The White Hart Royal Hotel, Moreton-in-Marsh

For my birthday we had a superb meal, and Zara and Stefan were friendly and efficient. They made a real effort to make sure we both enjoyed ourselves. The food was brilliant, too. Compliments to the chef and the whole team, keep it up.

The staff were patient and attentive from the planning stage right through to our goodbyes. I arranged a Christmas meal here for 17 family members of all ages, since it's well placed for people travelling from both east and west of the UK by car or train. We sorted out menus and choices with the hospitality team in advance, then had a warm welcome and a beautifully cooked meal served quickly. Everyone was enthusiastic about the food, the staff, the atmosphere and the location. We had a lovely private room, with children's books to keep a three-year-old occupied. Afterwards, we had tea and coffee in the cosy lounge, where the young ones enjoyed the board games. The portions were generous and every plate was cleared. Our thanks and best wishes to the whole team.

Zara, our waitress, was attentive and made sure we had everything we needed for our birthday meal. The food was excellent: the blade of beef was cooked just right, and the mash and red wine jus went beautifully with it.

The open fire made the place especially welcoming on a cold evening, and the staff were friendly and the service excellent. We came twice in two days, first for drinks and then for dinner. The menu was broad and had more gluten-free options than I've come across before. We shared the sourdough starter with salted Gloucestershire butter, which was divine. I had the beef blade on mash with mushrooms and shallots in jus. It was so tender it melted to the touch, and the mash, onions, wilted spinach and baby mushrooms were delicious. I polished it off quickly. My husband chose the homemade chicken and tarragon pie, which he said was freshly roasted, pulled chicken with a lovely tarragon flavour and plenty of filling. The pastry was perfect, and his generous serving came with cabbage, kale, leeks, garden peas and good chips. Congratulations to the chef and team. We may even come back tomorrow for our last night. Highly recommend.