Sometimes the best places are off the beaten track. The Meon Valley, renowned for its stunning walks across South Downs, is a little pocket of rural heaven – all rolling hills, sparkling rivers and cutesy cottages.

What’s more it has something of a foodie reputation with The Bakers Arms in Droxford and The Thomas Lord in West Meon each getting a mention in this year’s Michelin pub guide. And it’s my prediction that it won’t be long before The Shoe Inn joins their lofty ranks.

Though it may take a little more effort to find, just off the A32, The Shoe is the focal point of the tiny village of Exton.

A picturesque Georgian-style pub with a big frontage and beer garden framed by views of Old Winchester Hill, it’s a little curious inside – think stuffed grouse, blue and white ceramics and Burberry-patterned curtains. The chairs are a little worn and the carpets a bit dated but you can forgive all that for the huge bay windows, open fires, and friendly bar staff serving proper real ales like IPA and Black Sheep. It’s part of its traditional old English charm and anyway, it’s all about the food.

A chalkboard menu features wintery wonders like slow cooked belly of pork or steak and ale pie.

Landlords Annabel and Patrick Young have pitched it just right. Perhaps it’s because they are dab hands, having worked in Patrick’s father’s award-winning pub The Bush at Ovington as well as two other pubs in Wiltshire prior to The Shoe .

The pair appreciate the value of local produce and grow much of their own seasonal vegetables, herbs and fruit on site. Eggs don’t get much fresher than those supplied by the pub’s 20 chickens and five ducks and trout comes from The Moorhen Trout fishery up the road. Everything down to the biscuits, chocolates, pickles and chutneys is homemade and it really shows.

I envied my husband’s starter – chicken liver pâté served in a kilner jar with a side of brandy chutney – the perfect sweet balance to the earthiness of the pâté. My dish – delicate chunks of Lymington crab with little bursts of sweet apple against a vibrant avocado paste – was light and equally lovely.

I could have devoured any of the mains. They had me at the special – smoked haddock risotto, swirled with a watercress pesto and topped with a soft poached egg. But at seven months’ pregnant I had to avoid the runny egg. I could have cried were it not for the lamb shanks which more than delivered on flavour – meat that fell easily off the bone served on a bed of creamy leeks and crushed new potatoes in a pool of rich, garlicky jus.

The desserts were just as comforting – sticky toffee pudding with caramel sauce and homemade custard flecked with vanilla, lemon or bakewell tart and ice cream.

With starters and puds at around £6 and mains at around £12, it’s exceptional value for food that you could expect to find in a swanky restaurant at twice the price.

But you know what? Substance beats style every time.