The Fox, Much Wenlock

Star rating: ****

When gathering evidence for an objective restaurant review, secret diners have to rely on stealth. The proprietors don’t know we have booked, so we are confident of getting a true picture of how they operate.

My wife and I usually make surreptitious notes during the meal, and have even been known to “borrow” the odd menu but at the Fox in High Street, Much Wenlock, John and Hannah Davison have installed CCTV cameras throughout the premises - which makes our job tricky.

If they happen to review the footage of the night we were there they will see a restaurant packed with happy eaters. The food was great, the service smart and the atmosphere delightful, in fact at one point it seemed the whole dining room joined John the chef in discussing the merits of the creme brulee.

The management might even have recorded the anti-social antics of the teenagers in the bar. I’m a fuddy-duddy, born 55 years before the iPod at a time when good manners and consideration for others were expected. These boorish, yobbish, vulgar youths shouted, swore, belched and selfishly destroyed any chance of other customers having a relaxing time.

It was a blessed relief to be called into the restaurant after a thoroughly unpleasant 20 minutes. Rant over.

John and Hannah, who came to much Wenlock from Malvern, have only been open for eight weeks but have already made quite an impression. It’s an eye-catching transformation at the Fox, with stylish, modern decor and furniture and plenty of room around the tables in the higgledy-piggledy dining areas.

But it is the quality of the food which has been doing the talking - with John’s innovative skills as a chef shining through; skills by the way which have been honed during a career spent in several parts of the country but which began at The Savoy (good place to start) in London and included 12 years at the Metropole Hotel in Birmingham.

The Davisons offer a select menu, with seven starters and the same number of main courses, although they are changed frequently.

Priced between £4.95 and £7.25 the starters ranged from black pudding to salmon, avocado salad to smoked haddock with bubble and squeak cakes, so tastes from the cautious to the adventurous were covered.

I was pleased to see seasonal fare and picked the local asparagus with a beurre blanc and Parmesan shavings (£5.50). It was a revelation. I’ve grown my own asparagus and I can testify this was only hours old, steamed for the absolute minimum and exquisitely flavoured. Not only that, the warmed Parmesan (the smell of which I always find off-putting) tasted superb.

Appreciative comments from my wife also as her home-cured salmon, dill mayonnaise, potato and horseradish salad (at £7.25 the most expensive starter) hit the maximum in terms of enjoyment.

My sensibilities, irritated by the young revellers, were now suitably calmed and I was able to savour the cheery buzz in the restaurant and anticipate the char-grilled sirloin (£15) with hand-cut chips and garlic butter.

The reality was as good as the expectation. It was a generous steak, medium rare in the inside, a distinct hint of charring on the outside and tender as can be. I’ve no idea how long it had spent in the cold room but it was long enough to release its full flavour. The chips were (unusually) almost black but they tasted excellent. The side dish of vegetables - cauliflower, courgettes, cabbage, carrots and broccoli - were cooked al dente although I didn’t notice them much as I was too pre-occupied with the ecstasy-inducing steak and chips.

Seems Libby was planning to take the chef home as her pan-fried duck breast (£15.75) with a cumin crust and new seasoned potatoes blew out of the water any meal I had ever cooked her in her life, although I did make up for it by being a meal ticket (literally) thanks to this newspaper.

Nearly an hour-and-a-half had passed by now, so we had paced ourselves well and I wasn’t going to stop with food this good. I went on to the baked cheesecake with berry compote (£5). Funny thing was, I said I wasn’t impressed by it yet Libby raved over it. Proper cheesecake, she said, just as it should be, firm, moist, with a subtle flavour. Not the sugar-filled, highly processed, synthetic supermarket variety. Interesting how some of us have been conditioned to expect junk food.

My wife’s savoury palate prompted her request for a platter of English cheese (£5.50) which she enthusiastically sampled, compared and devoured. Full marks, especially for the Shropshire Blue, she said.

Not much more to add, except that we had a bottle of Slowine Chilean Merlot (£15.95) red to accompany the meal and the bill, with pre-dinner drinks, came to £76.25.

I feel a little guilty at deducting a point from their deserved five-star rating because of the inexcusable behaviour of the foul-mouthed pond life in the bar but our raison d’etre is to tell it as we found it.

by Rex M Key 

contact details

The Fox, 46 High Street, Much Wenlock.

Tel: 01952 727292

MENU SAMPLE

Starters

Potato galette topped with black pudding and smoked bacon (£5.50)

Egg mayonnaise with a French bean, feta and tomato salad (£5)

Main courses

Sauteed calf’s liver with champ potatoes and onion gravy (£15.50)

River trout fillets with capers, tomatoes and rissole potatoes (£13.50)

Desserts

Creme caramel with cinnamon and cardamom pods (£5.50)

Summer berry pudding with a vanilla custard (£5.75)

ATMOSPHERE

Vibrant, especially later in the evening, possible vulgar element in the bar

SERVICE

Friendly and efficient. Cheery chef usually makes an appearance

DISABLED FACILITIES

Listed building with changes of levels

smoking policy

Non smoking restaurant