IT'S pretty weird to be back at The Volunteer.

The last time I came to this idiosyncratically-perched roadside tavern I was about ten years old and called it the Funny Tree Pub because it had a fibreglass treehouse in the garden. Inside was cheap and cheerful, and the only food I remember having was grated cheese sandwiches on white bread and ready salted crisps.

Since then the pub closed, suffered an aborted reboot as an American Diner with an in-house car wash, and, last year, to everyone's amazement, was brought back from the ashes by mum and daughter Debbie and Jacqueline Cox as what we used to call a gastropub.

As we walk in, the first thing that strikes you is that the space is very cosy – about ten tables as well as a leather seating area, but minimalist decor stops it from feeling claustrophobic.

After we are shown to our table, our hostess points out the specials including jambalaya and hake in a white wine sauce.

The only vegetarian option on the menu is a homemade vegetable curry and, given it's Sunday lunchtime, we ask if there is any chance of getting a vegetarian version of the roast dinner.

After a dash in to see the chef, our hostess returns and tells that although it's not on the menu they can cook us a veggie wellington if we're happy to wait a bit longer.

We are, so we order bread and olives to start (£3.95) – tasty warm foccacia with a little pot of olive oil and thick, sticky balsamic vinegar.

When the mains arrive I have fish and chips (£9.95): standard crispy batter, thick, fluffy chips, a ramekin full of peas and a little pot of sauce which tasted like a taramasalata.

I am told the veggie wellington is good and my dad, who had the real roast, seems pretty happy too.

For desert I have an espresso but I steal a spoonful of the fruity crumble and it's a delicious little pot of sweet oaty topping and tangy compote.

If the food isn't Michelin star dining, at £60 for the three of us it's not breaking the bank either, and we are all well-stuffed as we waddle out the door.

And, as Mastercard would say, the trip down memory lane? Priceless.

The Volunteer Inn, Station Road, Grove. 01235 770503.