THE word from Wensleydale had been persistent and consistent. The Sandpiper Inn in Leyburn had to be checked out for the quality of Jonathan Harrison's modern British cooking, we had been told by more than one local foodie.

To be fair we had tried. There was the occasion during the first Dales Festival of Food and Drink when the town was so packed a meal could not be had anywhere, let alone in a place so celebrated as the Sandpiper. And then there was January when we discovered the place closes for the best part of a month. Clearly, you can have too much of a good thing.

Because the recommendations for the Sandpiper had been so fulsome, we felt it demanded the most rigorous of tests. Reinforcements would be needed so our Coverdale companions, Howard and Carrol, accompanied us.

It was a special place for them, having held their wedding reception there 24 years previously. However, they assured me they would not allow such soppy sentimentality to cloud their judgment and promised to bring the full force of their culinary criticism to bear upon the proceedings.

We met in the bar area of what is still, nominally, a pub and chose from the menu which is displayed on a blackboard above the fire plus a couple of additional starters and main courses which were reeled off by the waitress. The Sandpiper doesn't do menus so you need to pay attention.

Our table in the adjacent dining room was attractively laid and the Sandpiper immediately passed the pepper mill test - every table had one. The atmosphere was cosy without being claustrophobic.

With a reasonably-priced bottle of Chablis (£19.50) to sharpen our appetites, the starters were eagerly anticipated and did not disappoint. Howard and Carrol described their spinach and watercress soups (£4.50) as substantial and full of spinach flavour. Sylvia's crab and salmon cake with a red pepper mayonnaise (£5.50) was crispy on the outside but light and almost fluffy on the inside with the chunky flakes of salmon winning the flavour battle with the crab on points. My apple-smoked black pudding (£6.50) was remarkable for its subtleness - not something one tends to find in something which is normally so robustly flavoured.

For their main courses the Coverdale twosome opted for grilled swordfish with red onion (£13). Clearly they were feeling very much at one with each other but there was some divergence of opinion over the fish: Carrol thought it as good as any she had tasted, Howard thought he had tasted better in Malta. Which prompted a bit of a debate about whether a dish eaten on holiday on a balmy summer's evening in the Med can ever be compared with the same eaten on a chilly Spring evening in Britain. This was inconclusive but our friends did agree it was a beautifully-cooked piece of fish nevertheless.

The fillet of beef with five onions and Shiraz sauce (£15) more than passed muster with Sylvia and my local fillet of lamb with spinach, tomato and basil (£13.50) was well executed. The lamb was of singular flavour, if not the tenderest I have eaten.

Slightly surprisingly, we felt we could tackle sweets, which are all priced at £4.50. Howard and I agonised over whether to go for the creme brulee or the bread and butter pudding. We compromised with Howard opting for the former and I the latter. Howard got the better of the deal with a brulee that had the most crispy of toppings and the smoothest of custards. My pudding was on the sloppy side but delicious all the same. Carrol's lime and lemon parfait with strawberries somehow managed to be rich and light at the same time while Sylvia's selection of cheeses included the incomparable (sorry, Hawes creamery) Wensleydale made by Suzanne Stirk at Jervaulx, and Swaledale blue.

Service was pleasant and unobtrusive. The bill, which included the Chablis and four coffees, totalled 5p short of £120. For three courses and cooking of this quality, £30 a head's a steal.

We headed homeward glad we'd heeded the siren call of Wensleydale's culinary champions.