NO doubt readers wonder how contributors to this column select the establishments to be reviewed.

Sometimes it's a recommendation, sometimes past experience and sometimes, as in the case of the Farmers' Arms at Scorton, between Darlington and Catterick, something utterly serendipitous.

It was small paragraph in the D&S about the North Riding Vegetarians' and Vegans' Group having a meal there that drew us to the pretty pub overlooking the village's splendiferous green.

Was this veggie heaven, we wondered? Well not especially, as we discovered when we surveyed the Farmers' Arms' myriad menus which are strong on meat and fish dishes with not a nut cutlet in sight.

Perhaps it's the welcome which the county's vegetarians love because there's no faulting it. From the beaming barmaid who served us drinks to the chatty young waitress at the table, all the staff were unfailingly helpful and cheery.

The interior is traditional North Yorkshire pub style. Nothing trendy but comfortable enough and, on a Friday night, packed to the gunnels with enthusiastic drinkers.

The pub's no smoking dining room was more relaxed, but still very busy. Despite that, our starters arrived promptly, and that was the point at which things started to go somewhat awry. There was nothing wrong with my prawn platter served on mixed salad leaves (£4.95). The prawns in a Marie Rose sauce were truly mountainous which meant Sylvia could help herself to some as she was disappointed with her barbecue spare ribs (£4.95) which, although large and meaty, were plainly grilled save for some powdered barbecue seasoning. There was no sauce.

The main courses were not unqualified successes either. Sylvia's fillet steak and black pudding tower (£14.95) was a technically difficult dish and this one didn't quite measure up, some of the layers (pate and bread/pastry) were soggy and there were too many green peppercorns. The black pudding was very good, the fillet steak less so.

My steak and ale pie with a rich beer gravy and shortcrust pastry lid (£7.95) looked appealing but the shortcrust pastry lid had the texture of a biscuit and the steak, while tender and chunky, was swimming in an over-seasoned artificially thickened sauce.

The vegetables, however, were perfect, particularly a dish of beautifully-glutinous Lyonnaise potato. Chips, carrots and cauliflower were also excellent.

Other main courses which caught our eye and which might have been a better bet were chicken fillet with melted mozzarella in a honey and rosemary sauce (£9.95) and tuna supreme in a prawn and white wine sauce (£12.95).

Feeling that we should perhaps cut our losses we skipped dessert, finishing with some good strong coffee (£1.30).

The bill was a shade under £40 and it included a soft drink and a gin and tonic. Had the standard of cooking of the main courses been better we would have said it represented good value.

That is a shame because the Farmers' Arms is in a great location, has very good front-of-house staff and the customers are good fun too. Perhaps it was the regular chef's night-off. Perhaps we picked the wrong dishes.

We wondered what the North Riding Vegetarians' and Vegans' Group made of it. We vowed to give it another try sometime in the future.