A restaurant that’s not run of the mill

There can be few restaurants in the greater Peterborough area that look as good from the outside as Oundle Mill. Located just outside the pretty market town on the banks of the river it is a wonderful setting.

We arrived on a wild, wet and windy Saturday lunchtime but despite this the old water mill still looked as if it was posing for a picture postcard. It is a building created at a time in history when even the most functional architecture seemed to possess an inherent beauty.

Inside the decor is smart, modern and minimalistic, which contrasts nicely with the ancient walls - much classier than the cosy coachhouse look owners of some older buildings adopt.

The restaurant is upstairs one flight and a special feature is part of the floor is reinforced glass that you can stand on and watch the rushing water go by.

Mind you, the people who own and work at the mill probably have mixed feelings about rushing water. It was not that long ago that the mill was flooded causing the restaurant to be closed for some time.The waitress told me they were keep a watchful eye on the river levels but were fearful of a repeat.

The restaurant had few diners although it was a late lunch (2pm) and when I’d tried to book before Christmas I had not been able to get a table.

Two menus were on of- fer - a set one (£18 for three courses or £15 for two) and the Mill Menu which was al a carte (considerable more pricey).

My wife, who loves a bargain, particularly at the postChristmas sales time of the year, nobly opted for the set menu, while unusually for me and my Yorkshire heritage, I decided to splash out and went for the Mill Menu.

To start I opted for the Norfolk Shellfish bisque, garlic rouille, and fried croutons (£6), that also came accompanied by a little pot of parmesan. The rich red soup was packed full of flavours of the sea including a generous portions of prawns.

My wife opted for the English Muffin, baby spinach, poached hen’s egg and hollandaise (£3) and was equally delighted with her perfectly boiled runny egg and rich yellow sauce that was a match made in heaven for the soft muffin and iron-rich spinach.

She was equally delighted with her main course of braised pork faggot, baked English onion, Maris Piper, cavolo nero and gravy (£12). The streaky bacon-wrapped faggot was spicy and moist and better than any sausage that I’ve ever tasted. I just didn’t want to know exactly what offal it consisted of.

I opted for the Suffolk Longhorn beef rump, braised ox cheek, cavolo nero, caramelised swede, baked English onion and haggis beignet (£23.95).

Now don’t get me wrong I enjoyed my main too – but as I looked at the glaring similarities between a lot on our plates I did wonder whether