Longford House, Cannock

Do you ever feel a bit confused by the break-neck pace at which technology seems to move?

This was something that dawned on me when I watched the chap on the table next to me at Longford House, where this week's Insider comes from.

This young man had one of those fancy new phones. You know, one of those that looks like a pocket calculator with a smoked glass front; I don't know, an e-Phone, a Strawberry, or something like that.

And it was impossible not to marvel as he did all these clever things while he waited for his main to arrive. I don't know exactly what he was doing; maybe he was trading on the Forex, ordering some cinema tickets, trying out his "apps" (see I know the lingo). Whatever it was, it looked pretty impressive.

But the thing that amazed me was not the technology, nor was it not even the deft dexterity with which he seemed able to control the whole world with a few slick slides of his fingertips.

No, the thing that really had me in awe was the fact that this young man couldn't have been much more than eight years old.

Where do they learn all that? Do they have mobile phone classes in schools? Do they hone their skills at an out-of-hours club down the mission hall? Amazing.

This week's column is fuelled by a bit of nostalgia for days when technology was interesting but simple. When a mobile phone was the size of a suitcase, and there was a real kudos to carrying one of these things around. The days when cars were fast and fashions were bright.

Decisions were straightforward then. BBC or ITV. Betamax or VHS. And when it came to dining out, the chances are the choice would probably be between a Beefeater or Berni Inn.

You don't see Berni Inns any more. Whitbread's Beefeater emerged victorious in the battle of the steakhouses, and by 1990 the Berni Winter had arrived: Whitbread bought out its rival, and converted all Berni Inns to Beefeaters.

Twenty years on, there aren't many Beefeaters around, either. Most of them seem to have been converted to the trendier Table Table brand, but there are still a few left in our region, including this one.

Located on a busy junction of probably Britain's most famous Roman road - the A5 Watling Street - most of us will have driven past the Longford House at some stage. Yet, maybe because it seemed a bit too obvious, it was a place I had never visited - until now.

Longford House is an impressive-looking three-storey house dating back to the 17th century, shielded from the main road by neatly-landscaped gardens.

There is plenty of car parking, but the campus-style layout, which also includes a Premier Inn hotel, is not particularly user friendly and meant, on the Friday night of our visit, that it was quite a walk to the car.

The building is entered through a small, unfurnished lobby at the back; clean and tidy, but a touch austere. There was a small queue at the reception counter when we arrived, one couple with young children, and a larger family group spanning several generations. It seems to be quite popular with families, and it turned out that the one group was part of a larger party occupying the large open-plan room at the front with a big bay window.

We were led through to another large room at the back , much of which had been divided into alcoves with wood-panelled partitions, partly covered by a sloping glass roof.

The brightly-coloured stripey carpet looks great, and the I love the mixture of mosaic patterned and lime-green coloured chairs, which add to the vibrancy of the room. I'm not so struck on the vinyl benches or the tubular yellow light shades, though. And it's a shame that no-one's made more of the building's past and its period features; the style is more corporate uniformity than Georgian individuality.

Service is polite and efficient, although it would have been nice if we could have had a single member of staff look after us for the whole evening. The menu is vast and, as you would expect from the name, there is a strong emphasis on cow-based dishes.

For vegetarians there is a choice of pasta and risotto, but being realistic, most people will come here for the burgers or the steaks. And for a steak lover, there is an embarrassment of char-grilled choice; sirloin, rump, fillet or ribeye; 7, 10 or 16 ounces; on the bone or off. Where does one begin?

Well my normal preference would be for the fillet, but on this occasion I thought I would try the 10oz ribeye. It has to be said that if the steak is the Beefeater chain's core selling point, it does it very well. My ribeye was a tender, thick cut, beautifully marbled and very nicely cooked, moist and succulent, with a good beefy flavour. Then again, at £14.75, plus £1.45 for the brandy and pepper sauce, it was quite expensive for a chain restaurant.

My dining companion also spoke highly of the beef burger, which was good value for £7.99.

But while the main focus of the meal was well executed, the details did let it down a little. There's no faulting the generosity of the portion sizes, but I was a bit disappointed by the huge mound of machine-cut chips, some of which were a little on the hard side.

For afters I had a vanilla cheesecake with a strawberry compote. It was enjoyable, but they did go a little over the top with the strawberries.

A nice touch was the Union Jack chocolate topping on my companion's cappuccino coffee, although for some reason they refrained from trying to decorate my Americano with an Old Glory.

The total bill was £36.76, for two mains, one dessert, two coffees, and a pint of Hobgoblin and a half of Banks's bitter.

Overall, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

And while there isn't much to criticise, there are plenty of places at this price which offer more character and individuality. Places that feel a little less like a business and more like an experience.

ADDRESS

Longford House, Watling Street, Cannock WS11 1SJ

Phone: 01543 572721

MENU SAMPLE

STARTERS

Prawn cocktail on salad leaves with Marie Rose sauce £4.75; Potato shells with choice of fillings £4.75; Paprika chicken skewers £4.75

MAIN COURSES

Fisherman's char-grilled selection £13.25; Rack of ribs with chips, coleslaw, battered onion rings and a choice of sauces £12.25; 16oz steak platter (a collection of rump, fillet, sirloin and ribeye served with chips, onion rings, tomato, a flat mushroom and brandy and peppercorn sauce) £19.99; Caesar salad £8.99; Mediterranean tomato risotto flavoured with white wine topped with cheese shavings £9.25

DESSERTS

Belgian waffle £4.50; Cheese platter £4.99; Caramel apple crumble pie £4.25