THE Hoop in Stock is hugely popular for its summer beer festival, which sees crowds spill out into the village, and is an event I’ve enjoyed on numerous occasions.

The beer’s always good, but I had never eaten there, so when my wife and I were craving a proper Sunday lunch, I took the opportunity to rectify that.

The a la carte restaurant upstairs was fully booked, so we settled for eating in the main body of the pub, which wasn’t a problem as we were after a Sunday roast.

The starter selection was appetising, from warm brown shrimp on toasted crumpet or the prawn and crab cocktail to salt-cured duck salad or goats cheese bonbons, olive and tomato.

I opted for the salad of king prawns and chorizo which came on an attractive slate.

The prawns were succulent and meaty and nicely dressed and chunks of meat gave the dish a welcome smokiness.

My wife’s toasted brioche of leeks, mushroom and gruyere cheese was delicious.

It’s not often I feel I should have chosen differently as I seem to have the knack of ordering the best option. But this was one time when I wish we could have swapped.

The flavours and textures of her food were wonderful, something I realised in only one mouthful as sharing went out of the window. For our mains we had beef and chicken.

My chicken was a good size breast with all the trimmings you would want and expect.

The beef was a little overcooked for our liking, but it was a lovely piece of meat with just the right amount of fat. The meal was great and the duck fat roasted potatoes and special gravy gave extra flavour, which you would not find in most other pubs.

We shared a dessert and had the tough decision to make between our top three of apple and summer berries crumble with ice cream and custard, vanilla cheesecake with strawberry and clotted cream ice cream or a selection of cheeses with a red wine jelly.

We had the crumble, a combination of apple and summer fruits which worked a treat, as did the ice cream and the custard together.

The meal couldn’t be faulted and neither could the setting. The Hoop is warm and welcoming and there is a great variety of beers on offer. Add, the enticing menu and it’s clear to see why people keep going back.