The children's author (and Christ Church mathematician) Lewis Carroll might justly be described as the inspiration for a certain style of wine writing.

In a famous passage from Alice in Wonderland, he describes a tasty drink with “a sort of mixed flavour of cherry tart, custard, pine-apple, roast turkey, toffy and hot-buttered toast”. This predates by more than a century the weird (and often rather off-putting) comparisons favoured by well-known wine critics.

Carroll was writing not of wine, in fact, but of the mysterious bottle of beverage Alice finds down the rabbit-hole with its invitation to ‘Drink Me’. When she takes up the offer, she promptly finds herself only ten inches high and forced to try to climb a towering table to reach the key to the door.

I felt myself in a similar position as I lunched recently in the Manor Restaurant at Waddesdon, which is housed in what were the kitchens in the days when the house was still lived in by the Rothschild family. High above me were two two vast cupboards (see picture), whose doors would be out of reach even to a circus stiltwalker. “You’d have needed to set up a base camp halfway on an expedition to obtain a packet of flour,” I joked to my companions, as we pondered how they’d managed in the old days. Or perhaps someone lived full-time in each of the cupboards, ready to throw down what was needed by the chef.

Actually, the gigantism of the kitchen is in marked contrast, it seems to me, to the rest of Waddesdon. Impossibly grand though it is, the house is conceived on much more of a domestic scale than, say, Blenheim or Knole. You (or at any rate I) could actually imagine living there.

But while fulfilment of that dream will ever be denied to admirers of the mansion, we can at least eat there – and eat (do I really need to say so?) very well. The food supplied is far superior to what might be expected in the restaurant of a great tourist attraction. Indeed, it is almost sufficient reason for visiting Waddesdon, never mind the delights of the house, garden and – at this time of the year especially – the shop, with its Rothschild wines and other goodies.

Rosemarie, her mother and I went on a Saturday and did an hour or so in the house before settling at the trough. I’d had lunch there a few weeks earlier, so knew what to recommend to my companions. I went for ‘new’ dishes myself and was just as delighted.

To start, I chose (it was the time of year) pumpkin risotto – or, rather, Rectory Farm pumpkin risotto, denoting a local supplier, probably, I thought, the pick-your-own place at Stanton St John. It was perfect, the rice having a slight ‘bite’ to it and the bland pumpkin flavour offset by shavings of classic parmesan reggiano, toasted pumpkin seed oil and honey-roasted onion seeds.

Rosemarie went for wild mushroom soup, rich and flavoursome, with truffle cream and artisan bread from Thame’s Degustibus baker. Thoughts of Lewis Carroll gave way to others concerning a novelist of a slightly later period with Olive’s starter choice of omelette Arnold Bennett. This glorious blend of eggs, smoked haddock and cheese was perfected for the writer during his regular visits to the Savoy Hotel, where two of his novels are set. These days the dish is better known (unjustly) than his work.

Similarly reckless in consumption of cholesterol, I chose Ultimate Fish Pie for my main course. From a Rothschild family recipe (and therefore unstinting in luxury) it featured cod, king prawns and smoked salmon in a wine, cream parsley and thyme sauce, with mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables, chiefly juicy carrots.

Rosemarie had a dish prepared from another historical family recipe, roast breast and confit leg of Aylesbury duckling from the one surviving commercial Aylesbury duck breeder. With it came home-made stuffing, sweetcorn and potato pancake, peas in French style and green peppercorn sauce.

Olive had a roast, too – loin of Gloucester Old Spot pork, with sage and onion rösti potatoes and morel sauce. She then found room for a slice – for which read large wedge – of coffee and walnut cake, while her daughter had hot chocolate cake with a soft fondant centre featuring Rothschild merlot wine, which teamed very well with the accompanying blackcurrant ice cream.

We drank – with great enjoyment – the family chardonnay. Hope they didn’t mind.