Olde worlde charm combines with masterful modern menus to make The Old Plow a continuing success story. Review by Debra Aspinall

WITH a scarily high number of restaurants failing in their first year and top chefs skipping from kitchen to kitchen faster than you can say bon appetit, it's a real pleasure to dine in a restaurant which has been keeping diners happy for 20 years with the same successful format and, more importantly, the same couple at the helm.

Malcolm and Olivia Cowan are this year celebrating 20 years running The Old Plow in the tiny village of Speen.

It may only be a ten-minute drive from the bustling High Wycombe town centre, but it's a different world. This quintessential country bistro and restaurant boasts heaps of chintzy olde worlde charm.

Where the Cowans have been particularly clever, in my opinion, is in keeping The Old Plow in something of a time warp (decoratively speaking) while keeping totally up to date with dining trends and techniques.

Whereas 20 years ago creamy sauces might have been all the rage, Malcolm (who had classical French training and was executive chef of Maxims de Paris and held top positions in London before opening The Old Plow) has masterfully incorporated some very modern fusion styles into his cooking. He creates sauces which wouldn't be out of place in a Japanese sushi bar; light, delicious and thoroughly modern.

We'd already read their publicity - with celebrity endorsements for their fresh fish - and it being the first week in the new year we were looking for a tasty, but lighter, meal (despite the howling wind and driving rain outside teasing us to stock up with a hearty meal).

The menu certainly offers something for every taste, hearty and light. Several starters caught my eye: hot black tiger prawns la plancha with lemon and garlic mayonnaise; acorn-fed pata negra with 24-month cured ham, melon and mustard syrup and the continental-sounding Italian cured beef bresaola, Spanish chorizo, Serrano cured ham and home made pickles.

We were dining from the fixed-price menu and I chose the smoked chicken salad with Bang Bang style peanut and cashew nut dressing for my starter. This was super. The combination of the rich peanutty paste and the subtly-flavoured strips of tender chicken melted in the mouth while kick-starting my taste buds. Hubby Kim had chosen one of the daily specials; warm salad of tiger prawns and fresh scallops with French bean salad, mango and caviar. Not usually a huge fan of scallops (which can be slimy if undercooked) these he declared perfect and the generously-sized prawns certainly hit the spot. What Kim was most enthusiastic about, however, were the accompanying sauces, a lovely chilli concoction drizzled over the main items and a wonderfully sweet balsamic affair adding the final decorative touches.

It should be said at this point that all the food was beautifully presented and pretty as a picture.

For our main courses we both went for fish knowing that The Old Plow sources fresh seafood daily from Brixham. For me it was Lyme Bay line-caught fillet of seabass grilled with prawns and mussels. They can certainly cook fish here. This was scrumptious and came with a delicious red wine jus and tasty gratin potatoes and veg. Kim again chose from the daily specials: fresh sea bass and red mullet with fresh asparagus and stuffed mushroom.

The two fish, both delicious in their own right, were a successful double act and the asparagus (so easy to cook and so easy to spoil) was spot-on.

Other main attractions here include Aberdeen Angus rib eye, duck, Cassoulet Toulouse and grilled Cornish lamb's kidneys as well as vegetarian options and daily specials.

The desserts were all deliciously tempting but in our effort to show some new year restraint we opted to share a wonderful lemon and brandy creme brulee which came with an intense raspberry sorbet and fresh berries. Yummy.

The Old Plow offers a French Bistro area with individual dish prices and a restaurant area with a two-course set price dinner at £29.95 (three courses £33.95), plus tapas lunch on Saturdays (new for 2008). Wines start from £14.95. Closed Sundays except for special occasions. Call 01494 488300.

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