The Armoury, Victoria Quay, Shrewsbury - food review

The team at The Armoury do precisely that. Marshalled by a charming and attentive boss, Emily Periam – she's efficiency personified and works like a Trojan – they provide tasty food, smooth and efficient service, bags of personality and decent value for money.

They do so in one of the region's most charming and buzzy dining rooms. The Armoury never fails to please with its high ceilings, country pub atmosphere and riverside views. And though we ought to have got out of the habit of pithily cheering our favourite restaurants with a tried and trusted rhyme, we'll wheel it out one last time for the team at The Armoury. Winner winner, fish pie dinner.

It wasn't always so.

A couple of years ago, The Armoury seemed to lose its mojo. While other restaurants in a similar bracket came up with interesting menus, nailed service and cooked food with unerring precision, The Armoury lacked a little consistency.

Such issues, however, have long since been resolved and The Armoury has reclaimed its place among the county's better venues. The reason for that is quite simple: it's got a decent team that's stuck together and worked hard to get things right. Where criticisms have been justified, The Armoury has listened and learned. And the end result is a decidedly friendly venue where the food impresses and where the menu is packed with things that people like to eat – rather than things that make the chef look good.

The reason for the venue's renaissance is simple. While others turnover staff quicker than a pancake on Shrove Tuesday, The Armoury tends to retain staff. Emily has been at the helm for some years and has fashioned the venue in her image. Bubbly and engaging, she's been around the pub trade all of her life and is no stranger to a barrel of beer. Putting customers at ease, making guests feel welcome and keeping a smile on the faces of her charges comes naturally. She makes work fun for her team – which makes service pleasurable for guests.

Emily isn't the only employee looking to earn a gold-plated carriage clock for long service. Her deputy manager has 20 years on the job while head chef Dave Gater – better known as Popeye – has been at the pass for some years and is in tune with his customers. An honest cook whose food is easy on the eye and even easier on the palate, he caters to varied needs, offering inventive starters such as braised pig cheek with apple and cider purée and crackling; Malaysian fish stew with coconut rice and steamed pak choi, or five-spiced duck leg with spring onion, cucumber, hoisin sauce and pancakes. They're dishes with which people are familiar and comfortable. He's not reinventing the wheel, offering culinary theatre with liquid nitrogen or making leather from fruit. Popeye's menu is unintimidating and on-message. And, yes, there's a decent steak, great burger and crisp, golden plate of fish and chips with mushy peas and tartare sauce.

And so to dinner. My friend and I arrived for a spontaneous midweek supper. We hadn't booked – a policy that's fine for midweek but doesn't work at weekends. Smiling staff greeted us as a roaring coal fire warmed the room and gave the restaurant a golden glow.

Diners and drinkers filled other tables and over draft Guinness and Wenlock Spring water we perused the menu. There's an art to ordering at The Armoury that involves ripping up the rule book and going against the grain. While it serves a regular three-course offering, the portions are so generous that unless you're Greedy McTubbyGuts it's frequently better to order two starters, or a starter and a light bite, rather than a starter and a main. The choice is exceptional and the kitchen is sufficiently busy that it can service such an expansive operation.

My friend and I, however, had our eyes on dessert and so played safe. She ordered a vast, creamy, golden fish pie while I opted for a bowl of linguine with king prawn, chorizo and a puttanesca sauce.

The fish pie was brilliant. Captain Birdseye would have turned his fishing fleet around and headed back to port at the sight of it. Towering, light, buttery mash with a crown more golden than window of H Samuel sat atop tender pieces of flavoursome smoked haddock, salmon and prawns. A delightful creamy sauce and wilted greens completed the dish. It was punchy like a Tony Bellow uppercut and refined like a Sibelius symphony. Good work, Popeye.

I opted for the absurdly generous linguine, which would have comfortably served two. And while Chef Dave's kitchen doesn't win extra marks for being able to boil a bowl of pasta, the intense, tomatoey sauce, generous supply of olives and ample number of gently-cooked king prawns and array of chorizo pieces made for delicious eating. A chargrilled lemon, neatly caramelised on top, added sweet/sharp juice with which to season the dish. It tasted like a dream.

Puds were decent, rather than drop-dead gorgeous. She ate a crème brûlée with a coppery caramel top and a shortbread biscuit. It was creamy, light and our table went quiet as she purred her way through it like a cat with a bottle of Jersey gold top.

I opted for school dinner puddings: a jam roly poly with custard. The custard appeared to be of the eau de Birds variety. Unnaturally yellow and with the texture of smooth wallpaper paste, it lacked the vanilla-ey flecks of a decent crème anglaise. The pud wasn't as dense as it might have been; though it was food of a resolutely put-hairs-on-your-chest variety.

The Armoury MK 2017 is firing on all cylinders.

The spacious, wood-panelled dining room and bar remain perfectly upholstered and conducive to fun times; the casually-dressed staff are friendly to a fault and, best of all, Popeye is knocking out dishes that would dazzle the delightful Olive Oil.