Restaurant review Winteringham Fields, 1 Silver Street, Winteringham, Lincolnshire.

Approaching from the east, the first thing you see in the Lincolnshire village of Winteringham, an isolated straggle of houses on the fringe of the Humber, is a sign that baldly declares 'FERRETS'. It is an unlikely milieu for an upmarket 'restaurant with rooms'. Yet there it is at the heart of the village: a slate-topped, two-storey structure, possibly a former Georgian inn, with pantiled extensions. The facilities include a helipad, but our spirits failed to soar on entering Winteringham Fields. Booked in for Friday lunch (three courses £39.95, four courses £45), my wife and I found ourselves deposited in a small, unpopulated lounge. Our refusal to take a drink before the meal was greeted with an expression of surprise ("Oh!") as if apéritifs were pretty much compulsory.

After that we sat in silence broken only by the Lincolnshire rain pattering on the windows. At one point, amuse-bouches arrived in the form of a tiny, potent mug of sweetcorn velouté and gougère of gruyère, a cheesy profiterole more tasty than pronounceable. "Do you think we're the only ones here?" inquired Alison at the 20-minute mark.

I passed the time by exploring the 25-page wine list. Doubtless the invaluable info on Burgundy ("Ancient Jurassic bedrock, primitive vines and 16 centuries of unbroken cultivation") helps to push sales of Romanée Conte Richebourg '99 at £2,500 per bottle. From the bottom end of this daunting directory I plumped for a Fleurie Vieilles Vignes for £36. The menu proved equally wordy. "Colin's dream kitchen has been installed rather fabulously by the team at Athenor." Since Athenor is a fabulously expensive electric range from France, this means that chef Colin McGurran has followed the likes of Heston Blumenthal and Thomas Keller in switching to sous-vide cooking: shrink-wrapped items are heated at precise temperatures in a water bath then finished on an electric hot plate. Non-believers call it 'boil-in-the-bag'.

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