I USED to think cooking a roast dinner was an arduous task, one best left to someone older and wiser than myself.

These days, with more than enough age and wisdom on my side, I reckon a roast is one of the easier meals a mum can cook - and one of the few vaguely healthy dinners guaranteed to disappear in minutes.

So why do so many pubs and restaurants seem to get it wrong?

Too often, I’ve turned up somewhere for Sunday lunch to be served veg that’s been boiled to a grey mush, meat tougher than old shoe leather or (my pet hate) deep fried “roast” potatoes. I begrudge paying for food that’s come straight out of the freezer, and which I could have cooked better myself, even if it means someone else is doing the washing up.

It’s great, then, to discover a pub which has risen above its rivals and is getting its roast dinners right. The meal my family and I enjoyed recently at The Sun Inn at Coate was one of the best Sunday lunches we’ve had in a long time. Spot on for both quality and price, the servings were huge and the service attentive. It couldn’t be faulted and, in a family of roast dinner devotees, that’s quite something.

For a start, the pub anticipated a busy Sunday and asked if we’d like to pre-order. A good move - there’s little worse than looking forward to juicy roast beef, only to find chicken is the only thing left. Better still, when we arrived we were informed that everything on the menu was still available and we could change our minds if we liked.

Starters of garlic mushrooms and stilton and broccoli soup came and went, each accompanied by fresh rolls, warm from the oven.

If we’d know what was in store, we might not have wolfed them so heartily.

The main courses arrived piled high with slices of tender meat (beef for some, stuffed chicken for others), towering Yorkshire puddings and a mound of roast spuds.

A selection of four different fresh vegetables were placed between us, with the promise of more if we needed it. We didn’t, but it was nice to know it was on offer.

A rich, proper gravy also arrived in a jug, so we could have as much or as little as we liked.

Happy and full, I couldn’t manage a pud, but the others could.

The chocolate brownies and sticky toffee pudding were also gigantic and gorgeous - there’s no skimping on measures here.

The Sun Inn at Coate has been through various management changes in recent years, but has now been taken on by former manageress Becky Mallows and Dave Preston.

I haven’t always been complimentary of food at The Sun in the past, but these two relative newcomers are doing a cracking job. Their menu is not the cheapest around, but the cheapest is never the best.

Becky and Dave seem to have struck a balance between quality and price, and I hope they continue to do so.

I may never have to cook another Sunday lunch again.

The Sun Inn Coate Water, Swindon Tel: 01793 523292 www.suninnswindon.co.uk Food served: Weekdays 11.30am to 9pm, Saturday noon to 9pm and Sunday noon to 4pm. Prices: Starters from £3.95, Sunday roast £9.25, desserts from £3.95