THERE can be few things more relaxing than watching, glass of wine in hand, the sun set over the 18th hole of a shadowy golf course.

The golf and country club at the Celtic Manor Resort was almost deserted on the mellow Friday evening of our visit - with most golf fans probably at home, glued to the US Masters.

That meant, however, we got one of the best window tables available in the small dining area overlooking the course - and we were able to watch the last golfers of the day making their final putts.

Only two other tables at the club were occupied and, possibly because of this, we received very attentive service.

A Bloody Mary and a Southern Comfort got the meal off to a good start, as did a choice of different kinds of bread, while we selected from a table d'hote menu that had four choices for each of the three courses - with options for meat or fish eaters and vegetarians.

I decided on the mozarella, tomato and avocado salad with pesto sauce to start, while my partner had chicken terrine with a red onion marmalade, then we had a sirloin of beef on a mound of mash with baby vegetables and a rich jus, and a baked fillet of salmon also with baby veg.

All the food was excellently cooked and attractively presented, and the meat was done exactly as I requested.

We managed to force down puddings - a very light cheesecake and a plate of Welsh cheeses, which included my favourite Y-Fenni, with fruit and biscuits.

Then we had coffee, generously accompanied by at least four chocolate mints each. At £17.50 per person (it would have been £14.99 if we hadn't greedily opted for three courses instead of two) this seemed very good value, given the quality of food and service. Helen Morgan