Do I cook, is a question I’m asked constantly. It’s a fair point, the onus being that if I can’t, how can I judge.

I do actually, not on any kind of professional level but I enjoy it, experiment, try new things, push the boat out. Not that having a good palate should be determined by whether you can concoct a decent meal in the kitchen. It does however mean you have a better understanding of what goes into a dish in terms of effort, technique, time and ingredients.

Mr Greedy therefore insists I never order anything I know I can probably make better myself at home.

But when I saw panzanella on the menu at The Crown and Thistle in Abingdon I had to have it, so rare is it in restaurants, and so delicious when made properly.

I tend to make it when away somewhere hot and sunny when juicy tomatoes and peppers are on tap, and wonderful breads and local olive oils available in the market. Panzanella is like a Mediterranean version of our bread and butter pudding – a way to use up stale bread with what you’ve got left in the fridge; the juices of the tomatoes, oil and vinegar mixing with the red onions, capers, peppers and stale bread until it all goes soggy. Heaven in a bowl and very simple.

Alongside the panzanella (£10) starter wise we ordered the pea and mint tortellini, the Saltimbocca scotch egg and the seasonal asparagus with hollandaise, the kids choosing garlic bread from their menu (three courses for £9) and while ordering we nibbled the generous halloumi chips with spicy tomato sauce which we loved.

They have changed the layout there, makingthe dining space at The Crown & Thistle less modern and more cosy, chopping it up into different rooms, for different moods and occasions, rather than one large space, making it more intimate, if less dynamic.

The children wanted to sit outside in the new al fresco area, but we had booked and out places were already laid inside.

To cut a long story short, the panzanella wasn’t what I was hoping for. It was a salad with all the right ingredients but none of the love. The bread was hard and toasted rather than soaked, the veg chopped and served with dressing, but none of that juicy, sodden, sun-kissed peasanty feel that kisses you on the mouth like a horny Sicilian.

The rest was more successful, the pasta wonderfully light and subtle, the pea and mint a seasonal and summery filling. The Scotch egg was enormous and much appreciated by a starving teen, the accompanying hollandaise sauce spot on, the yolk cooked just right so it dribbled when cut.

The grilled asparagus £6.50) with hollandaise was generous and stylish. The small fry were less lucky - their garlic bread was thoroughly burnt, impossible to eat and should never have been sent out.

I didn’t desist when they suggested I tried the calzone as a main, the wood-burning pizza oven another new addition. It's not something I eat very often, although I do make my own pizzas from time to time.. The dough was excellent, really good, some of the best I’ve tasted actually with just the right balance of chewy, doughy, crispy consistency with the black burnt bits I love so much as the dough bubbles in the wood-fired oven. It was the ingredients I disagreed with - borettane onions should never be found on a pizza, the mini pickled onions (albeit in balsamic) being hastily removed and put on the side, neither should the dry scrawny chewy bits of aubergine, which needed oiling and baking until soft and juicy before being allowed anywhere near my calzone. Once I’d taken out these two offenders it was delicious, although some decent olives rather than those tasteless, dry black ones which went out with the war, and no to feta in a pizza with mozzarella please.

The roast was massively appreciated both in size and components, a generous helping of well cooked beef, potatoes, gravy and veg all struggling to stay on the plate. It was already gravied when it arrived, rather than letting you pour it on yourself, slightly masking the individual flavours of the plate, but a small grumble. (£15)

The Caesar salad (£13) however was way too dry. It should be almost gloopy with that wonderful dressing and moist chunks of chicken, but the chicken breasts were overcooked, and left on the side.

The kids margherita pizza was great, shaped with horns, and probably the dish of the day.

I went all out for dessert ordering the toasted belgian waffle (£6.50) with chocolate sauce, salted caramel ice cream, which was a superbly light, crispy, hot of sweet and salt. The sticky toffee pudding was another favourite with a wonderful depth of flavour, the banoffee sundae (£6.50) less so, the burnt toffee sauce overpowering everything else.

So there we go, a bit hit and miss, but a lovely place for a family outing, catering to all tastes, accommodating everyone in this historic central hotel in the middle of Abingdon. And I tell you one thing, it sure beats cooking Sunday lunch yourself.