MY children had both visited The White Horse Inn at Compton Bassett, near Calne, with their partners on previous occasions and were a bit split on whether it was top drawer or just average when it came to Wiltshire dining.

So we decided to give it a go together to decide if it deserved a place on the family favourite list.

The pub is down a long windy lane off the A4 and is not to be confused with the Black Horse at Cherhill, which I had been guilty of.

It has a welcoming bar which appeared to be full or regulars which is always a good sign and service was prompt and friendly.

We perused the menu over a drink and I have to admit my first thought was that it was a tad on the expensive side for a Thursday evening that wasn’t a special occasion.

The food needed to be a cut above a usual pub offering and it was. My husband said he couldn’t fault any of the food and was a bit reluctant to share a bit of his salmon and haddock fishcake, with a fennel and gherkin ceviche with hollandaise sauce (£9) with our daughter who had opted out of a starter.

My garlic and thyme flat bread, tomato, herb mushroom, pine nuts and harissa hummus (£7) was obviously less moreish as after my son quickly despatched his own crispy pulled pork cheek, maple roasted plum and shallot rings (£7.50) I handed over half of it to him without too much grumbling.

On to the mains and I was much more impressed with my duck breast, beetroot gratin, celeriac, wild mushroom tapenade, cavolo nero, macerated blackberries and jus (£24) and no-one was getting any of that.

My husband had a pork lion which was very generous in size but this time he was not sharing.

Francesca went for a 28-day aged sirloin steak (£21.50) which she had plain but you could have added a sauce of pepper or blue cheese for £3. It came with mushroom, tomato and triple-cooked chips.

Michael also ordered from the pub classic part of the menu and ordered a beef burger with Moneteray Jack cheese, dill pickles, homemade coleslaw and fries (£14.50) and I think he was a little disappointed he had not been more adventurous, especially as he found the burger a little dry.

The dining room had the pretty addition of fairy lights but we all felt would have benefitted from a few more soft furnishings as it felt a little cold both in temperature and atmosphere.

But the service was attentive and it was definitely worth the drive from Devizes to try somewhere new with food that was well cooked and a bit different.

On the night I think my husband and I made the best food choices and that was evident when I asked him for a quick score out of 10n. His immediate reaction was to give it 10 but after a bit of thought reduced that to nine.

Mine was a steady eight, but if I had indulged myself in the pineapple upside-down cake, rum caramel, poached pineapple and vanilla ice cream (£8)which I resisted could well have gone up to a nine. But the White Horse has done enough to go on the list.

JOANNE MOORE