Last updated at 09:49, Monday, 08 March 2010

Barrasford, Hexham, Northumberland NE48 4AA Tel: 01434 681237 Web: www.barrasfordarms.co.uk

THE North Tyne Valley is one of Britain's most idyllic environments. It is beautiful, accessible and colourful in every season. It also embraces The Barrasford Arms.

Multi award-winning chef Tony Binks has transformed this handsome, honey-coloured 19th Century coaching inn into one of the North East's finest dining locations where the best in regional dishes are laced with French inspiration and the joie de vivre he absorbed from his mentor, the great Albert Roux.

Fresh, locally sourced ingredients arrive daily in the kitchen for a deliberately concise, seasonally-evolving menu. Fresh visitors also arrive daily from Southern Scotland and North Yorkshire, the coast and Cumbria and leave highly impressed by simply cooked, beautifully-presented dishes. Diners have been known to ask which field the lamb came from - and Tony can usually point to it.

Three distinctly-different dining rooms and impressively-attentive staff have contributed to the accolade Destination Restaurant of the Year, yet the traditional bar retains its long-standing status as a watering-hole for the local community. It is also a delightful attraction for visitors who can relax in 'old shoe' comfort or keep tabs on hotly-contested vegetable shows, lively quoits tournaments and darts matches with a competitive edge.

A huge fireplace, hand-pulled real ales, a varied and creative wine list and a beer garden overlooking pastureland with wooded valleys beyond add to the ambience and contribute to inclusion in the Michelin Guide and The Good Pub Guide. Several well-appointed, en-suite bedrooms attract guests from all over the country, some to explore Hadrian's Wall Country on foot and others to completely unwind. It's for long lunches, swift f good conversation, bar 1 or relaxed dinners.

The Barrasford Arms: Noted for food, impressive with people.

First published at 15:50, Tuesday, 23 February 2010
Published by http://www.atasteofnorthumberland.co.uk