Mellor: Millstone Hotel

9:25am Saturday 19th April 2008

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TIME for a touch of quality this week and a trip to one of East Lancashire's most renowned establishments.

'Come and try our new spring bar menu' urged the sign and we needed no further encouragement.

The Millstone has managed to pull off the difficult trick of combining great food and a relaxed atmosphere.

Diners mix with residents and locals popping in for an evening pint and with its wood panelling, there's a distinctly club-like feel.

The bar menu is packed with dishes made from local produce. A true sign of a confident chef is a fairly limited number of choices yet each one has you tempted.

I went for the haddock in Lancaster Bomber batter with mushy peas and thick cut chips from the bar menu at £10.95 while the better half opted for one of the daily specials - grilled rib eye with Blackstick Blue glaze, baby gem salad, thick cut chips and peppercorn sauce for £16.95.

Now I can already hear some readers commenting on the price, but you do get what you pay for and the tender steak with its cheese topping and a large jug of rich sauce was a mighty fine meal.

The same could be said of what was essentially posh fish n' chips.

The haddock was beautifully moist and the flavoured, light batter was the perfect accompaniment.

Praise too for the chips, which were proper' affairs and you even get a pot of homemade tartare sauce and half a fresh lemon wrapped in muslin.

We had planned to try some of the tempting sweets on offer - the sticky toffee pud has near legendary status - but the mains were such good sized portions we couldn't find the room.

When you do have such a well-established eaterie of quality as The Millstone, it's often easy to overlook quite how good it is.

One visit should quickly make you realise why it is held in such high regard - but always remember, such quality doesn't come cheap.

>>>The verdict

Perennial favourite shows no signs of losing its touch.