The Shropshire Inn, Haughton

Dinner for two was bordering on the brilliant, but a local brew would have been nice,

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The Shropshire Inn. Go on, where do you think that might be?

Shrewsbury? Telford? Ludlow? I'll hazard at guess that, unless you have already read the actual address – and that's cheating – the village of Haughton, near Stafford, would be pretty low down your list of likely locations.

Well, if you're a regular reader, you will probably know that the Insider always has a penchant for the unpredictable, and that this kind of geographical quirkiness is something that is just to interesting to resist.

Not that this was the real reason for my visit, mind. Nor was the fact that The Shropshire Inn took second prize in the Taste of Staffordshire contemporary pub/brasserie award, either. No my real reason for wanting to try The Shropshire Inn was the glowing recommendation from reader Giselle, who went to a recent gourmet evening at the pub.

"I feel confident recommending this place to anybody," she said.

"If you get the chance to go, you really will be impressed. Beautiful surroundings, taste-sensation food, attentive smart staff - I'm glad I went."

And I thought, "I'll have some of that" before heading through the autumnal gloom.

Not that it was easy getting a table. Admittedly I left it a little late – well the night before, actually – to book a table, but I was surprised to find that the only slots available were for before 6pm or after 8.45pm.

From the road, The Shropshire Inn looks very much the classic country pub, an old double-fronted building set close to the road, with what appears to be an extension, a distinctive single-storey building with three pointed roofs, attached to the side.

It is the single-storey building that forms the main restaurant, with a series of large French windows forming a view over the garden area.

A path runs through the garden from the level car park, the way illuminated by candles on the tables, although the damp weather appeared to have extinguished many of them.

On arrival, we were invited to take a seat on the sofa in the bar area, where we would remain for the next 40 minutes.

"We've had a couple of parties," explained a friendly and apologetic member of staff as he handed us the menus.

While the menu is not huge, there should be something for most tastes, with lamb, pork, salmon, mullet, duck and chicken, as well as three steaks, gammon and a brie, mushroom and cranberry wellington for the vegetarians.

The attention to detail is hard to fault. All of the meats are supplied by Yieldfields Farm in Bloxwich, which according to the menu ensures excellent care is taken of the meat from field to kitchen.

"It is their belief that contented, happy animals that are given time to mature will produce succulent, richly flavoured meats," it adds.

The slow-braised lamb Henry - like a lamb shank, only from the shoulder - with oven roast shallots and minted pan gravy sounded superb, and the pot roast belly pork home-made black pudding, parsnip puree and cider apple jus with crackling. In the end, though, we both went for steak, myself choosing the fillet with peppercorn sauce, while my companion went for the sirloin with Diane sauce.

Drinks-wise, there is a choice of six "boutique beers" - essentially bottled beers from around the world - and Estrella, a Spanish lager, was available on draught. There were also the usual draught beers from the brewing giants, as well as Wells Bombardier and a pretty comprehensive wine list.

The furniture is stylish and modern, with lots of light wood and attractive green velour cushions on the seats. The tables are attractively laid with serviettes folded into the wine glasses, although I would have preferred cloth napkins at this end of the market. The room is well lit thanks to some interesting glitterball-style light fittings, and some pretty floral displays also add to the ambience, particularly the large flowering plant on the bar.

We were taken to our tables just before 9.30 and the food, which had been ordered around 15 minutes earlier, arrived almost immediately. Perhaps the thinking is that customers prefer to wait in the bar while their food is being cooked rather than be sitting at the table, but I still think it would have been better to have been seated earlier.

I was also quite surprised to see a number of empty tables, given that it had been so hard to get a booking here. It is clearly popular with the smart, be it the trendy young man in a pin-stripe suit jacket and jeans, or the formally dressed elderly couple who were leaving as we arrived. I did detect an Antipodean theme on the table next to us, maybe it was the bloke in the hat with the corks hanging from it that gave the game away.

It has to be said that the food was very good. Attractively presented on a large, square plate, the soft, flavoursome meat was served up with good helpings of chunky, hand-cut chips, along with blushed tomatoes, a mushroom and salad. The sauce was thick and creamy, and really brought out the flavour of the fillet.

And you can't say they're not eager to please – we were asked if everything was satisfactory on three separate occasions during the course of our meal.

To finish, I had the trio of ice creams, while my companion had an orange and almond cheesecake.

The ice cream – I chose two scoops of butterscotch, and one vanilla, is from Red Lion Farm, half a mile around the corner – now that's what I call locally sourced – and it was truly excellent, the butterscotch in particular.

The cheesecake, like the other desserts, is made to the chef's special recipe, and had a powerful fruity flavour. At £4.95, these desserts are not the cheapest, but they are worth it.

The total bill was £70.80, for two courses each, a couple of glasses of orange juice, a bottle of pinot grigio and one coffee.

It's hardly a cheap place, but then again it doesn't pretend to be, and there isn't really much to fault, although I do think some locally sourced beers would be an excellent accompaniment to the locally sourced food. Perhaps I'm old fashioned, but I would rather have some Slaters, Lymestone or Titanic than the trendy bottled beers from other countries.

That aside, if you're looking to treat yourself for that special occasion, The Shropshire Inn offers lovingly home cooked food, impeccable service and elegant comfortable surroundings.

Just remember to book a few days in advance.

ADDRESS

The Shropshire Inn, Newport Road, Haughton ST18 9HB

Tel: 01785 780904

Web: www.theshropshireinnhaughton.co.uk

MENU SAMPLE

STARTERS

Home-cured salmon £6.50

Twice-baked cheese souffle £5.95

Crab and tiger prawn tartlet £5.75

MAINS

Duo of salmon – pan-fried fillet of natural and smoked salmon, sauteed tiger prawns and chive and turmeric veloute £13.95

Staffordshire chicken, three ways – pan-fried supreme, poached thigh and roasted drumstick, with sauce albufeira £12.95

Pan-fried fillets of grey mullet with fennel and white onion puree and pickled cucumber with tarragon £12.95

Brie, mushroom and cranberry wellington with tomato sauce and micro herbs £11.95

16oz gammon steak, garden peas, egg, pineapple and chips £13.95

DESSERTS

Strawberry Eton mess with coulis duo £4.95

Syrup sponge pudding with English custard £4.95

Cheese and biscuits £6.95