Fred Chan enjoys country house luxury at Soughton Hall in Flintshire, Wales

Just outside Mold on the slopes of the foothills of the Clwydian mountain range, the approach to Soughton Hall is a long, impressive, sweeping drive lined on either side by mature lime trees with the creeper clad hall dead ahead in the centre. The facade is enclosed by a walled courtyard with a circular driveway and there are well kept lawns and simple topiary. It was originally built as a Bishop's Palace in 1714 and it was purchased in a poor state of repair in 1986 by the Rodenhurst family.

By that time it was unfurnished and had leaking roofs, but over the past few years it has been gradually restored to its former glory. With open countryside all around, the hall is a fine building in a fine setting. Arriving by night is a special experience, for in the countryside, the darkness is particularly intense and the sight of the floodlit hall in the distance is very impressive.

There is no formal reception area for this is a true country house and visitors enter through the original entrance into a small porch which leads directly into a sitting room. If you are new to the place, arriving in the dark can be a bit puzzling because if you are looking for an obvious hotel style entrance you won't find one; instead you walk in as though you were walking into a friend's house, albeit a very grand house in a very grand setting. When I arrived the house cat was there to greet me, getting up from a cushion on one of the comfy armchairs in the sitting room, where there was the welcoming blaze of a wood fire.

The upstairs sitting room is on a much grander scale though still retaining a welcoming feel, which seems to be very much part of the hall. There is a high ceiling with decorated wooden beams, wall tapestries and sweeping curtains that descend from the high ceiling to the floor. Flower arrangements abound and there was another blazing log fire when I visited. Diners can choose to take their after dinner coffee in this room and I would certainly recommend that they do.

The dining room is next to the sitting room and provides a fabulous setting for a elegant meal out. Again it is the high ceilings and obvious age of the building that set the tone of the room, with grand views of the courtyard below and the countryside beyond. But the big question is does the food match the surroundings? The answer is a resounding yes!

My meal started with canapés of Black Pudding and Grape Chutney in a filo parcel - good black pudding, though I'm not sure about eating it with chutney. There was also very good smoked salmon (and plenty of it), on crisp but not dry croute bread.

More good breads were served as I sat at the table - the sunflower bread had great taste for a white bread and a light and slightly chewy crust, whilst the raisin bread was moist but not too sweet.

My choice of starter was Posh Welsh Rarebit - A stilton and coarsely crushed walnut rarebit topped with slices of smoked salmon and a perfectly poached egg. This was a nicely constructed dish that has the potential to provide a superb combination of tastes and textures. I did however have one reservation about using stilton as the base for the rarebit (I find it far too strong and salty a cheese when cooked). But the experience of a forkful of toast, rarebit, salmon dripping with the egg yolk and soft white was really rather good.

Moving on to the main course, I plumped for Smoked Fillet of Beef sandwiched between a grain mustard flavoured rosti accompanied by honeyed walnuts, shallots and garlic cloves in a Madeira sauce. I chose this dish because there are fine local butchers in this area of Wales, and I was interested to see what kind of quality the meat would be and how it would taste smoked. I suppose smoking something like a whole fillet must cook it a little, but it was served quite pink in the middle, as I had requested.

Smoked beef in this context works quite well, the beef seemed to have dried out a bit due to the smoking but it was still succulent enough, with a smokey yet gamey flavour that was inteestingly different. The mustard flavoured rosti potato was as crisp as any rosti is going to be after it has been lying in a pool of sauce with a steak on top of it, actually not bad at all! The shallots, garlic and chestnuts were very good and their natural sweetness enhanced by the honey glaze made them an ideal accompaniment to the smoked meat. Rather than having vegetables served on a separate plate, each main course had its own selection of vegetables and potatoes appropriate to the dish. In my case, tender French beans wrapped in bacon, baby turned carrots with the greenery attached, baby corn and both roast and boiled potatoes. The Madeira sauce was quite light and not as sweet and sticky as it often is.

Feeling quite replete after my first two courses, I chose what I hoped would be a light and refreshing pudding. A selection of fruit was baked in a parcel with a delightful biscuit basket filled with an exceptionally refreshing orange sorbet and a wonderfully light raspberry coulis. Quite an interesting idea this, a sort of hot fresh fruit salad with star fruit, mango, pineapple, plum, kiwi, cape gooseberry and orange, all mixed together and cooked en papillote. It made a very simple but quite effective dessert, especially after such a rich meal. The orange sorbet was very good and not too sweet, whilst the coulis was a good way to sauce the fruit.

Coffee and petits fours were served in the sitting room. The petits fours were good, but not outstanding, though there were plenty of them: the usual cape gooseberry dipped in chocolate, marzipan fruits, homemade biscuits and mints. But the real highlight was the coffee, served from a tall, elegant silver coffee pot with a jug of cream. This was very good coffee, exceptionally smooth without any trace of bitterness, I could have drunk it all night, but it was time to go and it set me up for the long drive home.

Soughton Hall, Northop Nr Mold, Flintshire, CH7 6AB Tel: 01352 840 811

Fine dining menu: Three courses Stg 28.50, Friday evening Stg 22.50. House wines start at Stg 10.50. We are pleased to report that a Welsh wine is on the list: Monnow Valley Huxelrebe/Seyval Blanc 1993, Stg 15.50.