The story goes that King George III and his entourage were caught in a storm in 1774 and sought refuge in The Sun in Begbroke (of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world......).

As it was known as a ‘disorderly house’ until then I can only sympathise with the poor bloke.

Presumably its owners had to smarten things up a bit after that, or maybe they fancied making a quick buck, but either way, from then on the infamous hostelry became known as The Royal Sun.

This story is still relevant today because having driven past The Royal Sun a million times on the side of the A44 towards Woodstock I could only shudder, recalling the one unfortunate time we’d stopped for lunch and been directed into a dank, gloomy interior and dirty garden to be served a bad rendition of chicken in a basket.

So I knew how King George felt.

So I was puzzled when a constant stream of recommendations came flooding in about said Royal Sun.

It was only when I realised that a couple called Andy and Debbie Jones had taken it over, that I dared venture in again, and I’m delighted I did, because the metamorphosis couldn’t have been more pronounced.

The light airy, neat, clean interior (the adjectives only emphasise what it once was not) was busy, the car park full and the staff keeping everyone happy.

Once inside you had no idea you were in fact located on the edge of a busy main road such is the quiet air of efficiency about the place.

We were ushered quickly to our table by the window and settled down to peruse the diverse menu which had lots to choose from.

Debbie came to show us the specials board but we opted for the cream of leek soup of the day (£3.95) and the Wexford mushrooms (£4.95) to start.

The generously portioned mushroom starter in a creamy pepper and stilton sauce on a toasted crouton was worth the trip alone and had plenty of bite to it.

The soup was also remarked on.

Next up we all went for starters again as it was a quick lunch, and chose the prawn and avocado salad (£5.25), the bruschetta (£4.25) and the bubble and squeak (£4.95).

To give you an idea of the attention to detail here, the bruschetta arrived as a slice of granary toast topped with avocado guacamole, finely sliced red onions, and halved cherry tomatoes, olive oil and balsamic syrup.

Not scattered but carefully arranged so that every inch was a patterned carpet of halved tomatoes.

Beautiful, delicious, healthy and a bargain. Plus the tomatoes actually tasted of something.

The bubble and squeak was so filling I sadly couldn’t finish the delicious potato hash with cabbage, onion and carrot, topped with a fried egg and bacon.

And the prawn & avocado salad in a home-made seafood salad was another hit.

The rest of the menu is a bit more hearty and less ladies-who-lunch and I can’t wait to go back and try out a bit more of it.

From the Sunday carvery to beef stroganoff, honey roast ham with free range eggs to steak & ale pie, King George would be more than happy to pop in now any time of day.

In short, The Royal Sun proves how simple, home-cooking in competent hands is worth its weight in gold.

The Royal Sun is at 2 Woodstock Road West, Begbroke, OX5 1RZ. Call 01865 374718.