There is something reassuringly comforting about visiting an old haunt at which you have previously had such delicious Sunday scran.
It is an experience which can deliver the same sort of contentment you receive whenever you meet up with one of your oldest friends after a long while apart.
Equally, however, it can turn into an afternoon of bitter disappointment if all that you remembered turned out to be nothing more than pure nostalgia.
When we parked up at The Angel Inn in Corbridge on a pleasant spring Sunday afternoon in March, I could not wait to be served up a delicious Sunday roast.
Fresh in my memory, as well as that of She Who Must Be Fed, was the delicious food which had been delivered by this Northumberland establishment when we last visited three-and-a-half years ago.
As we walked in, we noticed there had been some changes since the last time we had been; we were warmly welcomed and offered the chance to sit in the bar or restaurant area, though, and we opted for the latter.
Upon receiving the menu, I was immediately struck by the prices. The set menu of £19.50 for two courses and £25 for three seemed on the steep side, so we expected excellent quality food.
Having had a rather large breakfast, I opted against a starter - instead content with my half-pint of Grainger Ale - but Mrs Eats decided to enjoy a warm-smoked mackerel salad (£5.50) with her G&T.
The fish itself was tasty, while the salad was reasonable enough, but the starter was a little underwhelming. There was nothing wrong with it per se, but it didn't exactly leave She Who Must Be Fed purring.
Regardless, we moved on to the mains still expecting to be blown away by the food we were served up. Unfortunately, our hopes were not fulfilled.
My roast confit of pork (£14) was rather fatty, and reminded me of the pulled pork you might get on top of a burger, rather than the type of roast joint you'd expect on a Sunday afternoon - though the crackling was decent enough.
As for Mrs Eats, her lemon-and-thyme-scented leg of lamb (£14) was tough and tasteless; so much so that she did not finish it.
While it must be noted that the portion sizes were plentiful - both came with gravy, a large Yorkshire pudding, roasties, mashed turnip, carrots, greens, boiled potatoes and a solitary parsnip each - it was rather a mish-mash of rather beige flavours. Nothing really stood out, and while nothing was unpleasant, nor was it particularly satisfying, either.
Although rather disappointed by the food we had been served up, She Who Must Be Fed decided to try a dessert - and we were left baffled when we were handed a menu which, although almost identical in terms of food on offer, showed different prices to the original one we had been given.
While the initial menu quoted the £19 two-course and £25 three-course prices, it did not have prices for individual items. Yet this second menu did - and, had we been charged the initial set prices we were given, we'd have been paying more than if we'd paid for each course separately.
And, while our bill showed we were not charged the two-course or three-course set prices, rather confusingly it displayed different prices for the main course (£14, as opposed to the £13 on the menu we had been given the second time), the starters and the desserts.
Reading this, you're probably as perplexed as we were, but Mrs Eats had already made her mind up that she wanted a dessert, so she ordered the rhubarb and brandy panna cotta (£5.50, although listed as £6 on the second menu we'd been given).
Dishearteningly, the dessert did not save the day as far as flavour was concerned. The panna cotta itself was a nice texture, although it did not taste as luxurious as such a pudding should, while the rhubarb was a little watery, and the brandy did offer the desired smack-you-in-the-face hit of alcohol.
All in all, this was a rather unfulfilling afternoon - and one which, although it has not entirely wiped the happy memories of past meals here, has tainted them slightly.
Hopefully this was just an off day for The Angel Inn, because we've been to this part of Northumberland before and know how good it can be - but neither Mrs Eats nor myself left satisfied on this occasion. Instead, we departed rather puzzled by the whole experience.
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