Perhaps it’s The Dashwood’s proximity to the A34 that makes it such a practical choice for a first date, or because it’s a boutique hotel offering just the right balance of anonymity and hospitality, but either way I was surprised to find on a rare midweek night out with Mr Greedy, the place was packed with young lovers.

Actually, on closer perusal I realised some of them weren’t that young after all, as they studied the menu, pretended to be interested in their food and batted their eyelashes seductively, wondering if the tiger prawns were too garlicky and would give them bad breath.

Gazing across at Mr Greedy I suddenly felt rather old and tired, as the couple near us started showing each other pictures of their children on their iPhones, but a large glass of rose thawed me out and the menu helped reinvigorate me.

And The Dashwood is a great place to relax, being in Kirtlington, a quintessential English village, where the dining room is always busy because of the hotel.

In fact we’d tried to visit the previous week but it was fully booked on a week night.

If you’ve been, you’ll have enjoyed the open, airy restaurant, where you can watch the chefs at work, concocting the wonderful menu and some lovely specials, including a two courses for £15.95 option which changes daily and which boasted a soup, pie and salad of the day, all of which we sampled.

Sitting back while we waited for our food, I tried not to notice how the dating lady had to use her napkin as a shield as she sat down because her dress was so short, or how her prospective boyfriend pulled up his shirt half way through dinner to reveal a large scar on his stomach, no doubt the subject of a scintillating tale.

Luckily our starters diverted us from any more voyeurism and the pea and mint soup had a wonderful depth and sticky pea chew to it, which set the tone of the evening with its seasonal slant. Mr Greedy opted for the whitebait, also on the specials board which were an unusual treat.

Our midlife lovers had now moved on to their terrible internet dating stories which kept us amused until the mains arrived. Mr Greedy settled on the lamb and mint pie and I opted for the halloumi and roast fennel salad with tomatoes and olives.

My salad was fresh and vibrant although the fennel was a bit stringy, and overall a lovely, light, novel dish, perfect for a midweek supper. Mr Greedy’s pie however was less of a success, the pastry being undercooked and therefore rather inedible, although the filling and accompanying veg were great – leaving him with the composites of a good stew instead.

Leaving nothing to chance we then opted for the raspberry and lemon cheesecake (£5.50) which hit the spot and the rhubarb and ginger biscuit fool (£6.25) which sounded amazing but the rhubarb was in such huge pieces it was hard to eat. I was expecting more of a blended fool, and had to leave it, defeated. Instead I tried the treacle tart with clotted cream (£5.95) which was much more my cup of tea, although again the pastry let the dish down.

Glancing up I noticed that our resident daters had moved on to a whole new level, her feet being in his lap where he was massaging them strenuously.

And as we packed up after a very relaxing night out, I was glad I didn’t have to go back to the beginning again. Old and tired maybe, but we’re still on the right track, as is The Dashwood.

  • The Dashwood Hotel & Restaurant, South Green, Heyford Road, Kirtlington. 01869 352 707 thedash wood.co.uk