As any celebrity diner at The Ivy knows very well, there is no such thing as a fully booked restaurant. In the same way that every theatre leaves a block of seats free at every performance – is The Queen going to show? – so restaurants will always find space for a special customer. The Greyhound, at Besselsleigh, takes matters a stage further by telling telephone callers that the place is fully booked when it is half-empty. “We pre-book up to half our tables,” it said in a publicity leaflet circulated in my neighbourhood. “The rest we leave unbooked so people can just drop in.”

This is done with the purpose of maintaining a ‘pubby’ feel to the place – a commendable ambition, to be sure, which is also reflected in a truly excellent range of draught beers on offer. But the arrangement does seem to me to be absurdly one-sided. For Brunning & Price, the small pub chain which owns The Greyhound, it has the happy result of maximising covers and insuring against the risk of no-shows, but the customer is left facing the possibility of a wasted journey or a long wait for a table.

On the recent Sunday lunch that we visited, we went to Besselsleigh in the knowledge (gathered on the phone the previous evening) that the booking list had closed. Rosemarie was assured that we would still be accommodated, but to minimise the risk of disappointment we decided to travel out (by route 66 bus) a little earlier than originally planned. It was as well we did, because by 1.15pm the tables inside were full and people were resorting to sitting in the slightly chilly garden.

A popular place, then? Yes, and deservedly so, for in the few weeks that it has been open in its new guise the pub has shown itself to be supplying food well up to the standard set in other of the company’s houses. The aforementioned publicity leaflet boasted that all 16 of Brunning & Price’s properties figure in the Good Pub Guide. I dare say The Greyhound will soon be joining them.

Before I tell you what we had for our lunch, let me mention a few of the other highlights of that day’s menu to give a picture of the sort of dishes available here.

There were starters like wild mushroom pannacotta, warm pigeon, pear and hazelnut salad, and a sharing plate of charcuterie. Among ‘light bites’ were a sushi salad of seared tuna, and asparagus, feta and broad bean quiche. Main courses included braised rabbit, bacon and spring vegetable broth, cauliflower, chick pea and almond tagine, warm king prawn, pineapple and toasted cashew salad, and a full range of roasts.

Like the sound of it? You would certainly have liked the taste of the dishes we tried.

To start, I went with one of the ‘light bites’ – a sizeable chunk of an absolutely delicious pork terrine. The meat was coarsely chopped and blended with dried apricots and pistachio nuts. There was an accompanying salad featuring apple, celery and – an inspired addition – slices of pickled walnut. Its size was such that it would in itself, with the good quality bread supplied, have made a perfectly adequate lunch for anyone with a modest appetite.

Rosemarie’s starter was an Oxford Blue and spring onion fritter, which she enjoyed despite the fact that its interior was, in her opinion, “too wet”. It, too, had an well-matched accompaniment in a beetroot relish. She continued with a beef, ale and mushroom pie, which she thought first-class. There were big pieces of exceptionally tender meat in a rich gravy totally enclosed in splendid shortcrust pastry. With it came buttered mash and an appealing mixture of cabbage, kale and leeks.

My main course was an expertly cooked grilled cod loin, topped with brown shrimp butter, and served with wilted spinach, roast tomatoes and fondant potatoes. After this I still had room for a selection of British cheeses – including particularly good Oxford Blue, Green’s mature cheddar and Cerney goat’s cheese. As well as celery and biscuits, there was an excellent apple and date chutney and a very welcome chunk of fruit cake. I have often enjoyed cheese and cake at home but this was, I think, the first time I have found the combination offered in a restaurant. Others should follow suit.

To accompany the cheese, I drank a glass of the quaffable house Italian red wine. We had already enjoyed the house white, the refreshingly appley Villa Moncaro Marche Bianco. Rosemarie finished the last drops with her pudding: dark chocolate and hazelnut cheesecake with “boozy” – ie, alcohol-soaked – cherries.

The restaurant can be contacted on 01865 862110.