Following a trip to The Royal Oak in Tetbury earlier this month I can say with some degree of certainty that you would struggle to have a meal like it anywhere else.

Needing a place to take a vegan friend of mine, the Oak was an obvious choice as it has its own vegan menu.

Better still, on the first Monday of the month they have Meat Free Monday events.

Two courses of vegan food, made by Erin Baker of Nailsworth’s Natural Cookery School, for £16 a pop.

Each month has a different theme, with this being titled The Italian Job.

As we arrived the pub was awash with Bank Holiday revellers. Plastic cups were the order of the day and it did take a while before we were served.

As a waitress led us through a door marked ‘Toilets’ alarm bells were beginning to ring.

“It’s not usually like this,” she offered.

Fortunately she led us to an upstairs dining area rather than the bogs, but it was hard not to think about the ending of the film that shared the menu’s name.

Fortunately the bus did not fall off the cliff and we enjoyed a meal of gold standard.

Service once we were settled upstairs was fast, and the waitress charming.

The main meal consisted of sun dried tomato polenta with spring vegetable ragout, nut parmesan and fresh leaves.

An abundance of vegetables: radishes, mushrooms, peas and asparagus to name but a few, made for a delightfully colouful plate of food.

The polenta was subtly flavoured with tomato, allowing the nut parmesan, the highlight of the dish, to come through.

It was unique dish, not the kind of thing you are used to seeing in pubs.

Dessert was tiramisu. Sponge fingers dipped in boozy coffee kombucha with coconut mascarpone sprinkled with cacao nibs.

It had more booze and less coffee than in the traditional recipe but was delicious nevertheless.

I can’t help but think other pubs are a little bit behind the curve here.

Veganism is only going to become more popular as climate concerns grow.

Supermarkets have shelves full of ‘free from’ products and yet pubs rarely manage to provide a proper choice of vegan meals on their menu.

While there is no choice on the Meat Free Monday menu, every month is completely different and regular customers would quickly sample cuisine inspired by all four corners of the world.

This is a must for vegans while I would recommend carnivores give it a shot too. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.