Despite food fatigue Katherine MacAlister persuades the family to venture out for steak, seafood and a great sticky date pudding

That was brilliant,” Mr Greedy said wiping his mouth with his napkin and sitting back with a satisfied sigh. “I would definitely come back again.”

“You’ve changed your tune,” I thought. It hadn’t been easy to persuade the family out, having just returned from gorging ourselves into an early grave in France.

We were on a very welcome lettuce leaf diet, so going out for dinner was always going to be a challenge.

But as soon as I mentioned it was steak night at The Boot Inn, the family were quite enthusiastic about accompanying me to Barnard Gate for dinner.

I didn’t like to burst their bubble by explaining that while two rump steaks, house cut chips, salad and a bottle of wine for £25 is a Bobby bargain in anyone’s book, if the meat tastes like old shoe leather and the wine like vinegar, then it wouldn’t be such an attractive mission.

It’s a lovely old pub The Boot. If you haven’t been, it’s run by a Spanish couple and famous for it’s boot paraphernalia.

It has football boots from endless sportsmen lined up across the walls, from Kenny Dalglish to Gary Lineker, which kept the kids amused while we perused the menu.

They all wanted steak, so that was easy, but with such a delicious alternative line-up, having to stick to steak was almost a sacrifice.

We had starters anyway for good measure, and they set the tone for the rest of the evening. The kids shared a garlic bread which came home-made with fresh herbs, a novelty in itself these days.

We had the special – scallops served with a red lentil dahl, shallot, a shallot and spinach bhaji and a mint creme fraiche (£9) and it was absolutely exquisite, and gave the French an instant run for their money.

“This is the best dish I’ve had in a long time,” Mr Greedy admitted, beginning to thaw, as he sliced through the plump, generous shell-fish drizzled in Indian dressing.

We also tried the feta mousse with ginger bread, pickled fennel, roast beetroot, micro herbs and candied fennel crisps (£7) which arrived like an ornate sculpture on the plate with astonishing attention to detail. As for taste, the mousse needed to be lighter – it came out more like a pate, but was still an original and well thought out dish.

Dining early because of the children, pretty soon the pub had filled up around us, showing how popular it is with the locals. But could the steak live up to expectations? After all it’s often more down to the butcher and cut of meat than the chef.

Yes, is the answer. Nicely cooked and served with hand-cooked chips and a great soggy roasted tomato, the knives slid through the meat with minimum carving.

We also tried the spiced courgette samosa which was served like a nicoise salad with anchovies, boiled quails eggs, tomatoes, olives and green beans, an ambitious and beautifully accomplished dish, although I would have enjoyed more of the moist juiciness of the Indian starter than this French incarnation.

The highlight? Perhaps the dessert, the sticky date pudding with rum raisin ice cream, a salty caramel sauce, and a whole fruit coulis (£7.50), silencing the entire crew, until every last morsel and wipe of sauce had disappeared.

So yes, an overwhelming success, despite our lack of appetite.

This is certainly a notch above regular pub food.

The Boot Inn at Barnard Gate, Witney, OX29 6XE
01865 881231 theboot-inn.com