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We headed off to check out The Milestone recently to enjoy a night out with some friends we've been trying to catch up with for a while now. It's branded as a gastro pub and restaurant, though to be honest, you'd be hard pressed to get in just for a drink, because even on a mid week night, it was pleasantly full with diners both upstairs and down. The beer was however, put to the test and got the thumbs up from the real ale aficionado in our party.

We quickly ordered some delicious bread and olives to take the edge off our hunger and settled down to chat and have a scan of the full menu, which was presented on what a appeared to be brown wrapping paper. Whether it was cutting edge or cost saving, we couldn't decide, but its quirkiness raised a smile. The menu itself was reasonably concise, featuring British classics and modern European dishes and giving a choice of about seven starters and a dozen main courses, with a couple of vegetarian options for each course.

The Milestone is a smart, minimalist sort of place, with chunky wooden tables and chairs, a slate floor and pale painted walls. Being in an historic building, it has an interesting layout - open plan but with snug areas, so it's great for small groups or meals for two, when you want a degree of privacy without being isolated. There was a nice buzzing atmosphere in the place and the staff were friendly, helpful and easy going when we dithered about with our food order, being so busy catching up that we didn't give due attention to the menu for some time.

Between us, we tried three of the starters and four of the main courses and overall, felt the food was good at prices that were just within the reasonable bracket. A risotto of butternut squash and orange was declared delicious by the two who'd opted for it, with a third vote from one of us who managed to blag a taste too. It was buttery and flavoursome, with just the right note of orange tang. A terrine of red mullet also went down well, but the potato and onion soup was something of a disappointment in comparison, far too gluey and lacking a defined flavour, it was the only starter that wasn't polished off.

Of the main courses, the generous portions of the open lamb burger with rough cut chips and the venison meatballs were the clear winners. A salt mackerel pasty made a tasty and unusual change from the norm and came with a good helping of sauteed potatoes to make it filling. The goat's cheese tart with mixed bean cassoulet wasn't quite what we'd expected though. It was decidedly eggy, ultra mild and very rich and we'd have preferred a smaller slice, with a more robust goat's cheese tang and a larger portion of the very tasty cassoulet to add substance.

On the whole though, we had a good dining experience in a very relaxing and pleasant atmosphere. At about £30 per head for two courses, with coffee, shared petit fours and a bottle of wine, it wasn't bad value either.