Hardwick Hall Hotel Sedgefield (from Durham Times)

WE had been meaning to check progress on the restoration of Hardwick Country Park at Sedgefield for a while so Sunday lunch at Hardwick Hall Hotel was the perfect excuse.

The multi-million pound works carried out by Durham County Council have created something rather special. A walk round the lake on a glorious summer Sunday morning proved highly restorative after a late night on Saturday.

Sunday lunch at Hardwick Hall Hotel is a traditional affair served at traditional hours (noon-2pm) There's no truck with the modern style of Sunday lunch being served beyond what used to be high tea-time.

Owned by the same people who have the Ramside Hall, it is sort of place to take your aged aunt or grandmother. There's a pianist tinkling away in the corner of the rather grand, although by no means huge, room used for Sunday lunches (we were unable to bring you a picture because the room is only used for dining on Sundays and our photographer called during the week.) Aged aunts, and others to be fair, would also approve of the ornate plasterwork on the ceiling and the good quality cutlery and napery.

Anyone of a mature disposition would not, however, be thrilled by the table for two we were initially offered which appeared to have been designed for a dwarf. A good inch or two lower than the others in the dining room, it was bit like parents' evening at primary school where the only chairs to sit on are designed for six-year-olds.

We also had a table with side legs in the wrong places (ie where your knees should be). We asked to move and were swiftly escorted to one which was larger, with no side legs, although still a little low.

There was a choice of five or six starters (pate, melon, prawn cocktail among them), five roasts - pork, lamb, turkey and beef, topside or rib - and poached salmon with asparagus and hollandaise, plus a vegetarian option.

Sylvia thought her potato and leek broth very good - "definitely home-made" - and I also enjoyed my slice of chargrilled vegetable terrine with minted yoghurt for its refreshing lightness and ratatouille- type texture. The starters were served with good quality brown rolls and butter - which was beginning to melt from having hung around on the table on a warm day.

The same was true of Sylvia's turkey which was also nicely moist. Yorkshire puddings were as good as you are likely to get in situation where they cannot be cooked to order, and the gravy was richly dark in colour although not very beefy, which was probably a good thing as the same gravy was served with the turkey.

The other vegetables (carrots, cauliflower, podded peas, three types of potatoes including some beautifully creamy, buttery mash) were very good.

The exception was the roast potatoes which were extraordinarily bad. We spent some time wondering what had been done to them to emerge from the kitchen slightly underdone inside but with a leathery, almost chewy exterior.

Sylvia, who believes the permitted existence of an uneaten roast potato to be a mortal sin, took one bite and no more.

Her spirits were restored by white chocolate and Baileys torte where chef had certainly not skimped on the Baileys. My strawberry gateau "with pouring cream" already deployed was OK but on the soggy side. Note to chef: it might be an idea to allow the diner to decide how much or little cream they wanted.

Service ranged from the brisk, almost brusque, efficiency of the maitre d' Martin, to the tentative younger staff and then the slight officiousness of the older waitress who dealt with our coffee order.

We asked if we could take it in the lounge. She said we would have find somewhere ourselves but then, 30 seconds later, beckoned us through as if we were recalcitrant sheep. The coffee was of decent strength and quality, though.

The three courses and coffee were £16.95 per head, which some might find steep for Sunday lunch. Given the surroundings and the overall quality of the food, we didn't think it unreasonable.

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