Drake 's, High Street, Ripley, Surrey (01483 222 940). Meal for two, including wine and service, £120

Earlier this year I was a judge of the Roux scholarship, a competition for young chefs established by Albert and Michel Roux, and overseen by a panel including the brothers themselves, plus their sons Alain and Michel Jnr, Gary Rhodes, Brian Turner and Rick Stein. And this year me, the baggy-arsed oik whose only qualification is an abiding talent for gluttony. Still, I know an opportunity when I see it and it was a thrill to take part in what is, essentially, an exercise in classicism. For the cook-off the six finalists have to prepare a dish from Escoffier, and it was intriguing to see who had those skills. The winner was the immensely talented Andrew Jones, a 27-year-old chef at Claridges in London. We will hear of him again.

Steve Drake, of the eponymous restaurant Drake's, is a previous winner of the Roux scholarship and it shows. Part of the prize is a stint at the three-star restaurant of their choice. Steve chose to spend time with the experimental Marc Veyrat at Lake Annecy though, to be honest, from the food he serves at his restaurant in Ripley, Surrey, you wouldn 't know it. This is less a criticism than an observation; he is sodden with technique and while the inveterate thrill-seeker in me occasionally found his cooking less than diverting, I know that sometimes what you want is the essentials done to perfection. At Drake's that's what you get.

So the scallops in my starter were seasoned correctly and seared sensitively, and the advertised broccoli puree did not shock or disturb but brought a garden-fresh lift. A duck main course showed an equal understanding of ingredients: here the breast roasted pink, there the thigh braised so it still held the herby kick of the liquor, a little seared liver on a bed of caramelised onions and finally, wrapped up in a cabbage leaf like a present, some shredded confit. It was fine meat cookery. The closest thing to invention came with pudding, a thick set cream accompanied by a scoop of Granny Smith sorbet. Eaten separately the two were pleasant. Taken together - cold and tepid, thick and crisp, sweet and sour - an intriguing combination.

I would have liked a little more of this but I suspect Drake knows his clientele. This, after all, is deepest Surrey and here, in this rather handsome English dining room, in this rather handsome English village house, the punters want a certain product. Or don't want it. I was seated one table away from the nastiest fellow diner I have come across all year, a spherical chap with a gullet saggy enough to arouse a pelican, who kept calling over the waitress apparently merely to abuse her. Just his behaviour put me on the side of what is a very decent, well-mannered restaurant which that day managed to attract a less than well-mannered customer. He didn 't deserve the effort made on his behalf.