A FRIEND of mine – Gordon – doesn’t really like Sunday roast dinners so he rarely goes out to eat on a Sabbath lunchtime.

Often the choice in pubs and hotels is beef, lamb, pork or chicken, with all the trimmings, and perhaps a fish dish or risotto for the poor veggies who also struggle on the day of the traditional carnivore fest. And that’s it.

But perhaps my friend will be prepared to venture out to Teesdale where a village pub’s Sunday lunch offering is the Monday-Saturday a la carte lunch menu but with the addition of just one roast. So he can choose from two fish (sea trout and cod) dishes, two meat (pork belly and braised ox cheek) plus a burger, veggie curry and a huge ploughman’s.

This rather more flexible approach to the Sunday lunch is that of the Rose and Crown at Romaldkirk, a famed hostelry in these parts and further afield having picked up a shed-load of awards in the years when former owners Chris and Alison Davy were establishing its reputation as a flagbearer for the regional tourism industry and the local food movement.

They sold the Rose and Crown in 2013 and it was purchased by the Robinson family of Headlam Hall, down the dale near Gainford, who have done little in the last three years to take the shine off its burnished reputation.

It sits at the very centre of this most pretty of villages (I sometimes think Romaldkirk doesn’t really belong in rugged old Teesdale – it’s far too picture-postcard-ey) and last Sunday it was basking in the early summer sunshine as we pulled up.

It looks the part of the enduring country coaching inn, all ivy clad Georgian proportionality with its lovely period AA and RAC signs, and inside the wood-panelled, deep-piled cosiness only adds to that vibe.

We went straight to our table in the dining room with views out over the village and noted the quality glassware and napery, the country prints on the walls, the tweedily-comfortable upholstered chairs. All very Country Living meets Trust House Forte circa 1970 - and that’s not a criticism.

The menu makes much of its use of locally-produced ingredients – meat from Joe Simpson at Cockfield, fish from Hodgsons at Hartlepool, cheese from Leaside in Teesdale and Parlour Made at Mordon and some lovely sour-dough bread from a bakery at Crook (good butter too, noted Sylvia).

The kitchen does good things with it all. Sylvia’s fish cake starter (£6.50 but also available as main course for £10) was a perfect puck of piscine freshness. She thought it could have been improved with a little parsley but loved the crushed peas, herby salad and mild tartare sauce.

I was even more enamoured of my super-smooth chicken liver parfait (£7) with maple toasted seeds and nuts sprinkled over the top along with gobbets of Cumberland sauce, pickled carrot and nasturtium leaves. Served with Melba toast, it was a textural triumph.

Joe Simpson’s beef has almost legendary status and Sylvia’s sirloin was simply superb. Served thickly sliced and pinkly tender, it had great flavour and was enhanced by a deeply-flavoured beef gravy. All the trimmings – Yorkshire pudding and roast potatoes – were good too; Sylvia half-heartedly hankered after an extra roastie.

My sea trout (£16) was a very large fillet, crisply fried but still flakily moist inside and served with new potatoes, some baby gem lettuce wrapped in Parma ham for a little saltiness, all sitting on a bed of crushed peas swimming in a lightly lemon veloute sauce. All-round excellence.

Our shared vegetables were carrots, cauliflower and cabbage.

Sylvia finished her meal with a little Archer’s (from Walworth) vanilla ice cream (£4.50) and I kept it simple too with rice pudding (£6) which was very creamy served with a “berry compote” (jam) and left me slight disappointed in that have yet to be served with the sort of rice pudding my mother used to make with a sticky, toffee-burnt top. One day, one day.

We were well looked after. At one point I thought our food was coming almost too hastily such was the speed that dishes arrived from the kitchen but we spent an hour and half to eat our three courses so it was hardly a fast-food experience.

The bill was just over £70 and included two pre-prandial gins and two small glasses of New Zealand sauvignon blanc.

As we left, the sun was still out and Romaldkirk lazed in the early summer warmth. All was well with the world. Gordon would have liked this we thought.

FOOD FACTS

The Rose and Crown, Romaldkirk, Barnard Castle DL12 9EB

Tel: 01833 650213

Web: rose-and-crown.co.uk

Open: lunch served noon-2.30, dinner 6.30-9pm

Disabled access. Allergies catered for.

Ratings (out of ten): Food quality 9, Service 8, Surroundings 9, Value 8