Food review: The Rag Country Inn, Cannock

If you go down to the woods today, you’ll find a surprising treasure nestled away on the edge of Cannock Chase forest.

While the name may not sound the most appealing, don’t let it fool you, The Rag is a marvel, offering faultless food and stunning surroundings.

Outside, the bricked pub sits against a backdrop of rolling country fields and soaring pine trees offering a fairy tale feel, especially as we went on a misty February afternoon.

The skies were grey and the air dewy, yet the rural landscape was still breathtaking and the pub’s warm glow pierced through the mist offering a welcome retreat from the cold.

Sat on the outskirts of the forest, between Cannock Wood and Prospect Village, The Rag Country Inn offers home-cooked pub grub.

Entering the pub itself, you won’t be blown away. It’s got a down-to-earth, no-nonsense feel about it. With tables and chairs set out in uniform style, almost resonant of a school lunch room, but, while basic, everything is well spaced, offering plenty of room to get in and out of chairs with no awkward elbow-tussling with the person at the next table.

There are also large windows lining the walls, making the room feel more open and offering views of the forest – a unique backdrop while you eat.

Myself, my partner and my mum went for Sunday dinner. We arrived at around 2:30pm and were promptly handed menus and seated. While our drinks order came, we did have to wait almost 15 minutes before a waitress returned with a pen and pad to take our food requests.

This was the only small fault we could find in the evening and since every table was full, the slight service lag at the beginning was easily excused, especially since the polite waitress did apologise for the wait.

After noting our food down, however, everything sped up – the starters almost flew out of the kitchen within 10 minutes of ordering, while the mains followed 15 minutes after the first dishes were taken and desserts were offered and served shortly after that.

But we won’t jump ahead since each dish is so deserving of a weighty description.

Before proceedings got under way, complimentary fresh bread was brought over to the table, a very nice and welcome touch.

To start, mum went for the salmon, coriander and sweet chilli fishcake with a lemon and parsley dip.

The chilli in the fishcake wasn’t burn-your-tongue-off hot, it was refreshingly mild and paired well with the piquant tartar sauce, which was rich and creamy, and, according to mum’s experienced tastebuds, could detect hints of herbs and parsley, as promised on the menu.

My other half had opted for the prawn cocktail with buttered granary bread – the prawns were plentiful, the Marie Rose sauce simple, yet scrumptious and the bread well-buttered – a king couldn’t have demanded more.

Meanwhile, I went for deep fried Brie with chilli jam and sweet chilli dressing. The slight kick in the jam offered a well-chosen contrast to the softer, milder flavours of the Brie. It was accompanied with a side salad dressed in a delicious balsamic glaze.

The emptied plates were taken, more drinks ordered and the short wait passed by watching the trees rustle in the cold winter winds.

Mum went the extra mile with her main, paying an additional £6 for the 10oz sirloin steak. And, after the succulent first mouthful, she assured us the meat was worth every penny, or pound in this case – her knife sliced straight through it, with the steak pieces seemingly melting in the mouth.

It came with a bucket of crisp-on-the-outside and floury-on-the-inside chips. A selection of sauces were also offered to accompany the steak, mum went for the Jack Daniels and wild mushroom. It contained slithers of savoury mushroom and was great for soaking the steak and chunky chips in.

My partner meanwhile, had opted for roast sirloin of beef with Yorkshire pudding. The beef was juicy and the gravy plentiful. It came with a side dish of crunchy, yet tender, vegetables and golden-brown roast potatoes.

Unusually, I had quite a few options for vegetarian mains and settled on the pumpkin ravioli baked with a three cheese sauce. It was packed with flavour and generously cheesy.

The chewy pasta exterior offered a pleasant contrast to the smooth pumpkin paste inside.

All the portions were hearty and the food wholesome. So it was no surprise mum was raising her napkin almost like a white flag when the waitress approached with the offer of something sweet. However, nothing could stop myself and my partner’s stomachs and so we pressed on with puddings.

A note at the bottom of the pudding board made us crack a smile and summed up the convivial feel of the place – ‘all sweets may contain traces of nuts – like some of the staff’. After much debate, he went for the after dinner mint cheesecake, while I had the almond and chocolate tart with Dime bar.

Both came with a professional swish of fruit compote and vanilla ice cream. The sharpness of the sauce paired well with both sweet treats. They were soft, chewy and crunchy in all the right places and the chocolatey, nutty flavours bounced off our tongues.

It had been a flavour-filled experience, but what topped it all off was the price.

On the fixed-priced Sunday lunch menu, which we ordered from, three courses came to £17.95 – yes, that’s three fantastic plates of food packed with flavour, all for under 20 quid. The fixed-price menu also offered one course for £10.95 and two for £14.95.

Evening and lunchtime menus differ in price, while daily specials and sweets are listed on the blackboards.

But it’s safe to say you won’t leave with your wallet emptied, in fact it will probably still be fairly full, and I can promise your stomach definitely will be.

By Louise Rouvray