AS The Royal Oak Inn, at Ramsden is but a mile or two from Shaken Oak Farm, Hailey, where the enterprising Bruce Young produces his award-winning mustards, it seemed the obvious place to meet and discuss the launch of his latest creations.

Mr Young has been making mustards for more than a decade now, and they get better and better with every passing year.

The Royal Oak Inn, which stands in the centre of Ramsden, is his local. It was also the first gastro pub to order his mustards, which are placed on the table for customer use, and mixed into various dishes that appear on the menu.

He'd arrived before me, and was to be found leaning against the bar, happily discussing his Beechwood Hop-Leaf Bitter and Honey Mustard, which is one of two new mixes he's come up with for The Chiltern Brewery. I tried it later, and found it quite delicious as there's a definite flavour of Chiltern Brewery's flagship bitter running through it. I have yet to try the Chiltern Ale and garlic mustard blend. Despite Ramsden being a quiet country village tucked away off the beaten track, the pub was simply buzzing with life. Dancing flames from roaring log fires lit up the bar and main dinning area, which is so full of character you don't know where to look first. Naturally, this 17th-century inn has a Cotswold-stone finish. Gnarled beams add that touch of authenticity, which makes pubs like this so atmospheric.

There's a dinning room extension at the back with glass doors, that open up to a small garden area, but once Mr Young and I had ordered our drinks (Well's Bombardier for me, and Young's Bitter for him), we tucked ourselves in a corner of the main bar to discuss mustards. The beer was good, we knew it would be, as The Royal Oak Inn has been included in the CAMRA's Good Beer Guide since 1991- only pubs that take beer keeping seriously can boast such an accolade.

There's a lunchtime menu offering light options, such as smoked Scottish salmon and scrambled egg on brown toast (£7.50) and special Ramsden pork and sage sausages with mashed potato, green beans and a rich gravy, at £7.95. But the launch of two new mustards called for a celebratory meal from the main menu.

Bruce chose the confit of duck cooked in a red berry and quince sauce and served with Puy lentils and tossed green salad (£15.50), and on his recommendation, I had the home-made Aberdeen Angus steak and kidney pudding with a rich beef and onion gravy and loads of freshly cooked seasonal vegetables, at £13.50, pictured. I don't think I have ever tasted a better pudding. The suet pastry melted in my mouth and the filling (of which there was plenty) proved succulent and tasty. The pudding was so big it could have easily fed two, but it was too delicious to waste. The confit of duck was equally good, with the flesh falling easily from the bone.

That should have been enough for us, but as I said, this was a celebration, and we had plenty of time, so I ordered a portion of home-made chocolate ice cream, which came with a generous amount of real Jersey cream, produced by Upper Norton Jersey Cream company, at Church Hanborough. Bruce went for the strawberry cheesecake, which kept him happy for some considerable time. Both puddings cost £4.95.

We finished the meal off with a cafeteria of coffee (£4), and changed our conversation from local mustards to local foods in general and the many local suppliers that this pub uses.

Wheelchair-users will be delighted to know there are tables where wheelchair access is easy, and dog lovers will no doubt be delighted that they can bring their canine friends into the bar.

As there are some great dog walks in the Ramsden area, that's good news for me.