THERE are few restaurants in the Furness area which I haven't visited.

When one of my colleagues reported on a group of celebrities eating at the Clarke's Hotel at Rampside I realised I had never been there and vowed to visit soon.

Abigail and I took my colleague Michael Thomas and his girlfriend Naomi for tea one Saturday night.

We were impressed at the range of dishes in the menu and also by the option to have each dish as a lighter meal or a full plate.

We went straight for mains and I chose the grilled gammon steak (£13.50) which instantly caught my attention because it includes egg AND pineapple.

It always annoys me when restaurants make you choose between the two because for me you simply have to have both with gammon.

Quite often with gammon the meat can be tough and hard to chew but this piece was quite possibly one of the best I've ever had. The meat was juicy, thick, and packed with flavour.

Abigail went for the same from the children's menu - a much smaller portion of course but still more than enough for a four-year-old. We all commented on how her plate appeared to have a full tin of peas on it (which is absolutely fine by Abigail as she loves peas).

Naomi chose the Clarke's burger - a stack of two homemade mince burgers between soft buns and topped with three chunky onion rings (£11.95).

The relish which came with her burger was so tasty and had plenty of kick to it.

Michael had the lamb which somehow surpassed my gammon with the quality of the meat.

It literally melted in the mouth and contained hardly any fat. The gravy was sweet and rich and we all helped to mop up any leftover with our chips.

I was a little disappointed with the lack of choice on the dessert menu but this didn't bother Abigail who always chooses strawberry and chocolate ice cream.

For three adults and one child, with two drinks each, it came to £77 which was very reasonable. We'll definitely be returning.

RATINGS

Food 5

Service 4.5

Value 4

Atmosphere 4

Pros

Quality of ingredients

Very reasonable

Cons

Interior is a bit dated