SOME would argue that one pub is as good as any other. They all sell beer, they all sell wine, they all have a fag machine in the corner.

Whether you walk into a chic neon draped wine bar with Martini sipping yuppies or a sawdust on the floor working men's club with locals fresh out of the factory, the effect is basically the same. You are there for a drink who cares what the wallpaper's like?

Therefore, for me, a pub needs an outstanding feature something to set it apart and make me want to go back and take my friends.

At first I doubted the Fox And Hounds, in Bricket Wood, possessed one of these qualities. A nice pub to be certain but nothing remarkable.

There was a jukebox, a billboard for a karaoke night, a blackboard laden with house specialities and an advert to "book now for your Christmas dinner".

Because it was a nice day for October my colleagues and I thought we would sit out in the beer garden. It was at this point that the Fox And Hounds really came into its own. We walked out of the side exit not into a wooden pen with benches laid out end to end but onto what can only be described as a village green. A huge flat expanse of grass flanked by trees on either side.

It was easily big enough for a game of football in the sun. In fact I found myself lamenting the long summer days just gone where I could have enjoyed a cold lager or two and played headers and volleys for the best part of a Saturday afternoon.

We were treated to cheese and pickle sandwiches on piping hot, fresh bread instead of the weak, squashed efforts of most pubs. Also, we were all pleasantly surprised that they came with savoury twisty fries, which can never be a bad thing. Just further proof of the old book cover theory. When the hot weather kicks back in next year I will certainly be going back.

AB