OPTING to go out for dinner “to get out of the house” when you and your husband have been infested with the lurgy for several days carries its challenges.

Apart from having to prize oneself away from a hot water bottle and wear clothes suitable for public viewing, there’s the minor obstacle of having no sense of taste.

However, we were lured from the sofa by the charming look of The Swan, a pub I’ve passed by countless times and never stopped at.

Inside, we were seated by a huge brick fire place and a menu boasting a fine selection of potential nourishment from steak to chickpea curry.

If we weren’t feeling warmed and hungry by now I’d have started to think the concoction of medicines we’d taken really were having some side effects.

The starters included soup and it was thick parsnip with little crisped pieces on top, which arrived piping hot that paved the way for getting our appetites back.

Had we felt like it, other tantalising options included cheese souffle and pork terrine.

Our heads feeling a little clearer, we took stock of our surroundings which included just three other tables in the area we were sat.

It was a bit like sitting down for Christmas dinner with the relatives when space is sparse; inevitably it felt as though we were earwigging others’ conversations but you couldn’t knock the surroundings for their cosiness.

The main event for me was pork belly; a favourite of mine so it had a lot to live up to.

It arrived rolled up and resting on a bed of mashed potato with the vegetables. All that was missing for me was some apple sauce and a little crackling.

My husband’s rib eye steak was cooked well and served with potato wedges, a few vegetables and peppercorn sauce.

As the lady who I presumed was the owner, cleared our plates away, she murmured a fewwords to me which but for “struggling”, I didn’t catch.

I presumed she meant our dinners we didn’t quite finished.

Moments later she returned with small glass of something which looked like whiskey and urged my sniffling husband to try it.

Apparently, the concoction she’d created resembled something monks gave to soldiers in days of old, or something along those lines.

My husband reluctantly took a sip shortly followed by myself.

What followed was a surprisingly tasty light, ginger taste which succeeded in not only masking the alcohol flavour well, resulted in the best night’s sleep we’d had in days!

We’re looking forward to going back when we’re feeling back to health and shall be trying out one of the delicious puddings we never quite got to.

I can’t believe I’ve overlooked this little gem ten minutes’ from home for so long.

THE BILL

Soup of the day £5.25
Rib eye steak £21.95
Belly pork £14.95
Feeling too poorly for pudding

THE VERDICT

Atmosphere 4/5
Food 4/5
Decor 3/5
Service 4/5
Value 4/5