IN the grand scheme of things, I truly appreciated being reminded by Mrs FM, as we sat in the back garden, watching the most glorious sunset, while sipping a glass of very fine Montrachet, we have a most satisfyingly undemanding family.

While The Daughter is happily married, The Boy managed to avoid the seemingly customary drugs, drink and motor car-related incidents that have afflicted some of our neighbours' offspring. We are many times blessed.

I was mindful of these factors, as The Boy and Yours Truly were led to our table at the Lord Nelson pub, in the charming village of Winthorpe, by Jacob, our waiter for the evening. Smiling, friendly and very welcoming. As he handed us a menu apiece, the young man explained that the pub was under new management and he hoped that we would enjoy our meals.

Although I had been unaware of The Boy's industriousness, he has been partaking of some form of advanced driver education and had passed not one but two different stages of qualification and Mrs FM was eminently delighted to send us out for din-dins, by way of carrying out a restaurant review and rewarding him for his efforts.

Besides, I was informed that he should be allowed to drive, to show off his new talents. I was highly impressed by his smoothness and display of immense care on the road and he was not in the least evangelical towards me, a complete surprise. Anyway, the last time we visited Winthorpe and the Lord Nelson was four years ago.

Mrs FM and I rated it quite highly at that time. The menu has altered a lot since then, which is what comes with new owners. From a fairly typical eight starters, The Boy selected the Thai fishcakes and I chose the French onion soup, to be followed by lambs liver and sirloin steak respectively from a menu predominated by steaks.

As The Boy described his training regime, none of which I had been aware of taking place, he explained that it would help to reduce a crippling insurance premium and make him less susceptible to having accidents. Jacob delivered our starters.

The French onion soup was sweet-edged, with deliciously browned and soft onions in a well-rounded broth, topped with four, soft cheesy croutons. It was wondrously homely. The Boy's fishcakes were crisply edged and a lovely concoction of around 50 per cent white fish blended with mashed potato, accompanied by a sweet chilli sauce and a vinaigrette dressed green and red frisee salad. It was first-class and generous.

Although unusual to engage the waiter in chit-chat, we both found Jacob to be charming and possessing a superb and mature sense of humour. He explained that he was enduring sixth form education in Sleaford but was grateful for the evening and weekend employment. The table was cleared quickly and our mains were delivered.

The Boy's medium sirloin looked magnificent propped against a stack of eight enormous, golden-brown chips, accompanied by five battered onion rings, some sautéed mushrooms and a whole, skinless beef tomato. It sliced beautifully, was slightly under-cooked but was of such an excellent cut that it was both very flavoursome and non-stringy. The chips, which were more like door-stops, were superbly well-fried, with crispy outers and floury innards, while the mushrooms were described as "awesome", the steamed tomato was sweet and the onion rings were stunning.

My tender lamb's liver consisted of several varying thickness slices of the pan-fried offal, served in a rich onion gravy, accompanied by a square block of finely mashed potato, containing bacon chips, topped by two slivers of dried streaky bacon and a side dish containing lightly buttered carrot batons, mange-tout and French green beans.

Again, it was of most generous portion, was exceptionally flavoursome and possessed enough different textures to make a fairly rudimentary dish most beguiling. Attentive but not overly so, Jacob explained that his older sister had worked at the pub in previous years and that he was carrying on a tradition. We understood that he had just returned from a trekking holiday in the Sahara.

His charming manners and highly efficient service were making our evening meal a genuine pleasure and considering that he was the only waiter, serving several tables, that he made us feel as though it were personal service was much to his credit.

We elected to have a dessert, two scoops of smooth vanilla ice-cream for The Boy, topped by toffee sauce, and a large portion of the sticky toffee sponge for me, also swimming in the lovely caramel sauce, which proved to be a fitting end to an excellent meal, at just over an averagely expensive £25 per head including our drinks.

At a time when young people are sometimes unfairly vilified and too many generalisations are made, I could tell that young Jacob would be making his parents as proud as I am of our son (and daughter). I recommend the village pub (just off the A1133, near Newark) for its warm welcome, first-class menu and excellent service.

WHERE: Lord Nelson, Winthorpe, Notts, NG24 2NN.

TELEPHONE: 01636 703578.

THE DAMAGE: French onion soup – £4.50; Thai fishcakes – £5.45; lambs liver – £10.95; sirloin steak – £14.96; vanilla ice cream – £4.95; sticky toffee pudding – £4.95; J2O – £2; bottle of Corona lager – £2.90.

TOTAL: £50.65.

FINAL VERDICT: Exceedingly good food, in generous portions, served excellently in a pleasing environment.