As a recent convert to the delights of Thame, Katherine MacAlister found that The Old Trout lived up to the promise of the town's many shopping pleasures.

Have you been to Thame recently? No neither had I. I had filed it in my mind as a quaint market town with some nice restaurants but nothing earth-shattering and left it at that.

This preconception was blown out of the water when I popped in to visit the award-winning deli Umberto's, an Aladdin's cave of culinary treasures boasting everything from home-made pasta flown in from Tuscany to stuffed gnocchi and fresh olives. It's impossible to leave empty-handed, made doubly difficult by Umberto being the salesman of the century.

Further perusal of Thame introduced me to the delights of the new Steamware Cook Shop - a state-of-the-art kitchen shop that has you dribbling with envy at every gleaming machine and gadget, and again, one has to clutch one's purse hard to stop it from opening.

In fact, by the time you've had a good look around it's lunch-time, perfect timing if you want to try out some of the newer joints in town. The Birdcage, which specialises in locally sourced meat dishes, and perfectly situated right in the centre, was heaving when we arrived so instead we opted for The Old Trout at the other end of town.

Housed in a black-and-white timbered Elizabethan building boasting a 16th century history, we were led through to the courtyard garden where a fountain trickled and one was totally oblivious to the busy road outside. A haven of tranquillity indeed.

A quick chat with the barman told us everything we wanted to know. The Old Trout has recently been given an overhaul, with a new, predominantly English menu and fresh chef to boot.

Unfortunately, the waiter who came to serve us had such an thick eastern European accent we didn't understand a word he was saying, even when we asked him to repeat himself twice, so in true British form we opted for what we could read on the menu rather than risk the soup of the day.

Being sunny an' all, and being mums, poised to race back soberly in time for school pick-up, we all had salads, although there were some much more filling and delicious offerings on the menu. But these salads weren't your bog standard limp English versions of what in the Mediterranean is a celebrated dish.

WHAT WE ATE We had the Stilton, apple and walnut salad, and the feta cheese, roasted shallot and spinach salad. At the last moment, in a wild moment of abandonment, I threw in the Stilton rarebit with rocket salad and balsamic reduction as well because it sounded so delicious, and settled back to eat our warm, home-made rustic bread with proper butter, while sipping fizzy water.

SO, WAS IT ANY GOOD?

Oh, we were very pleased with ourselves. Not only was the setting lovely, but the food turned out to be delicious, prompt and the sun was out. The salads weren't just thrown together but carefully layered and built up on the plate and it was the ingredients that shone - simple food that tasted real and fresh.

ANY NEGATIVE POINTS? The conservatory was a bit shabby, so it's out or in here, but not in between.

VERDICT Nothing was too much trouble. They even pureed some strawberries up for baby food and didn't charge us for it. Definitely well worth a visit, affordable and far enough away from the madding crowd.