Star rating: *** Occasionally I am reminded of the very different ways in which children and adults think, writes Cathy Stanworth.

Collecting my “little angels” from school on Tuesday afternoon I told them that mummy had got a surprise for them.

The faces of eight-year-old Oliver and five-year-old Sam lit up, and then suddenly dropped when I said: “Mummy’s going to take you out for a meal”.

“That’s not a surprise, that’s rubbish,” they chorused, before arguing that as my surprise wasn’t a toy or a magazine, then it did not qualify as a surprise, and then flatly refused to go.

Oh dear. Faced with this dilemma, I had only one option. An option used many times by many parents of sulky children. Yes, it was “the threat”. I threatened to leave them behind with a relative while I went by myself, and they reluctantly agreed to go.

I had been quite prepared to invent an elderly aunty with which to leave them, who would take her false teeth out in front of them and want to hug them and kiss them until mummy came back, but thankfully I didn’t have to go that far.

It had been a couple of years since we’d eaten at The Tayleur Arms. It hasn’t changed much since our last visit and it is still a traditionally attractive place which you can quickly relax in, and it was clean and tidy.

It’s named after the Tayleur family, wealthy landowners who held the manor of Longdon-upon-Tern. The sign outside depicts the Tayleur “clipper” ship (named after Charles Tayleur, the founder of the company that built the merchant ship in 1853). It sadly sank on its maiden voyage.

We arrived early, just after 5pm, so it was quiet. The lady behind the bar smiled and gave us a warm welcome and said we could sit where we chose. Oliver chose a big table in the middle of the room. For drinks we ordered a regular coke, £1.60, half a cider, £1.40 and a glass of tap water, free.

I was impressed with the amount of choice on the menu, as well as the good children’s options – seven dishes to choose from at £4.50 each.

Sausage-mad Sam ordered sausages, baked beans and chips; Oliver (apparently influenced by the Garfield movies), chose lasagne, baked beans and chips and I decided to spoil myself, as we were well in budget, by ordering the most expensive steak on the menu. This was a the Wexford steak (a 12oz rump steak with mushrooms and Stilton sauce, chips, peas, onion rings and grilled tomato) at £12.75. I placed our order at the bar and we had a wait of about 20 minutes or so, not too long to keep the kids occupied.

Oliver’s dish came out first and I was impressed with the amount on his plate. It would easily have satisfied me. He had a good portion of nice, hot chips, baked beans and homemade lasagne. Sam got two good sausages, chips and baked beans. There was so much there that they couldn’t finish it all.

Oliver enjoyed his dish. He said it was the best lasagne he’d had, and gave marks of “great, great and great” for the lasagne, chips and beans. Sam’s sausages soon disappeared and he tackled some chips and beans. His marks were “good, “good” and “almost-good’ for the beans, for some bizarre reason.

My steak was the biggest steak I had ever tackled. I felt as if I’d got half a cow on my plate. I’d asked for it to be medium. It was tender and pink in the middle, apart from the tail end which was thinner and so darker. The Stilton sauce actually tasted of Stilton cheese – I’ve been disappointed so many times with previous offerings – and was delicious. There were plenty of tasty mushrooms, peas, chips, a couple of onion rings and two nicely-grilled tomatoes.

My food simply could not be faulted and was very satisfying. I enjoyed it.

As we drove off home, the children agreed they’d enjoyed their meal.

“Good,” I said. “Next time I won’t tell you what we’re doing – we’ll just go.”

ADDRESS
Tayleur Arms, Longdon-upon-Tern, Tel: 01952 770335

MENU SAMPLE
Starters
Homemade paté with toast and red onion marmalade (£3.50); Fishcakes on a bed of leaves and citrus mayonnaise (£3.75);Stuffed mushroom (£3.50)

Main courses
Aunty Pat’s steak, ale and mushroom pie (£6.95); Poached salmon fillet (£7.95); Vegetarian lasagne (£6.95)

Desserts
Lemon souffle cheesecake; Chocolate truffle pie; Warm chocolate brownie and ice cream (all £3.25).

ATMOSPHERE
Quiet, though friendly and welcoming

SERVICE
Friendly and attentive

DISABLED FACILITIES
There are disabled toilet facilities and a disabled access ramp to the restaurant