Warm weather and a taste for something exotic enticed me to visit the Old Fleece Inn at Rocksmoor Hill, Stroud.

A friendly welcome was received upon entrance into the old school bar area, which even has a wooden floor.

That’s not all to this venue though as to the left and through an archway there is a more modern seating area

A quick glance at the board showed a number of bottled lagers and ciders on offer and seeing as I was in an exotic mood, I opted for the Italian Birra Moretti.

I was seated and offered the pub’s traditional menu as well as the day’s specials.

The Old Fleece is one of three food club pubs in the area and their menu was very sophisticated and had a number of standout dishes that I’ve not seen in other pubs.

Moules mariniere, toasted sourdough and scallops and duck liver were some of the classy standout starters while the option of kalamata olives made me feel like I was sat in a tavern in the Mediterranean.

On to my main, where again there were plenty of options to choose from.

There were a number of local dishes including thick and salty Gloucestershire Gammon steak and 28-day matured Gloucestershire beef.

The Old Fleece is also vegan friendly and the Sicilian aubergine stew sounded very appetising.

But, I couldn’t help but be drawn to the Chicken Tikka Burger (like I said, I was in an exotic mood).

It was something different to the usual chicken burgers served in pubs.

This burger came with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, tahini and mint sauce and was accompanied by fries but the best feature of all was the onion bhaji that was perched on top.

At £13.50, this may sound a little pricey but the portions are generous and it had everything you want from a burger.

The chicken was melted in your mouth as the tikka flavour came out. It only had a subtle kick to it which was more than enough.

There was one minor, and rather picky criticism.

As I said, the portions were generous and the chicken tikka fillet was huge however the bun was considerably smaller.

At time I was scrambling to keep it all together but had to let my tomato drop.

Perhaps my OCD has got the better of me in making this comment, hopefully one day I’ll find a burger where the bun and contents are the same size.

I’d rather focus on the taste and all the other positives of this burger and lovely pub.

A delicious burger, a great atmosphere and friendly staff who all took the time to chat with a lot of their regulars and customers so it’s one I recommend.