Dial D for dinner (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Dial D for dinner

It is not easy to spot the Dial House Hotel as you drive through Bourton-on-the-Water. Set back from that all-too-famous, picture-postcard view that graces so many Cotswold tourist brochures, this small but chic hotel has an elegance of its own away from the tea shops and the trinkets.

And yet it is the quintessential Englishness of the Dial House that links it with the oh-so-quaint town where it stands.

The Dial House dubs itself an 'oasis' among the tourist hustle and bustle of Bourton. And an oasis it is - with its own parking and enviable position away from the crowds, it almost possible to forget the swarming summer visitors when you're sitting in the stylish lounge with a cold gin and tonic.

Perhaps this is what attracted young couple Adrian and Jane Campbell-Howard to the 17th century former doctor's residence in the first place.

When Adrian and Jane took over at the Dial House 5 years ago, it was already a recognised restaurant. But making their own mark has been high on their list of priorities.

"When we took over, the old owners checked guests in one day and we checked them out the next," explains Adrian. "There was no closing period, but we have gradually changed things to how we want them. The whole ethos now is a home away from home."

But the understated, elegant country feel of the 13-room hotel is not the only thing to have changed. Although over the last few years Jane and Adrian have offered fine dining of a very high standard, they felt that this level of formality was not what was wanted in a tourist spot like Bourton.

"Bourton is the honey pot of the Cotswolds," says Adrian, "but it works like a double-edged sword for us. We do have a lot of foreign visitors as well as repeat custom from the nearby areas, but locals tend to avoid the village. That's why we emphasise that we are an oasis."

As a result of the kind of clientele the Dial House attracts, the menu has been consciously relaxed to include a number of less formal dishes still cooked to the same high standard.

Because of this, diners can find Roasted Fillet of Snapper with Scottish Rope-Grown Mussels and a Saffron Cream nestling happily alongside Half Roast Chicken Marinated in Black Pepper, Chilli and Lemon with Buttered New Potatoes.

So the message is: think about what you order. One lapse of concentration at pen-and-paper stage can send you wheeling towards a gastro-pub meal instead of haute cuisine, despite the fantastic bread and imaginative canapes.

Having said that, the talents of chef Daniel Bunce (The Bank, Chavignol at the Mill) are undisputed. Despite his slightly frustrating brief, Daniel is capable of putting together a menu with such delights as can only be found in the most raved-about restaurants in the area.

Not only does he create a tomato consomme that is tangy, fresh and intriguingly clear, but he chooses to serve it with a ballontine of salmon and a soft poached quail's egg.

Described as "a very, very passionate chef" by Adrian, Daniel seems to excel when it comes to desserts. His Plum Brandy Mousse with a Plum and Blackberry Milkshake is not only delicious but a work of art, and an attempt to put rice pudding on the menu (always a tricky one as it can only be compared to how mother used to make it) turns out perfectly, with a deliciously caramelised, creamy pudding with homemade jam able to knock other, more complex desserts into a cocked hat.

Adrian and Jane have created a little haven in the Dial House, and if you can brave Bourton then it is almost unrivalled in the area for relaxed dining at this standard. And Adrian doesn't knock the town that has given his restaurant business a home.

"The Cotswolds is a beautiful place," he says, "but what we would like to achieve is that people come here with the hotel as the main attraction. The fact that it is in such a pretty part of the world - well, that's an added bonus."

The Dial House Hotel, The Chestnuts, High Street, Bourton-on-the-Water Tel. 01451 822244

www.dialhousehotel.com