IN the 130 years since it first opened as a pub, The Great Northern, in Mickleover, has been on a real journey.

Secret Service had heard good things about the place, including the food, and reserved a table for early one Sunday evening.

The pub has undergone a significant makeover in recent years and it is one that is familiar. The spit and sawdust days of old have made way for a classy, upmarket interior with wooden floors, piles of logs and comfy leather seats.

It was fairly quiet when Secret Service and three guests arrived and we were not immediately wowed by the library-like atmosphere. But the two young bar staff gave us a warm welcome and left us to look over the menus.

There were several dishes on the main menu that caught your spy's eye, such as Barnsley chops with rosemary glaze and lamb's liver with onion and bacon.

But our first choices from the menus on our table were abandoned when we noticed the specials board. One of the most expensive dishes on offer – at £18.95 – was the fillet steak with pate and red wine jus.

But we were also tempted by the less pricey parmesan-encrusted chicken breast and salmon and broccoli gratin.

In the end your spy plumped for chicken stir-fry with bean sprouts and soya sauce while my companion chose duck breast served with hasselback potatoes and a red wine and raspberry sauce. Both dishes were off the specials board.

The two younger diners with us opted for the children's 4oz rib-eye steak, served with chips and salad, and a beefburger with chips and peas.

While we enjoyed our drinks and glanced around we quietly said to each other that while the place looked good the atmosphere would have been helped if someone had turned up the music a little and turned off a regular beeping noise that emanated from the bar area.

But service was good throughout and our meals arrived within 15 minutes. Your spy's stir-fry was rammed with perfectly crunchy vegetables including mange tout, baby sweetcorn and peppers. It was served with an unexpected but welcome bowl of prawn crackers. It was bursting with taste but desperately needed more sauce.

My companion's duck was beautifully presented. The only clanger on this plate was that the duck had been slightly overcooked but it was otherwise successful.

Meanwhile the beef burger was swiftly demolished (although the peas were like mini bullets) and the child's steak, ordered medium rare, was succulent and juicy.

Secret Service stole a glance at a neighbouring table where the diners were tucking into the reasonably priced Sunday roast and, judging by the clean plates, they had no complaints.

Two of us round the table were on the prowl for afters. After some deliberation we ordered an ice-cream dream sundae – think strawberry ice-cream, chocolate sauce and whipped cream – and profiteroles with toffee sauce. Both were good but the light, cream-filled profiteroles drizzled with a finger-licking sauce were particularly heavenly and didn't last long.

Notices around the room and on the menu informed us that Monday night is fish and chips night while Tuesdays make way for curry and a quiz.

Yet The Great Northern – so named as it stands next to the former route of the Great Northern railway – is now so much more than merely a pub.

Outside, up to 90 guests can fit into to a luxury, heated marquee designed for parties and other celebrations. And last May the management decided to diversify yet further and spent £100,000 creating three boutique guest rooms in a disused barn.

While your spy didn't get to see any of the rooms, a saunter round the bar area and a trip to the loos gave some indication as to the quality of finish likely to be found there. Indeed, the website talks of sumptuous roll-top baths and comfy beds.

One wonders where this once lowly local, now so much more than a place for pork scratchings and a pint, will journey to next.

WHAT: The Great Northern

WHERE: Station Road, Mickleover

FOOD: Duck £11.95, stir-fry £9, children's rib eye £4.25 and burger £3.75, profiteroles £3.95, sundae £3.95, wine £12.50, lemonades x 2 £2.30

TOTAL: £51.65

CALL: 01332 514288