I HAPPENED to be ravenous by the time we got to Sam's restaurant for dinner - my own fault, I should have either booked the table for an earlier time or eaten a heftier lunch.

Some may say (particularly those in the catering trade) that this is the ideal state to be in when reviewing a dining experience. I am just glad the service was swift and within 20 minutes of setting foot in the place, our starters were being devoured.

It was a weekday night and the place was busy. This being the season of Christmas parties, AKA drinking as much as possible on the company's expense account, some of the groups were rather rowdy, but this did not spoil the atmosphere for myself and the other half, who accompanied me.

Sam's only opened a few weeks ago, but it's obviously doing well. All of the tables in the courtyard area where we ate were taken. A good sign considering that when the restaurant was the Bishop's House, owned by Charles Smith, it struggled and eventually went bust this year.

Sam's has an inviting, relaxed feel. The courtyard is warmed by those outdoor heaters you get in some pub beer gardens, which may sound a bit strange, but I rather liked the informality of it.

The staff were friendly and seemed to genuinely care about the customer - while treading that fine line between being attentive and overbearing. A personal bug-bear of mine is waiters/waitresses who continually badger the customer over whether "everything is alright?" Or worse still, those who opt for the American school of customer service; also known as the "enjoy your meal and have a nice day" approach. Fortunately, at Sam's you will not have to put up with any of that nonsense, instead diners will be happy with a good service, from friendly staff.

Now, getting back to the serious matter of the food. The other half ordered Scottish mussels in a tomato and garlic sauce as his starter. This was apparently his favourite part of the meal - describing it as "absolutely lovely." I chose the Greek-style salad with pesto, which was very tasty and a good variation on the norm.

The other half can be a bit particular when it comes to wine. Unfortunately he was disappointed with the bottle of Chilean Merlot ordered with the main course. Not because it was corked or left a sharp after taste - but had been served at an unsuitable temperature. His personal bug bear is wine not served properly - so when a bottle of cold red wine arrived he had a bit of a chunter about it! Having said that, once the vino had been exposed to the warmth from the beer garden-style heaters, he admitted it was lovely.

He chose the Aberdeen Angus steak , reared locally, with a mushroom and Stilton sauce for his main course. This passed the taste test with flying colours, particularly due to the rich, creamy sauce.

Being a vegetarian, I had three main dishes on the menu to chose from. One criticism would be that two of them contained feta cheese, and having already had a Greek salad - I fancied something else. So, I chose the rather long winded garlic mushroom and onion marmalade with red currrant and balsamic glaze, with soft cheese and pastry - or to give it it's quick name, mushrooms with jam. I am being a little unfair there, in that it was not that bad - I certainly polished it off. But, at risk of sounding a bit like Loyd Grosman on Master Chef, the red currant was so sweet and tangy it overwhelmed the mushrooms and onions. A bit less of the red currant would have suited me.

The menu in general was imaginative and varied, lots of beef, chicken, fish and seafood dishes, but could do with a few more vegetarian choices that do not include feta. All main courses come with chips and salad or potatoes and veg.

For pudding, having already had a very sweet dish, I chose the cheese board and the other half had sticky toffee pudding. The cheese board was not the best I have ever had. I love cheese, so I was a little disappointed when a dinner plate with some biscuits, celery and small pieces of cheddar, mozzarella, brie and camembert arrived. Fortunately by this stage I was pretty full, so it served its purpose.

However, for anyone who would not usually eat a pudding I would urge you to reconsider if you are at Sam's: you must try the sticky toffee pudding. My partner was generous enough to let me have a taste - I know if I had ordered it I would have had to think long and hard about sharing it. Perfect texture, the sponge was not of the heavy, sit-on-the-stomach variety, but more of a fluffy, almost flakey consistency, very toffee-ey and it came in a pool of gorgeous, warm butterscotch sauce.

The bill, including a bottle of wine, and two beers came to £60.75. So, all in all, not a cheap feed, but reasonable value for good food served in good surroundings. I will certainly be heading back to Sam's and for my very own order of sticky toffee pudding.