The BEAR of Rodborough certainly delivers on its name, with some ferociously posed taxidermy greeting you on arrival.

However, when I left its restaurant, I couldn’t help feeling there was room for the food to be better.

There’s no doubt the Bear is a beautiful building in a beautiful setting. Driving along the common, rambling hills either side, gets you right in the mood for a Cotswold dining experience.

It is important at this point to say that the Bear is a hotel and a popular venue for weddings. There was one going on during my visit.

But it also offers those not staying the night either pub food in its bar or a finer dining experience in its restaurant, known as the Library.

My companions and I had opted for the former.

After passing through the entrance, and past the soon-to-be symbolic trophies, you’re welcomed into a calm, cool and classy atmosphere.

The chairs in my opinion look more suited to a corporate conference than a restaurant, and you realise the ‘books’ in the Library are, in fact, just printed on the wallpaper, but overall it feels like an impressive setting in which to eat.

Service is formal, which, as someone who feels extremely uncomfortable at the mention of the word ‘sir’, is not normally my cup of tea, but I could not fault the waiting staff on their politeness and attentiveness.

We began examining the menu and were soon on our way to getting our starters.

I’m happy to say this first round of food was fantastic.

I had scallops with pancetta on a surprisingly tasty bed of lentils, while one of my companions had an absolutely delicious plate of beetroot-cured salmon with horseradish cream.

A strong start, but then my main arrived.

I chose a mac and cheese (macaroni cheese), an unusual choice on what was an otherwise classic menu.

With the promise of truffle, I wanted to see how a dish I usually eat from a packet via hot water could be transformed into something fancier.

It definitely looked great. It was a generous serving with rocket and plenty of parmesan on top, but the flavours did not suit my palate.

One of my companions loved the vegetables with their duck, but thought the meat itself could have been tasier.

The other’s monkfish was not well complemented by what they considered to be overly-strong mustard potatoes.

I’ll try the Bear again, and hope a different choice of mains suit me better.