The Littleton Arms - Penkridge, Staffordshire

I don't know about you, but I hate that thing people do when they put a little bit of their meal onto a fork and thrust it into your face, exclaiming that you, 'simply must try this!'

If I had wanted to try it, I would have chosen it in the first place. Or I would have asked the waiter if he could interrupt my enjoyment of the delicately balanced dish I actually ordered by running from the kitchen with a steaming forkfull of another meal and thrusting it into my face. Or maybe, he could have simply thrown it at me while passing, perhaps from another guest's plate? Or perhaps just encouraged me to pick it from the floor as a scrap?

Any of these options would be just as out of context and annoying as being forced to try someone else's meal for a grumpy and obsessive miserablist such as I. 

Despite all that, I found myself trying to force share my own meal with my partner last time we visited The Littleton Arms; a little wonder, hidden away in Penkridge Town Square, near Stafford.

I visited on a Sunday and enjoyed the set price menu - as did my companions; Mrs Eating Out In Stafford and our two children, aged one and two.

I had a genuinely exquisite Wild Mushroom Gnochi as a main course followed by a chocolate and orange bread and butter pudding.

It was the former, with its piquant sauce and deliciously textured body that I dangled in front of Mrs EOiS as she attempted to enjoy her roast pork, which I'm informed was also excellent.

Happily, she isn't such a belligerent old git as I am and she happily tried it and declared it excellent.

Before the meal, we were presented  with a perfectly acceptable selection of breads, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. A restaurateur who can go to his grave, content that he has taken the edge of his customer's hunger with any combination of bread, butter, olives, oil and garlic can do so a happy man in my opinion. Particularly if he did so, as in this case, without additional charge.

While we consumed said delicasies, the littlies entertained themselves with the children's menu, which has a suitably distracting word search and dot-to-dot on the reverse. And here lies my only criticism; if you give kids something to draw on, you have to give them pencils or crayons. Luckily I'm married to child care expert who is never without such items, otherwise there could have been big trouble in Littleton.   

After the menu, our two small people both had fish fingers and chips and even Jamie Oliver would have been proud of the home battered mini cod slices and hand cut chips they were presented with.

Both followed this with ice cream, while Mrs EOiS had an impressive looking chocolate and cherry Eaton mess for dessert. I was quite jealous. 

The Littleton Arms is well worth a visit and I'm led to believe it performs equally as impressively as a hotel.  

The Sunday Set Price menu is a great value £15 for two courses or £18 for three. Forced-sharing of food is optional.