Fox, Bridgnorth : Shropshire Star:

Star rating: no stars

The Middle East. Not an obvious place to start with a pub review (unless it’s the Three Sheikhs in Amman) but bear with me.

Despite the best intentions of the Western World, the Middle East continues to prove something of a headache when it comes to foreign policy.

While Bush and Blair love to play the humanitarian, essentially the West’s involvement comes down to its thirst for oil.

Without easy access to the vast reserves in the Middle East, oil prices fluctuate wildly - so much so that running a one-litre Fiat Punto can break the bank.

Of course, the Government could throw its weight behind the development of bio-fuels, but people don’t really get mega-rich farming oilseed rape. Not yet, anyway.

So the race is on to find new sources of oil which will happily power the growing army of 4.6-litre Range Rovers which appear on the school run.

It’s here that we shall begin the food review. For the chefs at The Fox in Bridgnorth would appear to have stumbled upon their own supply . . . and are using it by the barrel load.

My fish, which came with a greasy, tangled, clump of chips, could easily have been caught up in the Exxon Valdeez disaster.

But was it actually a fish? Scraping away the batter revealed a wafer-thin line of grey flesh, most of which turned out to be skin. A sort of Gollum-like offering for those of you who have watched Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings.

But it wasn’t just my food which was disastrous.

I was eating lunch with Nick Wheeler, the Shropshire entrepreneur behind the Charles Tyrwhitt clothing range.

Nick’s good taste in shirts is reflected in his palate. Indeed he professes to love nothing more than scrumptious, old-fashioned fayre. Unfortunately his lamb burger was another crude offering (in both senses of the word).

“Why on earth have they ruined this perfectly good plate of oil with a burger and some under-cooked potato,” he moaned.

The strawberry cheesecake was plumped for on the basis that it is impossible to get it wrong. Somehow The Fox managed it. The greasy biscuit base almost aquaplaned on the dish, while the cream cheese curdled in the mouth.

The bill came, and highlighted a discrepancy. Now Nick’s not short of a bob or two, but even he refused to cough up £6.40 for a lager shandy.

We sought explanation from the manager and the conversation went something like this.

Nick: “Excuse me, I think the bill is incorrect.”

Manager: “Let me have a look sir. What appears to be the problem?”

Nick: “Well, you have charged me £6.40 for a lager shandy.”

Manager: “Erm, that’s right.”

Nick: “I’m sorry? £6.40 for a lager shandy?”

Manager: “Yes, that’s right.”

Nick: “Well I’m sorry, I’m not paying £6.40 for a lager shandy.”

Manager: “Well, erm, it is right though.”

Nick: “I don’t mind if it’s right, I’m not paying £6.40 for a lager shandy.”

Manager: “Right, I’ll see what we can do.”

He asked how the food was and as we started to explain our misery he wandered back to the refuge of his bar.

The sea of empty tables spoke volumes. We were the only two people in The Fox and it’s no wonder. The only question remaining is why has a pub which enjoyed a successful revamp two years ago has gone to wrack and ruin?

‘Oil’ do my best to find out.

MENU SAMPLE

Starters

Asparagus and parmesan risotto (£5.95)

Creamy Roquefort and garlic mushrooms, with basil crostini (£4.95).

Main courses

Morrocan style potato cakes, beef tomatoes, salad and grilled halloumi (£7.95).

Sides

Garlic loaf (£2.50)

Desserts

The blackboard has daily pudding specials

ATMOSPHERE