Breaking your journey threat at a Michelin-starred restaurant may sound decadent, but after the madness of the M6, I needed something to recharge my soul. Heading off the motorway, I had visions of a peaceful Victorian country home where I could gain some respite over starched linen tablecloths before taking tea on a veranda overlooking gently rolling countryside.
Er, make that a busy road- the restaurant is actually bang on the A59, just off a major roundabout. Had I stopped off at some kind of superior service station? Thankfully not. Northcote Manor is about as far away from the motorway Little Chef as you can imagine, even though it's just a nine-mile dash off the M6. There was plenty of country-house feel inside, mixed with an atmosphere you might find in a gentleman's club with lots of leather chesterfields, open fires and oak paneling. But there was also a contemporary buzz about the place, particularly in the enormous beige-tone dining room, where modern art hangs.
One glance at the menu and it was obvious it wasn't going to be fast food. There was a plethora of local produce - shrimp from Southport, asparagus from Formby and herbs and vegetables from the kitchen garden. You can't be a restaurant specialising in regional food and set in Lancashire without serving up a hotpot, and at Northcote it's cooked in the traditional way - it's one of the only Michelin-starred restaurants in Britain to use an Aga.
'I've always been in interested in hotpot,' says the chef and co-owner of Northcote Manor, Nigel Haworth, who returned to his roots to create local dishes with a modern flavour after training in Switzerland and working at Gleneagles in Scotland. It's the main dish in the region. I used to eat it as a child'. I opt for another signature dish - .
black pudding and pink trout in a mustard and watercress sauce - which brings a new meaning to the traditional blood sausage served on the side of a greasy breakfast. One pan-seared scallops, cockles and butter bean veloute later and there was just enough room for organic lemon meringue tart with ice cream. The presentation was impeccable. The taste plate-emptyingly good.
Some of our clients prefer a peppered steak, so we're happy to do that too,' says the co-owner, Craig Bancroft, who takes great care to match the wine list to the menu.
But it would be a shame to waste a trip to Northcote on steak- rather like going to Paris and eating in McDonalds. Go elsewhere for your steak and save Northcote as an outing for your taste buds.
But wait, there's more to this place than your lunchtime menu. Time your visit in the evening, and after your slap-up meal, you need only stagger up the striking oak staircase to bed in one of the 14 bedrooms. The next day, you get the bonus of a full Northcote breakfast - try twice-baked Lancashire cheese soufflé or roast local ham with Mrs. Kirkham's Lancashire cheese - before hitting the road again.
Need to know
Northcote Manor, Langho, Blackburn, Lancashire
(01254 240555, www.northcotemanor.com).
Three-course lunches from noon to 1.30pm, £20, or £15 if you phone ahead for a voucher.
Five-course gourmet dinner for two plus bed and breakfast £275.
Booking essential.