Star rating:*** You’ve heard the saying “‘You can’t get the staff, these days”? Well, it sprang to mind on a visit to the Old Hand and Diamond Inn, Coedway, Shrewsbury.

The food was excellent, the service shambolic.

This was surprising because on busy Father’s Day, a couple of months earlier, the service had been good.

Perhaps it was a case of regular staff being away and the holiday relief not up to it? But it prompted the general question: “How slapdash and sullen does service have to be before it spoils a good meal?”

We were a party of seven, in for the excellent-value Sunday lunch.

Service in the bar on arrival was friendly but slow. Two of us wanted sparkling mineral water – but there was only one bottle. I said I’d make do with still – except there was none. There appeared to be no record of our phone booking. There were, however, apologies and no harm done.

Our party was the first to be seated and we waited for table service. And waited . . . and waited . . . and waited.

Now I like mulling over a menu as much as the next glutton but there’s only so much mileage you can get out of one with three basic options on it.

There comes a point, when you’ve made your choice, changed your mind, changed it again, had another rethink and then reverted to your original choice, that you start to feel that you’ve too much time on your hands.

Meanwhile, a young waitress endlessly shuffled a few paper napkins on a sideboard.

Now don’t get me wrong, neatly-arranged napkins are an important aspect of a restaurant’s image. Many a dining experience has doubtless been ruined by a sudden, unexpected, glimpse of napkins askew. There are, I’m sure, elderly gentlefolk of breeding who would require smelling salts at the mere thought of a world awash with crookedly-arranged napkins.

I’m reasonably confident that none of them was dining at the Old Hand and Diamond.

Other staff drifted by, apparently in trances. Our attempts to attract attention were roundly blanked – and we could see other diners in the same plight.

Luckily the chef spotted our predicament and pointed a waitress in our direction. She looked at us as though we were a piranha tank she’d been asked to clean out, and shuffled painfully over for our order. She returned with soups and patés, including a slightly smaller bowl.

“Child’s portion?” she asked, with all the animation of someone under anesthetic for a tooth extraction.

We were four adults, two teenagers and a four-year-old. Mystified, we pointed towards young Sam. Bizarrely, she placed the bowl in front of his grandmother.

One of our teenage sons, Wil, wasn’t so lucky. She handed his steaming bowl across the table directly into his hands, warning him that it was very hot. He grimaced but, thankfully, didn’t drop it on Sam’s head.

Our emptied bowls remained uncollected until, sick of the sight of them, we stacked them ourselves.

The main course went without a hitch. It was self service at the carvery, with the aid of our saviour, the chef. In between urging the staff to get the food served, he exuded bonhomie to bursting point, presumably to compensate for the shortfall around.

For dessert, it was back to the table service. After a lengthy wait, two girls arrived to take our orders within a minute of each other. Irritation had long given way to laughter.

We weren’t expecting silver service or electrifying conversation but the occasional smile would have been welcome – and welcoming.

The food, it must be stressed, was excellent. The meat was tender, the vegetables well-prepared and the starters and desserts simple and tasty.

It’s undoubtedly better to have good food and poor service than the other way around, which is why we’ll give the Old Hand and Diamond another visit. That, and to admire the wondrous neatness of the napkins.

ADDRESS
The Old Hand and Diamond Inn, Coedway, Shrewsbury
Tel: 01743 884379

MENU SAMPLE
Starters
Pate with bread, tomato and basil soup, garlic mushrooms (part of £11.50 three-course menu)

Main courses
Roast beef, roast pork with stuffing, roast lamb with mint sauce with a selection of vegetables including roast and boiled potatoes, carrots and greens

Desserts
Banoffee pie, cherry and pineapple sponge with custard, ice cream

ATMOSPHERE
Busy and lively with the general hum of good humour punctuated by the odd complaint about slow service.

SERVICE

See above!

DISABLED FACILITIES
Olde worlde inn with single steps in places

SMOKING POLICY
Large canopy over an outside seating area

By Neil Thomas