Star rating: **** Venturing into North Shropshire on the quest to find fine food, the village of Grinshill near Shrewsbury offered up a good bet in the form of The Inn at Grinshill.
After visiting the village earlier that month on a separate assignment for the paper, I knew that at least another drive out to the village would be worthwhile.
It is very pretty, just a ten minute drive from Shrewsbury, and known for being one of the most sought after villages for homebuyers in North Shropshire.
I had happened upon its inn’s excellent website www.theinnatgrinshill.co.uk earlier in the week.
Not only did this give a tantalising hint of what to expect from the building itself, but it also had a full copy of a restaurant menu which, after a quick look at it, soon had me grabbing for the phone to book a table for the Friday night.
The inn itself is an attractive and sprawling building set smack bang in the middle of Grinshill - which lies under the lee of Grinshill. It is owned by Kevin and Victoria Brazier.
The inn has a popular bar, called The Elephant & Castle bar. It has panelled walls, old-fashioned tables and chairs, a large open fire and cosy candle-lit tables. It is very attractive and welcoming.
On the other side of the building - separated by a pretty seating area - is the smart restaurant. Tastefully decorated and furnished in modern style, it is larger than it first looks. One section is at the front of the main building, while another section lies behind, and has a view over the rear garden.
At the bar the friendly staff served me with a large glass of shiraz (£5.75), while Simon had a Bells and Canada Dry (£3.75).
It wasn’t long before we were greeted by the maitre d’ who led us into the restaurant. We were invited to choose our own table, which was nice, and given menus which had plenty to choose from.
I was absolutely delighted with our surroundings. The tables were beautifully set and the atmosphere relaxed and quiet. Our fellow diners were obviously taking their job of enjoying fine food seriously.
At about 7.30pm a handful of groups and couples were already settled in the restaurant, and it got busier as the night went on. Throughout the evening gentle music played in the background - from Sixties ballads to Frank Sinatra.
For starters I ordered a favourite, mussels mariniere with garlic crostini (£7). Simon went for king prawn linguine (£8). For mains I ordered half pan-roasted guinea fowl with tomato mousseline, wild mushrooms and Madeira wine (£14).
Simon chose fillet steak with handcut chips, tomato and cap mushrooms (£18). We also ordered boulangere potatoes to share (£2).
There was not a huge delay before our starters arrived, and I couldn’t have been more pleased with my dish of mussels.
I was given a plate for the empty shells together with a finger bowl and a spoon so I could make the most of the sauce. Then my mussels arrived. I got a large bowl of steaming cooked mussels in a delicious, parsley-packed sauce. The sauce also had around 60 gorgeous tiny shallots in it.
If that wasn’t enough I was also served an ample slice of warm toasted crostini. This dish on its own would have satisfied me, so I decided to leave about 30 shallots in my dish - as well as most of the crostini, sadly. Otherwise I would not have been able to manage the rest of my meal.
I can confidently say that this was the best serving of mussels I have had so far - even compared to the supposed original while holidaying in France.
Simon’s starter comprised four full fat king prawns and a decent portion of hot linguine pasta in a bowl. He said it was very good and he enjoyed it. It was a simple dish but it worked. Our plates were soon cleared and after a short break our main courses arrived.
Simon’s dish included a big round chunk of fillet steak with two large mushrooms on top (they were finished with pesto sauce, I think), a bowl of huge, chunky, hand-cut chips and a baked tomato.
Simon said the steak was tender, with no fat on it or running through it, just how he likes it. It was great, he said. There were no complaints with the chips or tomato.
I hadn’t had guinea fowl for a long time. I got one breast on the bone of white meat and another section of dark meat. The white meat tasted good and was easy to cut. Its texture was just slightly firmer than chicken. The brown meat was also good and the skin had been left on and was nice and crispy.
My dish came with tomato mousse, sugar snap peas and wild sliced mushrooms. I enjoyed the peas and mushrooms, but didn’t like the tomato mousse (but this was just personal taste, as Simon liked it).
The mushrooms were delicately sliced, soft and tasted good and the boulangere potatoes were delicious. Both our dishes were beautifully presented on large plates.
For pudding Simon ordered the cheese plate (£7), where he could choose three cheeses. He chose Shropshire Blue, Buffalo and Barbers 1833 Cheddar. He got three good portions of cheese, an ample supply of wafers, and a dish of chutney and olives.
Everything was given the thumbs up, apart from the olives, which he doesn’t like, and so these were passed on to me and happily received, as I adore olives.
I ordered creme brule (£4.95). This was prettily served in the classic ramekin dish. It was placed on a plate peppered with icing sugar and dotted with small red and black berries.
The brule had the perfect hard caramelised and browned topping. I gleefully cracked through it with my spoon to find the creamy custard pudding underneath. It was totally delicious.
The Inn at Grinshill offers glorious food - although it doesn’t come cheap - you definitely get what you pay for, and the surroundings, both inside and out, are simply delightful.
I was pleased that throughout our meal the friendly staff constantly checked that everything was OK. On leaving the owner again asked if everything had been fine and said he hoped we would return. I can guarantee that we will!
Address: The Inn at Grinshill, High Street, Grinshill, near Shrewsbury. Call (01939) 220410.
Menu Sample:
Starters: Soup of the moment served with home-made bread (£4.95); seared king scallops, citrus and spinach risotto (£9.50)
Main courses: Roasted pork fillet, choucroute, creamed potato and Bramley apple sauce (£16); fillet of beef stroganoff with jasmine rice (£13).
Sides: Mashed potato (£2.50), Pepper sauce (£1.50)
Desserts: Hot chocolate fondant with raspberry sorbet (£7.25); coconut pyramid with a chilli lime vodka jelly (£7.50)
Atmosphere: Quietly bustling
Service: Excellent
Disabled facilities: Flat access to restaurant, (a few steps up to the bar), and disabled toilets
By Cathy Stanworth
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