THE sparkle of glass and gleaming flatware from the candle-lit tables set out in the dining rooms of The Greyhound on The Test in Stockbridge at the start of a busy Saturday night drew gasps of admiration from my table companions and myself, on our arrival.

This heralded the start of a very good dinner and sociable evening in this archetype of Hampshire inns and now for some years a gastropub of repute and standing, including it being named Michelin’s Pub of the Year for 2014.

We started with a bottle of Cottonworth Blanc de Blanc — a sparkling wine that has hardly travelled any ‘winemiles’, being that the vineyard is only a few miles up the Test Valley from Stockbridge. Local sourcing is again evident in some dishes.

The Greyhound offers a two or three course set menu at £13.50 and £18.95 respectively, a carte of seven starters from £5.50 to £9.00 (the latter for a Carpaccio of Hampshire Venison, no less) and various ‘On Toasts’ that can be flexed as a starter or an ‘economical’ main course (£4.50/£8.95).

There are eight mains, a daily special and a short shellfish and crustacean menu.

I enjoyed a good platter of charcuterie to start with and then an excellent rare rib eye steak presented carved with chateaubriand sauce (£24.00).

This came with triple cooked chips and a side order of kale (£3.50). A warm chocolate fondant followed (£6.95).

Wines start with about 12 house selections ranging from just under £19 to £27 and these are also offered by the glass. There was also a wider selection of some interesting bins which would certainly excite a large party of dining oenophiles given that the prices appear to reflect a reasonable margin.

The service was friendly and informal and certainly judging by the packed tables and buzz in this establishment, diners from around the county are packing the restaurant out.

Derek Kane