Market Drayton, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

2023 Review: New York, London, Doha… Whitchurch – that’s been the progression for Stuart Collins and wife Frances, who started this slightly unlikely venue five years ago, bringing a level of culinary ambition that was previously unknown to this corner of the Shropshire/Cheshire borders. Helped by a star turn from Stuart on Great British Menu a couple of years ago, it continues to attract some “outstanding all round” reviews for its 9-course tasting menu (at £85 per person).

Mel & Martin Board, who reinvented the Haughmond Inn at Upton Magna, have worked wonders since taking on this village pub-with-rooms, opposite a Norman church, two years back. The “beautifully refurbished” (to the tune of £2 million) venue’s food “has also gone up a considerable notch”, offering “inventive” and “excellent value” locally sourced British grub with greens from the 200-year-old walled garden of Hodnet Hall. While it “still caters for a local clientele”, perhaps not for long, after critic William Sitwell’s glowing review (headline “civilisation has hope”).

“You are served in a large dining room under a giant moon” in this striking eatery – a centrepiece of the World of Wedgwood – which was added to this factory-visit and museum experience in late 2021. Named for a seventeenth-century dining club filled with luminaries of the Midlands Enlightenment, and overseen by local lad Niall Keating (who left behind two Michelin stars to take up the opportunity), it brings a pleasing level of ambition to underserved Staffs and The Potteries. There’s a relatively affordable à la carte menu, or an eight-course tasting menu for £120 per person. Given that its mere presence is a minor miracle in the area, it’s not hard to be bowled over and it delivers “frequently excellent dishes – often containing luxury ingredients, formally but attentively and helpfully served, if in a space that is perhaps a little large to feel completely at home in”. On the flip-side, even those who think it “very good” can still find it “overpriced”.