The evening menu will please the traditionalists, with dishes like posh fish and chips (£13.50) and roasted English lamb with smoked bacon and spring onion mash (£20.25), but also the more experimental. My starter of warm smoked local pigeon with rhubarb compote and fennel and rye bread (£6.75) was exceptional and the halibut with harissa risotto and crispy spinach and onion (£15.25) was beautifully cooked although the strong taste of onion rather overwhelmed the delicate fish.

Desserts were sensational (the pudding chef also does wonderful fresh bread to start) – my thyme pannacotta, almond macaroon, red wine and kirsch sauce with pistachio nuts (£6.95) was a perfect blend of flavours, although I did envy the table next door’s choice of warm dark chocolate fondant, which oozed molten chocolate and came with crushed honeycomb, toffee and almond ice cream.

Breakfast, which is included for guests (£7.25 for continental for non-guests and £9.75 for cooked breakfast) was simple but delicious – more homemade breads and pastries, cereals, yoghurt and fruit salads and stewed fruits. The porridge with honey was top class, as were the oak smoked kippers.

It set us up nicely for a day in the sunshine on the beach at nearby Holkham, although I secretly prayed for rain - a good excuse to retreat back to the Hoste and try their fish and chips...

Bottom line: There’s a complex room rate structure which is explained on the hotel’s excellent website. But rooms start from £114 a night in the quieter seasons.

Best thing: the food and the service are a tie

Worst thing: the drab bathroom

Access all areas: the Hoste is wheelchair accessible from the car park and has bedrooms on the groundfloor, that are wheelchair accessible. In addition there is a disabled bathroom in the conservatory area on the ground floor.

Need to know: Hoste Arms, Burnham Market, tel. 01328 738777; www.hostearms.co.uk

Food: 9 out of 10

Service: 10 out of 10

Room: 7 out of 10

Value: 8 out of 10

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