The Swan at Whittington is a pleasant pub for those who do not mind a short drive out of Worcester city centre to a quieter location.

Getting out of the busy town on a Saturday night was actually a nice change, it was a bit to chilly to sit outside, but in the right weather this would probably be a great place to chill outside and bring kids.

The only issue was that I felt a little let down by the food, especially from a pub with such a good reputation.

I couldn’t fault the décor: modern, clean, spacious, comfortable, nicely thought out. It's easy to understand why this is such a popular venue for functions and parties. No sticky tables and patchy stained carpets in here, The Swan is certainly on the classier end of the pub spectrum, with a decent sized car park, garden and and a children's playground.

I do recommend booking a table for weekends as it was quite busy on this occasion.

I opted for the Olive Hills Pinot Grigio Pink, a dry, crisp refreshing rose which cost a reasonable 4.20 for a medium glass.

I was impressed by the vast wine list. The beer on offer is also respectable with two guest ales including the easy going and fruity Breakspear Bitter, which my partner enjoyed with his meal. I did also notice the pub's wide selection of gins.

The menu had three options for vegetarian Pub Spy, which is to be expected for a pub, although it would have been nice to have a little more choice. I decided on the Thai green vegetable curry which cost £13. It was ok, but nothing special, and felt a bit over priced for what it was. After I had thrown quite a lot of salt and pepper over it, the curry was actually alright, but when it was served to me, it was a bit too bland.

My other half was also slightly underwhelmed by his fish pie, which for £15, you would expect to be quite special. Unfortunately it tasted of not much other than cream sauce and a thick slab of cheese on top of it pretty much drowned any taste of the ocean which might have been there. Both of us are experts at fish pie making, so we do know what a decent one should taste like, unfortunately this pie did not come close to ones we've had in the past.

Looking down the menu, PS noticed that this certainly isn't a pub for those on a budget. A sirloin steak was £20, with a fillet steak costing £23. Some peppercorn sauce will however cost you an extra £2.

The portion sizes were decent, although luckily I still had some room to share a desert with my date. We had the chocolate brownie with warm chocolate sauce and ice-cream which cost £6. To be fair, this was a perfectly delicious pudding and after one mouthful I regretted agreeing to share, wishing I could have the whole thing to myself.

The staff were friendly, but half way through the meal I ordered a drink which took a good ten minutes to arrive.

Overall it was a good experience in a nice pub, but I found the food a bit overpriced and a bit average. I feel that The Swan at Whittington may need to up their game to hold their own in Worcester's growing competition.