I FIRST visited Hartley's in Dalton more than a decade ago when I first moved to Barrow (that makes me feel very old!).

My 'go-to' dish back then was Eggs Benedict which was heavenly - a perfectly-poached egg served on crusty bread with asparagus.

Sadly, yet not surprisingly, Eggs Benedict no longer features on the menu but there's plenty to choose from.

The menu's range was pretty impressive - nine different starters including salt and pepper squid (£5.25), grilled quesadilla (£5.25) and French onion soup £4.95).

But it's the extensive main course menu which really leaves you spoilt for choice.

There are 12 'normal' mains on offer including tiger prawns and chorizo tossed in garlic butter with a spinach and tomato salad with new potatoes (£15.95), roast rump of Lakeland lamb with potato pave, roast beetroot, honey roast vegetables and gravy (£18.95) and baked mushroom with goats cheese, aubergine and roasted red pepper, salad and crusty bread (£13.95).

Then there are 13 different pizzas (£9.95-£12.50), five risotto dishes (£12.95-£13.55) and six pasta dishes (£12.95-£17.50).

After lengthy consideration my friend Tim and I opted for the same (a food review no-no but we weren't budging).

We both had the baked Camembert and pesto served with crusty bread (£6.50).

There are few comfort foods which can beat runny Camembert to dip your crusty bread into and we ended up asking for extra bread.

I wasn't convinced the pesto (or the huge wad of parsley) was the right match, although that didn't stop us polishing off the lot.

We then had the rump steak served with fries (usually served with chunky chips but I prefer fries), mushroom, tomato and salad (£19.95).

We accompanied our steaks with a sauce - Diane for Tim and peppercorn for me (£2.50 each).

The peppercorn sauce really was the star of the show. I've never tasted a sauce as good as it - just the right consistency, plenty of peppercorns and full of flavour.

With a bottle of wine our meal came to £72. And it was worth every penny.

Food 4

Service 4

Value 4

Atmosphere 3

Pros

Plenty of choice

House bottles of wine just £15 a bottle

Cons

Gets busy so booking is a must