The Moat House, Acton Trussell

I wasn't sure whether to eat the food or photograph it. When our dinner arrived at The Moat House, at Acton Trussell, my friend and I took a sharp intake of breath.

I'd like to say it was pretty, but, it wasn't. I'd like to say it was elegant, but it wasn't. It was both of those things – but far, far more. Our food was a work of art.

The colours worked like those on an artist's palette, contrasting with one another and making them more than the sum of their individual parts. There was height and texture. Every component on our plates had been placed on the plate with precision. My friend started to lean in towards his plate – for a moment, I thought he was going to kiss it.

"Smell that," he said, as his nose ran the length of the dish, like a latter-day Robbie Fowler snorting the goal line on a football pitch. He looked up at me. "Seriously," he urged. "Smell that."

I followed suit and I'm sure the other diners must have thought us mad. Rather than eating our dinners, we were sniffing them. After a while, we reclined in our chairs and ogled them further. We were like thirtysomething-men, eyeing the talent on Birmingham's Broad Street. Our eyes on stalks.

"Bon apetite," I offered. And we tucked in.

The food had been cooked by the Moat House's Executive Head Chef Matt Davies. Matt is a man with a special talent. On Staffordshire's food scene, he's a Godfather-like figure, respected and revered by many in the county. He's one of the region's pre-eminent restaurateurs, a creative and entrepreneurial chef who stands out from the crowd.

He oversees the kitchens of four highly-esteemed local venues that form part of the Lewis Partnership, comprising The Swan, at Stafford; The Dog and Doublet Inn, in Sandon; The Bear Grill, at Stafford; and, of course, The Moat House.

A typical week sees him racing between all of those venues, making sure his head chefs are maintaining standards. But he's at his happiest in the capacious kitchens of The Moat House, in Acton Trussell.

The venue has been extensively developed in recent years. It is popular among businessmen and wedding couples, as well as locals. But those different groups of people tend to obscure a more impressive fact. If the Moat House were a bijou restaurant, without a wedding trade – rather like, say, Purnell's, in Birmingham, it would have long since been included in the Michelin Guide. I'd stake my yearly fix of dinners on that. I'd go further: The Moat House is, in this critic's opinion, the best non-Michelin-starred restaurant in the West Midlands.

Matt has remarkable skill and seems to have been overlooked by stuffy guide book critics for a simple reason: he caters to the masses, rather than an elite few. Guide books like Michelin, you see, don't like to sully themselves with venues that cater to wedding parties – and that's precisely what the Moat House does. Instead, the Michelin Guide concerns itself with rarefied restaurants that offer high end food and nothing more.

It's little wonder that Matt has such high standards. He was the first apprentice of Andreas Antona, the founder of Simpsons, in Birmingham. Simpsons is a totemic restaurant and in the restaurant trade, Antona has a reputation that's similar to that enjoyed by Monsieur Raymond Blanc. Pretty much every West Midlands chef with a star pedigree has at some stage passed through its kitchens. It is to West Midlands cuisine what Blanc's Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons is to Oxfordshire gastronomy, or what Gordon Ramsay's eponymous restaurant is to fine dining in London. It's the place where all chefs go to learn their trade; the nonpareil on the local scene.

As a newcomer, Matt learned at the foot of Antona and has kept his Michelin star longer than any restaurateur in the region. Many of Antona's kitchen graduates stayed with him and continue to work in Simpsons, but Matt wanted to go it alone. He spread his wings and worked in a number of other Grade A restaurants before being made boss of the Lewis Partnership kitchens in Staffordshire. The Moat House is where he gives reign to his true talents.

The Moat House is a delightful venue: it's little wonder it's so popular with wedding parties. Located in bucolic countryside, it comprises a Grade II Listed 14th century moated manor house. It was formerly a village pub and restaurant but it has grown over the years into an award-winning hotel and restaurant.

Happily, the extensions have been carried out sensitively and it retains its unique charms. It has been owned and run by the Lewis family since 1955 and has undergone its most recent improvements since the 1990s.

Matt's dining room is located in a light and airy conservatory. Natural light floods the room and during the evening, vast chandeliers illuminate the space. My friend and I had chosen to dine during the middle of the week and the room was pretty full.

A youthful brigade was providing exceptional service. The maitre d, an extravagant, blousy man, was great value, showing us to our table and engaging in polite chit chat as we took our seats. The sommelier was extremely impressive. He was knowledgeable about the wine list and exceptionally polite. He worked at the venue in between studying – it's to be hoped the Moat House snaps him up and doesn't let him escape to a different career, for he was a great asset.

An amuse bouche and small plate of breads set our dinner off to an excellent start and soon our first course arrived; a delightful summery scallop dish featuring apple puree, peanut, small cubes of breaded deep-fried pork. Slices of pressed apple and micro herbs garnished the plate and it was finished with tiny pink leaves of apple blossom. It was joyous.

The scallops were plump and salty sweet. They had been seared with great expertise, so that the outer was a golden brown while the inner was succulent and bursting with flavour. The combination of ingredients was thrilling: there was crunchy, salty pork; sweet, sharp apple; delicate fragrant apple blossom and micro herb; crunchy peanut and a swish of flavoursome apple puree. It was stunning.

The main course was squab pigeon, which was served with a potato crisp, broccoli, carrot. It was served with an earthy vegetable puree atop a bed of deliciously light and flavoursome bulgar wheat. An intensely meaty jus had been drizzled through and a confit pigeon leg finished the plate. The dish was a thing of majesty and beauty. The crisp potato, soft puree and delicate pigeon were in perfect harmony. Sweet carrot, salty jus, soft broccoli and golden squab skin made for exquisite combinations. The squab had been cooked sous vide – in a water bath – so the cooking temperature had been maintained throughout and it was deliciously tender and pink.

For dessert, we enjoyed a taste of spring. Small cubes of poached rhubarb had been delicately placed on a large white plate, along with crushed pistachio, rhubarb puree, a rhubarb parfait, crunchy tuile and pistachio ice cream. The combinations were light and delicious. The ice cream was like silk. The parfait was dream-like and the pistachio added flavour and texture.

Throughout the dinner, Matt Davies had proved himself the consummate professional. His cooking was truly exceptional. I keep a running order of my favourite West Midlands restaurants and a few old favourites always appear.

The Michelin-starred Mr Underhills, at Ludlow, has not been usurped in ten years. Will Holland's exquisite La Becasse, in Ludlow is deserving of the plaudits it regularly receives. Glynn Purnell's eponymous restaurant, in Birmingham City Centre, is another favourite, which provides uniquely individual dishes. Simpsons, also in Birmingham, is another. All have, or have been, Michelin-starred.

Matt Davies deserves his place among those luminaries. His food is exquisite, service in his restaurant is of the highest standard and the only thing that seems to prevent him achieving a Michelin star is the fact this his venue is used for dozens of wedding parties. The joy of his exclusion from the Michelin Guide is, of course, that the prices are much lower than those with stars. So, while comparable restaurants would charge £50 for a dinner, Matt charges about £35. It's the best value dinner in the West Midlands. I can't think of a single reason why you wouldn't book.

ADDRESS

The Moat House, Acton Trussell, Staffordshire ST17 0RJ

Phone: 01785 712217

Web: www.moathouse.co.uk