The Shropshire Inn, Stafford

A great new place to eat out is open in Stafford. Situated just outside the town, the Shropshire Inn has undergone a revamp and now boasts an impressive 86-seater restaurant situated in an extension connected to the pub.

Despite being called The Shropshire Inn, it in fact sits just off the main A518 road through the village of Haughton, some four miles from Stafford, and around double that distance from Newport.

It is likely that the original pub took its name from the fact that it was once a coaching inn on one of the main routes from Staffordshire into Shropshire.

Licensee Mervyn Newton took over the business with Punch Taverns in April, having previously run venues across the West Midlands.

My wife and I had driven past the Shropshire Inn several times, noticing that it had had a revamp in recent months, before finally getting round to paying a visit after having it recommended to us as a great place for food.

We decided to drop in one Sunday for lunch with our 18-month-old son. Before Mervyn took over, The Shropshire Inn had a £500,000 makeover and it is fair to say that the venue adds a real touch of class to Staffordshire's culinary scene.

It was extended at the same time as a huge extension was built to create the impressive brasserie.

The pub still has a traditional bar area selling a range of drinks and ales, and shows football games on Sky, but the whole place has been lavishly done out.

With exposed beams, the brasserie is beautifully decorated in neutral colours and is very light and airy.

The high vaulted ceilings and clean, simple lines certainly add to the attraction and the tables are nicely spaced out.

On Sunday the restaurant has a carvery and although we were one of the first people there at around 12.30pm, the place soon got very busy with families who had pre-booked, which is recommended.

This is far from being your typical family pub-restaurant, it's a bit more classy than that, dare I say it.

Saying that, the menu is not pretentious nor overly expensive, offering good wholesome food.

And Mr Newton, who took on the business after the refurbishment, is at pains to point out that he wants everyone to feel welcome.

"I've tried to make it more child-friendly," he says. "And I've introduced Chinese, Italian and Indian food to the menu as well as English dishes."

The Shropshire Inn recently introduced a Chinese buffet night on a Wednesday with all you can eat for £10.99.

The carvery itself, which is a feature every Sunday, was very good even though the only choice of meat was pork or beef.

The vegetables were fantastic and the roast potatoes a crispy golden brown and after over filling my plate with all that was on offer - something I manage to do at a carvery everytime - I have to say that it was a very satisfying lunch.

My only criticism was the quality of the beef, which could have been a little better.

My wife enjoyed her courgette parcel with wild mushroom filling, alongside new potatoes and salad, although as a vegetarian she would have preferred a little more choice.

As the main meal was fairly reasonable, at £7.99 each, and at £4.95 for a child's portion, and as we were also very hungry, we opted for a dessert.

My wifeÊwent for a tasty sherry trifle while I had fruit cheesecake, both of which our son was keen to try out. The desserts came to £3.95 each. All in all we had a great meal which cost around £35 with drinks and although situated a little out of town, the Shropshire Inn seems to be proving a popular venue with people travelling from miles around.

The restaurant is open every evening and serves lunch daily from noon.

by Jim Wildman

Newport Road, Haughton

Stafford

Tel: 01785 780904