end to the meal. There was also the option of cheese and biscuits.

All in all, this was a very enjoyable meal with an exciting menu using well- cooked fresh ingredients served up by attentive staff in pleasant relaxed surroundings.

The bill for a three-course meal including drinks for two came to just over £50 which was good value. Recommended.