The King's Arms

42 Monkton Farleigh

Bradford on Avon

BA15 2QH

Monday-Thursday 12 noon-11pm

Friday-Saturday 12 noon-midnight

Sunday 12 noon-9pm

Disabled access: Possible to pub but some steps

Parking: Ample in car park

Our ratings:

Food: 7/10

Service: 8/10

Atmosphere: 8/10

Disabled access: Possible to pub but some steps

TripAdvisor rating: 4.5

IT'S A while since we went out to this pub, which we once used regularly as it made a very handy place for meeting friends from Bath, whether for a drink or a meal.

After a rather confused period and incarnations over the last few years, including a time when it was closed, it's now open and welcoming visitors again.

The Grade II listed building has lost none of its character and is, we were pleased to see, still decorated in traditional style with old pictures, bits of village history and memorabilia.

It's got quite a clean bright look even so, without having totally gone down the gastropub route.

It being a warm day, we chose to take our drinks out into the garden, which is decorated with huge wooden tables and chairs, some of which look as if they've been created from old wagon wheels.

They look lovely but they need a huge amount of muscle to lift them.

We'd ordered a pint of bitter and half of cider, and enjoyed them in the sun before our food arrived.

Glenn had chosen a home baked quiche, chips and a salad, which he said was very tasty, the quiche having lots of filling and the chips the desired light fluffy potato interior.

They were quite chunky chips, which did mean they were very hot when they arrived.

I'd decided to go for the slightly healthier option, a chicken breast with a Cajun crust served on couscous with a green salad - and then ruined it by falling for a side of crispy sweet potato fries.

I am told sweet potato counts as one of your five a day when real potato doesn't, so convinced myself this was the healthy option.

The chicken was delicious, a plump breast cooked so it was still juicy and with a lovely spicy crust on the top. I like couscous, so didn't find it hard to finish the portion and the fries were excellent.

I like my chips thin and crispy and these were great.

Our meals were brought out to us by a cheerful waitress who checked several times to make sure we had everything we wanted.

We wondered about pudding but decided against, and headed off, having paid our very reasonable bill which came to less than £30 with drinks.

Since our visit I see from its website that the pub has a new autumn menu which looks to have even more interesting dishes on it - mushroom suet pudding, for one, sounds intriguing. We will be back

ALISON PHILLIPS