DENISE BARKLEY finds a trusty favourite has added some razzle-dazzle to make dining there more of an occasion.

In these days of ever more varied and sophisticated dining it is comforting to see that Beefeater retains a place in the heart of the British nation.

To be honest, when I gave it some thought I realised it must have been quite a while since I ate in one of these family-friendly restaurants. It was the kind of easy-going place we did indeed go to with the children — as they are now in their mid-20s you get an idea how long it has been!

I remember them providing reliable, if mundane, family favourites, with an emphasis on steak. Well Beefeater still bill themselves as ‘the home of chargrilling’, but they have moved with the times and, while still offering classic and reliable food, they have added a bit of razzle-dazzle to make their meals more of an occasion.

So you will see some international touches like lamb koftas with a minted sour cream and chive dip, chicken tikka skewers or mushroom tarte tatin with a chimi churi sauce (an Argentinian blend of chopped parsley, olive oil, garlic and fresh red chilli) — and that’s just the starters. For your main you might like smoked paprika chicken, a quesadilla wrap filled with brie and spinach, chargrilled sea bass fillets or a Mediterranean-style tomato risotto.

However, if you prefer Beefeater’s tried and tested recipes, all the old favourites are there — from every kind and size of steak to pasta and salads.

There are three Beefeater pub-cum-restaurants in Oxfordshire — The Mitre in Oxford city centre, The Ock Mill at Abingdon and the one I was invited to try, The Longwall, at Oxford Business Park, next door to the Premier Inn. The new spring menu, along with wines chosen by renowned wine expert Matthew Jukes, had just been launched, so I was happy to take up the offer, accompanied by my friend Clare.

The Longwall is large and buzzing, in both the pub and restaurant. It has no pretences, but it is, as we discovered, very good at what it does.

Our lovely waitress Stacey soon had us seated at a nice table, thoughtfully tucked away in a quietish corner. It takes a while to read the menu, but the main theme is definitely meat, with emphasis on the ability to choose your accompaniments (mixed salad, tomato and mushroom, coleslaw or ‘Beefeater spiral onion loaf’ (and I am sorry, but I forgot to ask exactly what that is), and potatoes — chips, jackets, new potatoes — or rice.

Then you can choose to add a sauce which vary from the standard peppercorn or bearnaise to the interesting-sounding bourbon and black bbq or the black and blue sauce featuring stilton, Danish blue and smoked bacon.

And you seem to get plenty of food, judging by some of the platefuls being brought to other diners. There are still many people, whether it be fashionable or not, who judge a meal on quantity. As long as the quality is there too, that’s fine for those who like lots of food, I think.

Armed with a glass each of chilled Pinot Grigio, it was pretty hard to choose, but in the end I decided to go for the starter ‘special’ for the evening — two scallops in garlic butter served with two chunks of granary bread. They were excellent — though the addition of a third scallop would have been appreciated. The little dipping pot of tartare sauce seemed superfluous though. It just didn’t go with garlic butter.

Clare chose the prawn trio, which looked fun and, she said, tasted good. It featured Cajun battered prawns, crispy potatowrapped prawns (very pretty) and chargrilled skewered prawns with a soy and ginger dipping sauce.

There was plenty, and she polished off the lot with ease.

I decided that I really should put ‘the home of chargrilling’ to the test and ordered a fillet steak. It came cooked medium and juicy, as asked, with good chips, a separate bowl of crispy fresh mixed salad and a pot of peppercorn and brandy sauce.

Clare had the rack of New Zealand lamb, nicely cooked, with dauphinoise potatoes (a bit odd as it appeared the sauce had been added to the sliced potatoes after cooking), green beans and red wine sauce.

We were nicely full, but decided we should take a look at desserts.

There was an array of traditional favourites from chocolate cheesecake and banoffee pie to profiteroles, waffles and treacle sponge. Clare opted for the chocolate fudge brownie sundae and I had an ice cream fruit sundae. Both came in tall glasses, heaving with cream, ice cream and sauces. Naughty but nice!

So it seems that Beefeater, which has been feeding hungry people for 35 years now, is still holding its own, and doing it most admirably if our meal was anything to go by. The other big plus is that a meal at The Longwall, or any other Beefeater, isn’t going to break the bank. They always have good ‘meal deals’ such as two courses for £9.95, three for £11.95, and there’s a special menu for children.

■ The Longwall, Oxford Business Park, Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2JZ, tel 01865 779230, website: www.beefeater.co.uk