in France!

Once owned by an eccentric millionaire and designed as a quintessentially English country estate, Anglesey Abbey has pleasant surprises at every turn and something for all seasons. From the snow drops in the spring, the gorgeous Dahlia Gardens in the summer, awe-inspiring colours of the autumn and the sweet smells of the Winter Garden. Situated within the refurbished visitor centre, the Redwoods Restaurant reflects this seasonal variation too: from salads and fruit desserts in the summer to warming hotpots, soups and casseroles in the winter.

Whilst the menu is not vast and the dining room is self-service the food is of the best quality. The National Trust operates a strict food policy stating all food must originate from environmentally sustainable sources and is ethically traded.

For example the winter menu consists of traditional British fayre with a Fenland theme. The cottage pie featured beef from Wimpole Hall and the bangers and mash used the famous Musk's sausages of Newmarket (suppliers to the Queen no less). All the vegetables, meanwhile, come from Vittles in Linton.

Along the Fenland theme, the imaginatively named fidget pie featured. A traditional fen worker's lunch, made with ham, potatoes, mushroom and cider, the name comes from what the pie does whilst bubbling away in the oven! We opted for the cottage pie, which came piping hot, full of chunky diced beef and vegetables with a crisp pastry topping. All dishes also came with seasonal vegetables: roast potatoes and carrot and suede mash with more gravy, if needed.

Outside there is a delightful patio and garden with tables shrouded by lush green trees where in the summer strawberries and cream are a favourite, served in scones baked at Cobs Bakery in Cambridge (using wholemeal flour ground from the nearby Lode Mill). A specialty are cakes and pudding, all made on the premises except for the gluten-free carrot cake. The huge chocolate cake was a chocoholics delight and almost too big for one person, but the best was the coffee walnut cake which was heavenly and had the taste buds tingling.

From 2009 there will be the opportunity to dine in the wonderfully lavish Jacobean-style country house. There is also a kids menu, which is basically half a portion, and useful lunch boxes consisting of fresh and dried fruit, biscuits and a drink: ideal for satisfying the little one's huger on a wander around the estate before lunch.

The Redwoods Restaurant is light, airy and spaciously designed. To be precise this is a self-service cafeteria but this would not do justice to the fine British cooking featuring the best of Fenland cuisine using possibly the most environmentally sustainable food and production methods imaginable. And of course the perfect opportunity to enjoy some of the most beautiful parkland in East Anglia to aid the digestion.