The Mustard Seed at Echo Lodge

‘I’ve stayed in glitzier places. I’ve stayed in grander places. But I’ve never stayed at a more charming spot,’ says a regular Guide reader of this ‘lovely’ restaurant-with-rooms in a pretty, rural village. A return visit this year found ‘the same air of tranquil calm, and the same friendly, attentive service’. Still, there have been changes: John Edward Joyce, the long-serving restaurant manager, is the new owner; former owner Daniel Mullane will make ‘occasional appearances’, staff say. The ‘enjoyable country house-party atmosphere’ remains. Choose one of the ‘very comfy’, individually decorated bedrooms, ; some have views over garden and countryside. At dinner, chef Angel Pirev creates ‘well-presented’ dishes from local and home-grown produce, perhaps pan-fried trout, blue mussels, horseradish-pickled scallops, compressed cucumber and dill. ‘As the bedroom didn’t have tea- or coffee-making facilities, we were served tea in the sitting room by a cheerful housekeeper before breakfast.’ The morning meal ‘is a real treat’: home-baked soda bread, stewed garden fruit, eggs from resident hens. (Dr Helena Shaw, Janet and Paul Mills)