The Harp and Crown, Velley Hill, Gastard, Corsham. SN13 9PU.

(01249) 713205

Always on the lookout for somewhere interesting to eat, my husband’s eye was caught by a quirky notice outside the Harp and Crown at Gastard, on the edge of Corsham.

It said: “Fabulous food served here – no fishmonger ever sold stinking fish.”

It went on to list daily attractions such as a £6.95 meal deal on Tuesday evenings, Rodeo steak night on Wednesdays (“cowboy-sized portions”) and fish and chips to take out on Fridays.

And it was a free house, which usually means some interesting ales.

We didn’t bother to book as it was mid-week and were slightly surprised to find the reasonably-sized car park almost full. But we found a space and walked in out of a wet, windy night to a warm welcome from the drinkers at the bar and the person behind it who was barmaid and waitress. The licensee, Alison, was cooking that night.

There was a new ale on tap, Elmo’s from Moles Brewery in nearby Melksham, so we enjoyed that while we looked at the menu. As it was Rodeo Steak Night we decided to go with the flow. There was a choice of rump, ribeye, fillet or T-bone.

Had we not fancied steak there was plenty of choice. The specials board included venison, liver and bacon, smoked salmon pasta and cottage pie, and there were seven vegetarian options.

We both chose rump steak, preceded by a shared starter of mushroom and bacon crackpot, which had a delicately flavoured sauce and is one to pick again.

The pub is deceptively large. It has two dining rooms, one a large conservatory that opens out on to the garden. It also has a variety of drinking areas, standing, sitting around tables on upright chairs or lounging on sofas – all postures catered for it would seem.

We are pretty fussy about our steaks and these came up to scratch, rare, as we had requested and full of flavour. The scrunchy onion rings were clearly home-made – I have never seen anything so large and the chips were exceptional. Not only were they chunky, they were also crisp, possibly lightly coated in flour before being fried.

They were cowboy-sized portions as promised. But chocolate sponge pudding with ice cream is not to be turned down and my husband helped me out with it.

Our bill, including the beer and a bottle of very palatable wine came to £45.70.

We would have no hesitation in visiting again.

Serves lunch and evening meals

Own car park

Good range of vegetarian options

Themed evenings

Children’s play area

Real ale

Our Eating Out is an independent review carried out by the Gazette without prior knowledge of the owners.