Hotel of the week

The Carpenters Arms, Great Wilbraham, near Cambridge

WHERE AND WHY: Serving the community for more than 250 years, this beautiful village pub/restaurant with rooms sits on the High Street of Great Wilbraham.

The Chestnut hospitality group’s latest addition, it has just been given a fabulous makeover, a double-height glazed rear extension housing the dining room, open kitchen and bar.

The space is divided by slim white trunks of silver birch trees and comfy high-backed seating. While the original fireplaces and exposed beams remain, they are contrasted by a kaleidoscopic colour palette.

Our family room featured a kingsized bed, the enormous headboard upholstered with a gorgeous fabric of rainbow-coloured animals. There was a pull-out sofa bed for the kids, a sparkling ensuite and the room key cleverly doubled as a flask to store milk for hot drinks in the room. ON THE MENU: For starters, the mozzarella, sweet tomatoes, grilled peach and prosciutto salad was made with top-quality ingredients, while the Devon Crab tart was a masterclass of smooth creamy texture and delicate flavour.

Moving on to mains, the cod was pan-fried to perfection with crispy, seasoned skin, the polenta light and buttery with salsa verde adding zing. However, it’s the steak and chips which lures many a diner, so I am thrilled to report the 10oz ribeye arrived pink-tomedium, as requested, the hand-cut chips piping hot, crispy and fluffy.

The desserts matched the colour scheme – candy pink raspberry and chocolate torte with macaroon and a lemon tart with raspberry sorbet, a delightful finale to a meal we didn’t want to end.

If you want to know where the ingredients come from, flip the menu to find a map – crab from Cromer, Brancaster mussels, pork from Blythburgh, onions from Thetford.

We also loved the breakfast set-up. Serve yourself homemade granola, croissants and jam, and boil your own egg by dunking it in the egg bath. WHILE YOU’RE THERE: The university city of Cambridge is seven miles west. We parked in Lammas Land car park, then walked along the River Cam, dodging the cows which command the towpath, to hire a punt. WAKE-UP CALL: Doubles from £112.50 B&B. carpentersarmswilbraham.co.uk