Anyone who watched BBC2's Masterchef Professionals will have stared in awe as three chefs competed neck and neck for the coveted prize in Friday's final.

It was pretty obvious from the start that there were only really two contestants, and one of them was a young chap from an Oxfordshire pub called The Five Horseshoes.

And although Murray Wilson didn't win — an eyebrow-raising decision — you can still enjoy the fruits of his labour if you venture down to Maidensgrove, near Watlington.

The Five Horseshoes is a gem of a place in the middle of blooming nowhere and the setting couldn't be more unpretentious. But then with views like that stretching across the countryside, who needs airs and graces? Because all of the focus here is on the food.

Murray is the sous chef to fresh, local, seasonal food advocate Duncan Welgemoed and between them they have come up with a series of stunning menus and equally fantastic food to accompany the views. There's a bar menu, a kids menu and a restaurant menu, all of which are served day and night. And with service with a smile and the gorgeous Nataliina(corr) running the place, you are on to a winner here, take it from me.

WHAT DID YOU HAVE?

We turned up for lunch on a wonderfully sunny autumnal day and sat outside on the picnic benches watching the sheep biding their time, until they too grace the menu. We ordered the soup of the day — celeriac with truffle oil — and the roasted peach, dandelion and nasturtium salad with Cropwell Bishop stilton cheese.

The children had chosen from the beautifully thought out kids' menu featuring burger and chips, sausage and mash, fish and chips or roast chicken and mash for £5.50, but instead of the usual processed rubbish, they were all home-made, using local meat from local butchers and as far removed from Bernard Matthews as Jade Goody is from the Queen.

We opted for the haddock and smoked salmon fishcakes with creamed spinach and tomato butter sauce, and the spinach and feta pie with pine nut salad.

WHAT DID YOU THINK?

Not only were the portions overly generous — I challenge anyone to finish the enormous fishcakes — but they were wonderfully fresh, the burgers being rare and quite wasted on the children, if you ask me. But it was the originality of the dishes, and their simplicity, that was the most refreshing aspect. A peach served with cheese and a few flowers sounds bizarre, but it was delicious and it worked beautifully.

The feta pie was delicately seasoned with fresh mint and the salad dressing was fragrant, bringing the dish together perfectly. The fishcakes balanced on a sea of creamed spinach with a ring of tomato sauce around the edge were, again, sensational.

How we managed the treacle tart and ice cream (what ever happened to custard?) and the strawberry millefeuille with strawberry sorbet — a balancing tower of thin pastry, cream and fruit, I still don't know, but I didn't have any supper.

And yet, the hands-down winners on the dessert front was definitely the children's vanilla ice cream with hot chocolate sauce.

With drinks, the bill for three courses came to £58 for two adults and two children, which for this calibre of food was, I thought, great value for money. And you could easily just come for the one course and still leave feeling very pleased with yourself.

But don't take my word for it, try it out for yourself, because one's things for sure — chefs like Murray don't hang around for long.

THE BILL.

Two J2Os £4.60 Two packets crisps £1.20 Filter coffee £2 Soup £5 Peach dish £5 Kids' burger £5.50 Spinach pie special £6.50 Fishcakes £6.50 Two kids' ice cream £7 Treacle tarT £5.50 Strawberry millefeuille £5.50 TOTAL: £58.75