DENISE BARKLEY enjoys an excellent dinner at a Thame eaterie which first found fame through TV’s The Restaurant

IF there is a company that appears to be bucking the trend in credit crunch Britain it is the Oxfordshire based Peach Pub Company, which has three buzzy establishments in the county, and several more elsewhere.

I have eaten in all three in Oxfordshire — The Fishes at North Hinksey, The Fleece at Witney and The Thatch at Thame — in the past couple of months, and all have been busy with diners and drinkers.

It was at The Thatch that four of us dined most recently and, once again, we enjoyed an innovative and tasty meal in the convivial surroundings of this lovely pub, which came to national attention a year or so ago when the first winners of Raymond Blanc’s TV competition The Restaurant took it on. Unfortunately, Jeremy and Jane Hooper shipped out pretty quickly, but Peach moved in and have been doing great things there ever since.

We enjoyed a delicious dinner from the Spring menu and, between the four of us, we got a wide overview of the dishes.

Seated at the scrubbed wooden tables typical of Peach Pub establishments, we were soon nibbling on bread and butter and debating our choices.

I started with haddock smoky — chunks of smoked haddock in gratin style — accompanied by a hunk of granary bread and side salad. It was delicious if pretty filling for a starter!

My husband had the creamy garlic button mushrooms on toast, which he pronounced excellent. Again, it was a substantial portion. My son’s choice was the starter-sized pea and broad bean risotto and his wife had the lamb souvlaki — substantial chunks of tender lamb served in a toasted pitta with a herb salad and mint yoghurt.

The guys both went for a steak main course and enjoyed the 8oz Newitt’s ribeye with chips, peppercorn sauce and a shared side of mixed leaf salad.

My daughter-in-law had the pan-fried scallops, three juicy ones sitting on pea puree sprinkled with crispy pancetta and with a red wine shallot dressing.

My choice was the braised pork belly, with crispy crackling, served with roast apple, celeriac puree and black pudding (which I passed to my son, as I am not a fan of this currently fashionable accompaniment).

I was too full for pudding, but the guys both had one of the specials — a fruit fool — and daughter-in-law Hannah had the suitably gooey treacle tart with clotted cream.

It was an all-round excellent meal, good value, and with faultless service — another laudable feature of Peach Pubs which I have come to expect.

■ The Thatch, 29-30 Lower High Street, Thame OX9 2AA, tel: 01844 214340, www.thethatchthame.co.uk