Getting out of the car at Anick's Rat Inn, the pub isn't the first thing I notice.
I've just driven from Corbridge and if you follow the path of the River Tyne from up here, you can just about make out the village's historic bridge. Miles of the Tyne Valley are laid right out in front of you, making it easy to see why the pub's beer garden is so popular in the warmer weather.
Step inside and you're greeted by a roaring fire, a bustling little bar, and oddly, a load of pots hanging from the ceiling.
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It could just be a charming countryside pub, but the smells coming from the kitchen and the chalkboard menu on the wall give away that there's more to the Rat than that.
In a ceremony in Manchester on Monday night, the Rat was named as the 18th best gastropub in the country on Estrella's Top 50 Gastropubs list. It was the highest ranked North East pub, coming one place ahead of The Broad Chare on Newcastle's Quayside.
It's lunchtime and the pub is busy, so I speak to some regulars at the bar while I wait for co-owner Karen Errington, who's out serving diners.
As he enjoys a pint, Dave Wilson says: "I've been drinking here for 35 years. I just like the old fashioned atmosphere and the open fire. It's like what a proper pub should be."
John Stokoe, a local gamekeeper who supplies the pub with game when it's in season, says: "It's canny. We come down as part of the shoot. We come for food and to have a beer by the fire once we're done. The dogs love lying in front of it! The atmosphere is the key bit."
Another local tells me that the game birds they've shot this morning are already on tonight's menu, while a man who claims to be Robson Green (but is most certainly not that Robson Green), says: "It epitomises what a good pub should be."
The food is just as, if not more important, than what's behind the bar.
On the day of my visit, there's roasted pheasant with mash and stroganoff mushrooms, grilled coley, and the usual steaks that are available year round. The menu sounds delicious - and from the brief glimpses I've snatched of diners' meals, the portions are generous too.
Karen continued: "We specialise in locally sourced, seasonal meat and game - we're quite proud of that. We use high quality ingredients and treat them simply. We're unfussy.
"We like to think that the pub can welcome everyone, we don't like to think we're a fancy restaurant, just that we do simple, unfussy food. It's about hospitality more than anything else."
Once the pub quietens down, I speak to Karen, who runs the pub with her partner Phil Mason, again. She was in Manchester on Monday night and says it's been a whirlwind few days. Pointing out a slew of framed certificates and a trophy above the bar, she said: "Being included in the list is amazing for us, we're just a small and independent gastropub right in the North of England.
"The list is voted for by our peers so it feels really good to get in from that respect.
"It's voted for by other gastropub owners and people in the industry, so we're always so pleased and honoured to be in it. Some pubs come in and out of the list but we're on of the pubs that's been in the longest and it's amazing. We never take it for granted, we love it really."
The Rat is open from Tuesday to Sunday from Midday. It closes at 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays, 9pm on Sundays, and 10pm the rest of the week.
