Old Farmhouse, Ulverston

I LIKE a good banquette, me. I also like booths. So when I arrived at the Old Farmhouse in Ulverston one evening this week, I was pleased to be directed to a booth with a banquette – my visit had got off to a good start, even if the banquette had most definitely seen better days.

My husband and I were there because the Old Farmhouse has recently changed hands. The previous owners have left and it has been taken over, I am told, by one of their staff members. Would it have changed much under a new regime?

On the busy Priory Road in Ulverston, the pub is well situated, with a large (if noisy from road traffic) beer garden, plenty of parking and a roomy restaurant area behind the main bar.

It's been a popular fixture for decades now and has become known for its good food. Settled in our booth, we studied the menu. I've decided that in another life I should forge a career as a freelance menu proofreader – it's a wide open market. The Old Farmhouse menu seems to have been written by someone who has never heard of a full stop, with descriptions of food running into each other; and with random quotation marks dropped around certain words, for no reason whatsoever.

For starters we decided to share some spare ribs braised in a chilli broth and glazed with hoisin sauce £5.95). Two Flintstone-sized ribs appeared, with meat which fell off the bone. Gordon liked them but I really, really didn't. The hoisin glaze was all but absent from the meat itself and I found the texture of the meat almost slimy – this dish wasn't for me at all. I like a bit of a tussle with a spare rib, and lots of sticky sauce to contend with, too. This was more like a slightly odd lamb shank.

For our main courses I had chosen "our" Cumberland pie (why the need for quotation marks round "our" is anyone's guess), while Gordon went all Loo-tenant Columbo and ordered a bowl of chilli.

Both were just great and at £12.50 and £11.35 respectively, quite good value. "Our" Cumberland pie was a clearly homemade affair, packed with gammon, chicken and Cumberland sausage, in a creamy and cheesy sauce and with crisp pastry. It was very good indeed, and accompanied by some excellent crispy, golden, chunky chips.

The veg had been rather clumsily prepared and really should have had a nice buttery glaze to tart them up, but that's my only complaint.

Gordon adored his chilli, which came with basmati rice and a pile of tortilla chips. The meat was chunks of tender beef, rather than the more usual mince. It was high quality and the great Columbo (legendary for his love of chilli) would have approved.

I was expecting Gordon to morph into the dishevelled detective any minute and start saying "just one more thing, ma'am..." to the waitress, but he didn't.

The pub was relatively quiet for a mid-week evening, so I was able to have a good old gander at the decor. On the whole, it's looking a tad dated. Burgundy Chesterfield sofas in the restaurant's seating area are very 1990s, the upholstery on the banquette I was sitting on was well past its best, and the nick nacks on the shelves also looked as if they'd been there for years.

Perhaps the new regime is planning a makeover, which would most definitely breathe new life into the place. And while they're at it, I hope they turn their attention to the ladies' loos, which is presently home to possibly the world's noisiest hand drier. It's so loud I thought I was in danger of developing tinnitus after using it.

For pudding we had wanted a vanilla panna cotta, but they had run out. So we shared that northern pub staple, a sticky toffee pudding, which came with English Lakes ice-cream. The pudding was delicious and light, the ice cream lovely and creamy. And at under a fiver, good value. Eschewing the "coffee and tea's" on offer, as any self-respecting punctuation purist would do, we took our leave and went home, feeling generally well satisfied with our visit to the Old Farmhouse. Good food and good value.

The place needs a bit of an update but it's getting it right where it matters.

Louise Allonby

Ratings (out of five)

Food: 4

Atmosphere: 3

Value: 4

Service: 4

Pros

Serves food all day

Plenty of space

Large bar

Cons

Bit dated inside now

Beer garden noisy