Jeremy Austin gets a warm glow after a cosy bar meal in Cookham IT was my lager-loving colleague Steve Warren's recent visit to the Old Swan Uppers that sparked my cobwebbed Features Editors brain to come up with the idea for this month's food reviews.

He commented how snug it was. Just what we need now that winter has set in, I thought, a place to go to eat and warm up.

The Old Swan Uppers, Cookham, is certainly cosy.

Very old looking beams cross the bar area at dangerously low levels.

The stone floor lacks only straw and discarded nut shells to give it a really authentic, 200-year-old feel.

Two vast stoves appear to be set into the walls at either end of the bar. Neither, however, was lit, but it still felt warm and cosy.

Predictably, the first review was carried out on an evening that was unseasonably warm. Ho hum.

The Old Swan Uppers has a restaurant attached to it which seems a lot more modern and a lot less snug.

It's not open on Mondays, so my wife and I sat in the bar and chose from the bar food menu, which isn't radically different from that served in the restaurant and is available until 9.30pm.

Cookham is a very desirable area and the food prices, although not outrageously expensive, reflect that; food is a little bit more expensive than might be found in a town centre.

But you pays for what you get.

Everything we had was delicious.

My leek and asparagus soup was rich and a little spicy. A warm roll was provided for dipping.

Halfway into it I already had a glow in the cheeks; and it wasn't from the way I was sitting, should anyone comment.

My wife's potato skins came with two very deep bowls of dips; one a spicy salsa, the other sweet and sour.

The skins, unlike those served in a chain restaurant, still had the 'flesh' of the potato attached to them. They were delicious and filling.

Had we wanted a light meal, they would have been more than adequate.

We didn't. We wanted the full Monty.

My pasta Provenal was served in a rich tomato sauce and topped with an ample amount of cheese.

It was served with a generous portion of salad. It steamed as I ploughed into it. Gorgeous.

By the time I had finished, the glow had moved from my cheeks to my entire face.

My wife ordered a hot beef and onion sandwich. The menu stated that it would be served with home-made fries. It arrived with what looked like more potato skins. A huge amount of food. I had to help eat it; although the rate at which it was attacked by my hungry dining companion suggested that maybe she didn't need my help after all. Wonderful.

Although the clock was ticking towards 10pm, serving us a third course was no trouble for the hugely accommodating staff.

At first, we displayed a remarkable knack for picking desserts that had run out, but we settled for bread and butter pudding served with cream. Fantastic. Not too custardy or stodgy.

Wonderfully tasty and very warm.

By the end my ears were glowing and didn't stop even after I had driven home, gone to bed and turned the light out. Soup: £2.95

Skins and dips: £4.50

Hot beef and onion sandwich: £4.50

Past provenale with mixed salad: £5.50

Bread and butter pudding: £2.95

Drinks: £5.95

Total: £23.40 Quality of food: Absolutely superb.

Quantity of food: Filled our troughs to bursting.

Staff: Wonderfully accommodating, although they were only two other people in the pub.

Would you recommend it? Yes.

Snug factor: Like slipping cold hands into a warm towel. The Old Swan Uppers, The Pound, Cookham (01628) 521324

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.