The Golden Cross Hotel, Shrewsbury

Reviewer's rating **** If your idea of a perfect meal out is eating great food at a picturesque and cosy historic building in the oldest part of our county town, then Cathy Stanworth says this is the place for you.

Reviewer's rating ****

If your idea of a perfect meal out is eating great food at a picturesque and cosy historic building in the oldest part of our county town, then you can't go wrong with The Golden Cross Hotel.

Just off the High Street, in Princess Street, and smack in the middle of some of Shrewsbury's prettiest streets, not only is the ancient premises a pleasure to visit but the food served there is simply divine.

Mixing these ingredients with a friendly welcome and a quietly attentive, professional service, the refurbished five-bedroomed hotel has definitely got the recipe right, and it ticked all the boxes when myself and my partner Simon dined just before Easter.

Reputed to be the oldest public house in town, The Golden Cross boasts an unbroken tradition of hospitality since 1428. It has been an ale house, tavern, Royalist retreat and 18th-Century "takeaway sausage shop". It is now a family-run venue owned by Gareth and Theresa Reece.

Full of character, and furnished and decorated out in an opulent eclectic style, with dimmed lighting and a mishmash of different-sized tables, this dining experience felt a bit like sitting in your welcoming favourite older relative's front room.

Walking along the street to it a short time later, we both agreed that the surrounding properties were so pretty that it would be great to live there - but only if you could afford a house with your own private parking of course!

Having reserved a table beforehand, we stepped through the front door and into the restaurant to immediately be greeted by the maitre de and shown to a table by the window.

Simon ordered a pint of real ale (£2.80), while I had a large glass of Rioja (£4.40), before we checked out the menu. All the dishes are freshly prepared, using local ingredients where possible, and it looked like a lot of thought had gone into them.

Two or three other tables were already occupied by contented diners by the time we got there just after 8pm; with more filling up over the course of the night, even though it was a Thursday evening.

For starters I ordered Cornish crab, smoked salmon and avocado torte with sesame tuile (£6.25), while Simon went for oak-smoked haddock fishcakes on spinach with chive beurre blanc (£6.25).

For mains, I finally decided on pan-roasted lamb rump on creamed leeks with Jersey royals and sherry jus (£14.50). Simon had a 10oz rib-eye steak on hand-cut chips with BŽarnaise sauce and haricots vert beans (£16.50).

When our starters were placed in front of us, we were impressed. Mine looked too beautiful to eat. It was a delicate circle of crab, smoked salmon and avocado, with the sesame tuile gracefully balancing on top, together with a fresh garnish.

I was delighted with my light, tasty and obviously very fresh concoction. It was lovely. Simon's fishcakes were more like fish "balls", again with a fresh garnish, and they soon disappeared. He said they were great and his entire dish was very tasty.

Our main dishes were again both artfully presented, with the different ingredients carefully layered on top of each other. I had good slices of lamb (nicely pink in the middle), around which were the small roasted baby potatoes, under which was the creamed leeks.

The meat was tender and full of flavour, the leeks very good and potatoes gorgeous, being nicely browned. My only complaint (and I am being very picky here), is that I personally felt that the jus could have packed just a little more punch.

Simon's Rib-eye steak came as ordered - medium. The meat was tender and everything that came with it very tasty. He said it was a very good meal, and he would happily eat there again. He also felt he was served an adequate amount of food.

For pudding I had orange creme brulee with rhubarb and cardamon compote (£4.50). This had a perfect crisp crunchy caramel topping to tap into, a smooth, creamy and cool orange flavoured custard beneath, and the sharpness of the separately served rhubarb acted as a perfect foil.

Simon had Shropshire Blue, Stinking Bishop and Quickes mature Cheddar with quince jelly, caramelised walnuts, toasted pecan and walnut sour dough artisan bread from the Shrewsbury Bakehouse, and oakcakes and celery (£6.95). Absolutely delicious!

We finished off our perfect meal with a couple of coffees (£1.95), before enjoying a leisurely stroll back to the car through those pretty streets.

By Cathy Stanworth

MENU SAMPLE

Starters

Freshly prepared soup (£4.25)

Peppered tuna nicoise (£6.25)

Main courses

Pan-fried chicken breast (£11.95)

Caramelised shallot tarte tatin with Shropshire Blue cheese (£10.50)

Desserts

French apple tarte (£4.50)

Apricot/marmalade brioche bread-and-butter pudding (£4.50)