AN unashamed passionate foody, enjoying dishes from many ethnic origins, I have, however, always nurtured a particular penchant for seemingly unglamorous offal.

Maybe it is long forgotten memories of my grandmother's superb cooking of thin slices of liver with crunchy onions and heavenly mash.

And while others rank elegant fish dishes or mouthwatering rare beef among their favourites, I persistently home in on the often less ordered fare.

That is not, I hasten to add, why I chose the Kings Lodge Hotel's Knight's restaurant, in Durham City, but I can't tell you how delighted I was when there on the a la carte menu was seared slivers of calf's liver - more later!

The Kings Lodge Hotel nestles at the bottom of the city's stunning Flass Vale, though it is reached along the less salubrious Waddington Street only yards from the top of busy North Road.

A homely bar area reveals no hint of what's to come in the restaurant suite, which is modern, elegant and quietly welcoming.

From a comfortable lounge section and bar, orders are taken with patience, advice and friendly courtesy.

The Kings Lodge offers a Friday night-only set menu of two courses for £17.95 per person, and a separate second set menu during the rest of the week costing £21.95 per person but which includes a bottle of wine per couple.

But, you guessed it, the calf's liver was too tempting, so Trevor and I plumped for the a la carte.

I chose soup of the day, which was broccoli, costing £3.50. It was piping hot and delicious.

Trevor chose aromatic tea smoked magret duckling, which included thinly sliced duck around a kumquat and pistachio nut salad with raspberry vinegar - it was, he said, "very good".

For the main course, Trevor had a sirloin steak (£17.95) served with a grilled field mushroom, vine-ripened cherry tomatoes and glazed with bearnaise sauce.

The steak he declared to be another "very good" and he appreciated the staff's willingness to peel the new potatoes, but felt the mushroom had absorbed too much oil.

For me, it had to be the liver (£14.95) - the last time I had calf's liver was in a Gordon Ramsey restaurant and it was wonderful.

OK, so this wasn't London, but my hopes were high. I need not have had any doubts. The Kings Lodge dish wasn't on a par with Gordon's - it was miles better.

It simply melted in your mouth and, combined with the delicious colcannon mash, crispy pancetta and a shallot sauce, it was the best I have ever had.

To accompany his steak, Trevor had an Australian Merlot and I chose a very acceptable Argentinian Chardonay.

I had decided against having a pudding until I spotted the chocolate and chestnut ganache with an espresso coffee cream pyramid on the menu (£4.95).

Trevor chose black cherry and kirsch crÃpes served with crÃme fraiche and vanilla pod ice cream - he thought the crÃpes to be a little heavy but judged the ice cream to be perfect.

The ganache was delicious, indulgent and beautifully put together.

Still bowled over by my main course, I seized the chance to have a word with head chef Stephen McNicol, who moved from Slaley Hall in Northumberland to the Kings Lodge little over a year ago.

His passion for food and cooking shone through and he revealed his ruling tenet was to use the finest ingredients, simply cooked, with delicate seasoning.

The steak, he revealed, had been hung for at least four weeks and the secret of the calf's liver dish lay in its long preparation.

One other unexpected touch from the Kings Lodge lay in the fact it will provide transport to and from the restaurant for guests, providing they give prior notice