'Tis the season to be merry and there are few festive delights more likely to rouse the Christmas spirit in me than a good piece of game. A visit to Manson in Fulham Road the other day was inspired after hearing on the grapevine that new chef Alan Stewart was doing a roaring trade in potted pheasant - and it didn't disappoint.

The last time the Chronicle was at this curiously-named Parsons Green restaurant, its cooking was in the hands of the Gordon Ramsey-trained Gemma Tuley, whose French brasserie style menu won much local acclaim.

She has since moved to pastures new to be replaced by Stewart, the former head chef under Tristan Welsh at Launceston Place. He has introduced a more British-leaning menu, with locally sourced produce - including from the restaurant's own allotments - and seasonal dishes like the pheasant, wood pigeon and old English classics like mutton suet pie and Cumbrian suckling pig all to the fore.

With the new menu concept has come a reduction in prices, with an average main now about £16, and a brunch offering on Saturdays comprising plates such as pancakes, yoghurt, apple and pear compote with honey; bacon cured in-house with scrambled eggs and lunchier options like black Pudding, fried duck egg, wild mushrooms, pigs ear with Hollandaise sauce; and homemade shepherd's pie.

We arrived on a dank and cold Wednesday night and were pleased to find the same smart yet informal dining surroundings, the wood-brick bar and light oak furniture providing a warming antidote to the foul weather outside.

What impressed us last time was the relaxed yet highly professional attitude of the staff, which was again in evidence as we sat down to a warm basket of fresh bread and were asked if we'd like a cocktail. Well, I would certainly never turn one down and opted for a cucumber martini (£9.50) which was refreshing and dangerously alcoholic at the same time - a winner in my book, and it needed to be for the price.

If I was sure about ordering the pheasant, I wasn't so certain about the starter but plumped for the Cornish mackerel, apple, celery and horseradish (£6.50) over the cured sea trout with cabbage, pickles and dill (£7).

I find it difficult to embrace small portions, and I could have done with more of this because the soft and salty fish enjoyed a very happy marriage with the pureed fruit and spiky radish. Hector's celeriac soup with mint oil and hazelnuts (£6.50) was delicious.

Now to the pheasant (£16). It came in breast and leg form and with the in-house cured bacon, chestnuts and cabbage, as well as a couple of reassuring shotgun pellets, which I don't see as a bad thing. The flavours were sumptuous and Christmasey and rich, the gravy gamey and salty, but not overly so, from the bird's juices luscious crispy bacon, while the cabbage and nuts lifted it still further.

If you like your game quite high you might have a been a tad disappointed, but the explosion of taste generated from the dish's wintry components would have surely compensated.

Hector turned up his nose at the one vegetarian option, the salt baked beetroot with potato dumpling, goats cheese and walnuts but was forced to ask for humble pie for desert after declaring a new found love for beetroot in a form he'd never before experienced. The chef does seem to like his nuts but it is Christmas and my companion said they combined very well with the veg and cheese.

All this, by the way, was accompanied by a very drinkable Cotes du Rhône, Domaine Bouvachon Nomine 2009 (£24), the dregs of which were still being drunk by time I enjoyed the freshly baked chocolate tart, which was up to par in the rich, moreish and gooey stakes.

I was comatose at this point so when I was idly re-perusing the cocktail list I couldn't help noticing the Espressotini (£9.50), which comes as it sounds and includes a dash of kahlua. It did the job and then some - I was wired for the rest of the night.

Most restaurants would suffer for losing one of the most talented young chefs in the country but we were impressed with the change of concept and would expect Manson to continue flying the flag as one of Fulham's premiere neighbourhood eateries, especially now it's dropped its prices more in line with a recession.