Never judge a book by its cover - that was the first thing that struck me when lunch arrived at The Langley Tap.

My friend and I decided on a cosy, country Wadworths pub in Langley Burrell village, northeast of Chippenham, rather than our usual choice of a trendy wine bar.

We were the first in the car park and first at the door . . . the door was still locked!

We must have appeared like hungry animals trying in vain to get in, unsure as to whether the door was just stiff or locked.

It was locked, but only by mistake.

Stepping into the pub, we were greeted with a large open bar and several tables for dining, a choice of those being by the open fire or through to the rear in the restaurant. We perched at the bar as we perused the menu.

Seeing that the only time I ever eat stew is when my mum cooks it, I was intrigued as to whether The Langley Tap's 6X version with dumplings, veg and new potatoes for £9.95 could equal, if not better, her recipe from years gone by.

My friend opted for salmon with a lemon dill butter sauce, salad and new potatoes for £10.95 - she was supposedly watching her calorie intake!

It wasn't long before our hunger was piqued by the delicious smells of our meals.

As I said, appearances can be deceiving. Despite my dish looking rather bland and unimaginative, the taste was superb. The meat melted in my mouth and the sauce was rich and meaty. It was came with soft new potatoes, carrots and shredded leeks and cabbage in a creamy sauce - but where were the dumplings?

There was nothing like the prominent mounds of herby dumplings my mother topped her dish with but, on delving deeper, I did eventually find two, very small, doughy balls hidden inside the stew.

The salmon - presentation aside - was cooked to perfection and partnered with just enough lemon dill butter sauce.

I usually deny myself a sweet, but on this occasion I threw that notion out of the window as sticky toffee pudding with butterscotch sauce for £4.25 was on the menu.

I used to work in a pub kitchen and the owner - who happened to be a chef too - used to make trays of sticky toffee pudding and the punters, including myself, adored it.

His was gooey, syrupy with treacle and deliciously tasty, Why I never asked him for the recipe I'll never know.

The pudding I ate on this occasion certainly looked nice and was light and sweet, but it lacked pitted dates and the stickiness of treacle.

It was hard to tell if this was homemade or purchased.

The Langley Tap is clearly popular. We may have had the pub all to ourselves when we arrived, but when we left many of the tables were occupied.

The customers were clearly enjoying their lunchtime meals, as we had, but mum can rest assured - her stew is still the best!

The Langley Tap

41 The Common, Langley Burrell, Chippenham, SN15 4LG

01249 652707

Food served: noon-2pm for lunch

Evenings, 6.30pm-9pm, Fridays and Saturdays 6.30pm-9.30pm.

Dogs allowed

2:00pm Monday 31st March 2008

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