THE LYSLEY ARMS

London Road

Pewsham

Chippenham SN15 3RU

01249 652864

www.thelysleyarms.co.uk

Open 11am to 11pm Mon-Sat

Noon to 10.30pm Sun

Large car park on site

Disabled access

Children's menu and outdoor play area

HAVING had many years' break from visiting The Lysley Arms on the outskirts of Chippenham, we decided to return to see what had changed.

Naively, we didn't book, thinking there would be plenty of tables at 5pm on a Friday night, but found many of the tables were reserved. We were lucky to find a free one by the window and settled in on the many cushions thoughtfully provided. We had arrived just in time as the pub soon began to fill up with families.

The evening menu doesn't start until 6pm so we chose from the lunch menu, which included all the usual pub favourites such as ham, egg and chips, pies and lasagne, happy to find somewhere serving food early.

After a quick glance, we chose the homemade 8oz cheeseburger with chips and salad (£8.95) and the whole-tail scampi (£9.45) served with chips, peas, salad and homemade tartare sauce. The children went for fish bites, chips and peas and sausages, mash and peas.

My initial thoughts on the arrival of the food, after only a short wait, were that it was all evidently freshly cooked and there was lots of it. All of us being more than peckish, it didn't hang around long, but I did struggle to make my way through all the chips, peas and a mountain of salad which accompanied my scampi. The burger was thick and juicy and served in a brioche bun, a welcome change from the norm.

The children's meals were also good, the sausages soaked in a tasty gravy and cooked to a high standard.

For dessert we went for the raspberry and white chocolate cheesecake (£4.95) and banoffee pie (£5.25), plus strawberry ice cream for the children. The banoffee pie was a work of art with a circular biscuit base topped with moist banana and whipped cream. The cheesecake was enjoyable but a little too cheesy for my liking, perhaps not chilled enough.

We left for a walk in the sunshine, satisfied with the generous portions and friendly service and thought, at £56, the bill was reasonable for a family of four.

ALISON GROVER