I was pleasantly surprised when I visited the White Horse in Romsey for the first time in about a year.

The Georgian Grade II listed building, which conceals an amazing amount of space dating back to the 14th century, was previously a locals’ pub and has since been transformed into a bright and modern 40-bedroom hotel.

Silks Hotels’ refurbish-ment has been very sympathetic, encapsulating the history of the building and its Georgian market place surroundings.

My fiancé and I were here to try the new menu at the brassiere-style restaurant.

While sipping a pre-dinner drink in the Silk’s Bar we marvelled at the size of the room. As you walk from the bar to the restaurant, you can see right into the kitchen through a huge glass window and watch the chefs busily preparing the meals in their sparklingly clean surroundings.

And their creations certainly were a work of art. To start we nibbled on home-baked bread, freshly made that evening, then I had a generous plate of smoked salmon with a lemon, caper and chive dressing and my other half opted for the rather unusual dish of crab spring roll with Thai salad.

My starter was extremely flavoursome and tasted fantastically fresh, and by the way my fiancé’s eyes lit up when he took his first bite, I could tell he enjoyed his just as much.

For the main course I took up the recommendations of the roasted fillet of sea bass, served with a warm salad of new potatoes, fennel, cherry tomatoes and apple, drizzled with lemon herb oil.

I love sea bass, but am not so enamoured with cherry tomatoes, but I persevered and enjoyed the meal, even if the dressing was a little on the tart side.

My other half tucked into a smoked rump of lamb with ratatouille, rosti potato and Madeira sauce, which was declared “flavoursome and satisfying”.

For dessert I tried the fruit plate, which was beautifully presented, while my fellow taster chose the glazed lemon tart – which was light and refreshing, with a lovely palate-cleansing lemon sorbet.

To accompany our meals, I had a glass of Spanish medium Chardonnay and my fiancé had a full-bodied Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon. To round off our evening I had a pot of green tea while the other half had a calypso coffee.

The whole evening was very pleasant and relaxing and the service we received was 110 per cent, without being starchy.

The White Horse is now a truly fantastic addition to Romsey’s town centre.

The meal, excluding wine, came to £61.65.