Oak Tree Inn, Helperby

West of Easingwold, north of York and mid-way between the A1 and the A19, the Oak Tree at Helperby is one of the Provenance Inn’s group of seven pub/restaurants with rooms (Carpenters Arms, Crown & Cushion, Punch Bowl, Durham Ox, Black Bull at Moulton and the West Park Hotel).

The Oak Tree was a total wreck until they spent 12 months and a small fortune all but rebuilding it and creating a place worth eating and staying. There are six beautifully fitted out bedrooms, a comfortable stone flagged bar and a dining room painted the groups hallmark burgundy, a wall of wallpaper books and a collection of silver teapots. Outside is a dining courtyard and as in all the Provenance Inns, a glamorous private dining room.

So far, so Provenance, another inn that looks good with an A3 all-day menu of reasonably priced food and a range of dishes to suit all tastes. The menus may look the same but the chef at each inn is allowed his head. At the Oak Tree the a la carte offers crowd pleases like steak and ale pie, butter chicken curry, pork belly with fondant potatoes. though the veggie options extend only to beetroot wellington or Margherita pizza and bean burger.

Desserts are comfort dishes such as sticky toffee pudding and treacle sponge and custard. Produce comes largely from owner Chris Blundell, magnificent kitchen garden at his home at Mount St John, near Felixkirk where surplus fruit and vegetables find their way into the Provenance kitchens and onto your plate. It’s as good a reason as any to eat here, as well as decent food at decent prices in charming surroundings.