The Inn at Grinshill

The village inn shelters in the lee of Grinshill, not far from Shrewsbury in the heart of the Shropshire Way. It's a former coaching-inn dating back to the Georgian era, brought sensitively up to date as a restaurant with rooms with a stylish modern decorative approach. Large windows look out on to the well-maintained garden, and there are flowers and good glassware on the unclothed tables. A small open hatch allows peeps into the kitchen. Sophisticated country-pub cooking in the hands of Chris Conde scores highly for accurate timing and sensible combinations. A raviolo of wild mushrooms on wilted spinach dressed in parmesan cream and truffle oil is full of savoury richness, while loin of lamb with dauphinoise, Savoy cabbage and bacon also shows skilled judgment. A fish option might be sea bass with a salad of fennel, orange and coriander. Plum tarte Tatin is heavy on caramel, but complemented well by smooth vanilla ice cream.