The Black Swan, Oldstead, near Thirsk

On the Saturday before last, we had one of the best meals we've had for ages.

So why the guilt? To whom is the reparation due?

Almost exactly two years earlier, I'd made the journey to the little village of Oldstead, tucked away not far from Kilburn and Coxwold on the edge of the North York Moors. It was a truly awful experience.

The timing of the visit could not have been worse for, not too long after, the D&S was contacted by the Black Swan's new owners. Anne Banks took the pub over to run as a family business along with husband Tom and sons James (front of house) and chef Tom.

Would we care to pay a return visit, she asked?

The invitation has lain at the back of my mind since then. The reason I feel so guilty is that it took so long.

The first big contrast with my first visit was a full car park - I may have been slow in getting around to a visit, but it's clear many others have not.

The welcome was warm and friendly, the beer good (cask Black Sheep and Skipton's Copper Dragon), and the fire roaring.

The menu is clearly laid out and informative. In a climate where local-sourcing has, happily, become almost mainstream, the Banks spell it out in black and white: all the meat is emphatically British (just how much cruellyproduced foreign flesh, particularly that of fowl, lingers hidden behind restaurant menus?) and in the main comes from as far away as, well, Sproxton and Gilling - down the road.

Virtually everything is homemade, from stocks to sausages, black pudding to bread and chocolates.

Upstairs in the dining room, which has been extended to offer 50 covers with the opening up of a former bedroom, there is a quality feel: interesting antique oak furniture, attractive prints and tasteful colours and textiles.

Our starters were smoked haddock and spring onion risotto with a poached egg, watercress and parmesan (£5.50); pan-fried gnocchi with home-roasted tomatoes, rocket salad and balsamic dressing (£5.25); carpaccio of tuna (raw, thin slices) with crispy Oriental vegetable spring rolls (£5.95) and, from the specials board, crispy brie with apple and pomegranate jam, pea shoots and hazelnut vinaigrette (£4.95).

All were excellent: the presentation was stylish but not too fussy, the proportions modest but not measly - the emphasis was definitely on flavour.

My one small niggle was that the rocket salad with my gnocchi was a little over-dressed for my liking; the tomatoes, on the other hand, were fantastic.

Next up, with efficient service from pleasant staff who were clearly under pressure on the busiest night of the week, came confit shoulder of lamb with sweet potato puree, roasted root veg and crushed Jersey royals (£13.95); pan-fried seabass with a warm sweet potato and lemon salad, confit vine cherry tomatoes and tomato and herb dressing (£15.95), and from a section of the menu titled "new twists on old favourites", braised shin of beef and Black Sheep ale pie with mash, pickled red cabbage and oxtail jus (£9.95) and eight-week hung rib-eye steak with a rocket and parmesan salad, chips and béarnaise sauce (£15.95).

Silence fell. For some time.

Again, I tried to solicit any criticisms from my companions, to no avail.

For my part, I wasn't too taken with the crushed new potatoes: they were too much like lumpy mash, and I'd rather have savoured the Jerseys whole. On the other hand, the lamb was melt-in-themouth tender and the roasted vegetables a perfect accompaniment.

A good cheese board (£6.75), dark chocolate and almond torte with ice-cream, vanilla panna cotta with Yorkshire rhubarb and treacle tart with orange custard and lemon curd ice cream (all £4.95) more than sealed the job. These were first-class, delicious puds, not afterthoughts.

Pre-dinner drinks, a good bottle of Argentinean cabernet sauvignon (£19.75) and a couple of coffees brought the bill for four very satisfied customers to £133.90 - perhaps putting it in the realms of a special treat meal out for most people, but worth every penny.