Alan Cookman visits The Shropshire, Haughton, Nr

Stafford

FOR my birthday dinner, the loved ones – one of them, at

least – had planned an exciting gastronomic safari.

We were to feast on big game, as served at The Castle Tavern

in Stafford.

The Son & Heir had procured a menu listing dishes

featuring the likes of zebra, crocodile and wildebeest. He

himself would be ordering bison, he told us.

I said I'd play safe and check out the impala or springbok,

reasoning that the flesh of the same could not be wholly

dissimilar to venison.

Herself was appalled we could even consider consuming the

wildlife of the African plain, endangered or not, and insisted

she'd be eating nothing more exotic than cow, pig or sheep.

It was academic, however, for when we reached the waterhole

we found that bigger beasts had beaten us to it.

The Son & Heir had failed to reserve a table, and there

wasn't a single seat in the house.

I could have spread a rumour that an ill-tempered crocodile,

in the process of being slaughtered in the cellar below, had

broken free and was looking for a leg to snack on.

Instead, we gave it up as a bad job, and adjourned to The

Shropshire at Haughton, the "classy roadside brasserie," to

quote myself, where we enjoyed a splendid meal a couple of

years ago and which is under new management.

It was eight o'clock by this time, but there wasn't a soul

in the place and the chef was sitting in the garden reading a

newspaper.

It's a pretty garden, and it was a fine evening, but the

spectacle was not a reassuring one.

Still, we had a warm welcome, and we perused the menu –

which included not so much as a morsel of meerkat – over a cool

drink.

The Shropshire is a lavishly refurbished pub a few miles out

of Stafford. It has striking features, like the original

vaulted ceiling and a suspended log-burning stove, as well as

large amounts of polished timber and sparkling glass.

Sadly, a vaulted ceiling and a suspended log-burning stove

are no substitutes for ambience, and the absence of other

diners was scarcely calculated to make the experience a riotous

one.

And the food, although perfectly adequate in the main, had

little of the style and panache of the dishes served on our

last visit. "The menu doesn't suit the venue," remarked the Son

& Heir.

It's certainly not one of those menus that induces agonies

of indecision.

I started with a tolerable smoked chicken and couscous salad

with yoghurt and mint dressing (£4.60) and followed this with

tender slices of grilled duck breast with black cherry and

brandy sauce (£11.95).

Herself ordered sautéed tiger prawns in garlic butter with

citrus mayonnaise (£5.35), but they came in a chilli sauce.

This was promptly rectified, although she found the prawns to

be a bit on the small side and served with a rather boring

salad.

However, she did enjoy her Shropshire sirloin steak,

pan-fried on red onion with apple glazed with Shropshire blue

cheese (£12.45). She said the steak was well cooked, the cheese

was not too intrusive and the home-made chips were

excellent.

The Son & Heir, who'd started with the chef's home-made

chicken liver paté with fruit chutney and crusty bread (£3.95),

was also well satisfied with his 12oz ribeye steak (£12.50) and

the trimmings that included giant flat mushrooms as well as

those chips.

Unfortunately his brandy snap basket with summer berries and

whipped cream (£5.30) was conspicuously short on snap, although

I thought the cheese selection was good value at £5.25.

Summer holidays can be held responsible for the empty

tables, but I still feel that the menu would benefit from an

injection of more cutting-edge cuisine.

Meerkat au vin?

Name: The Shropshire

Where: Newport road, Haughton, Stafford. Tel 01785

780904

Open: Daily from 12 noon to 9pm

The Bill: starters x 3 – £14.94; mains x 3 – £36.90; dessert

x 2 – £10.55; aperitifs and wine – £22.20. Total: £84.59.