Food review: The Green Café, Ludlow, Shropshire

His pedigree is as formidable as his profile is low. Clive Davis is the well-travelled, well-schooled Shropshire chef who's about as likely to attract headlines as a wet wipe.

He's unshowy, unfussy and – unlike most chefs – has no ego. If only there were more like him.

He's also a redoubtable cook. Having worked for 15 years in London, gaining experience at Bentleys, Pied à Terre, Four Seasons Hotel under Jean Christophe Novelli, Bibendum under Matthew Harris, The Brackenbury and then Kensington Place Fish Shop under Rowley Leigh and Zafferano under Giorgio Locatelli, he has the most impressive resume of any chef in Shropshire.

Clive grew up in Herefordshire and having attended Hereford Catering College was always destined to return. "My dream was always to open my own restaurant, and I like to think we have contributed to the development of a modern British café-style of food, based on the best produce we can find.

"I have been influenced by our own cultural diversity and travelling throughout the world. My favourite dining experiences have been where the food is served in a relaxed fun atmosphere."

And so, in 2009, he opened The Green Café, in Ludlow, on the site of a former mill. It operates as a café, serving coffee, tea and cake throughout the day with a lunch menu running from 12noon until 2.30pm.

He works with small scale producers, growers and farmers to create an ever-changing menu that includes soup, pâté, omelette, pasta and a vegetable salad. Woe betide anyone who asks for chips. "It's a banned word," said one of his waitresses, when I visited for a recent lunch.

Clive holds the distinction of being the only current Shropshire restaurant to hold an award from Michelin. His Bib Gourmand denotes good quality, good value cooking. The Michelin inspectors had this to say on their last visit: "A modest little eatery with a delightful waterside terrace, set in a charming 14C watermill on the banks of the River Teme. The concise lunch menu offers unfussy daily dishes which showcase British ingredients in simple, flavoursome combinations. Outside of lunch hours they serve coffee and cake."

Though Michelin remains the gold standard for all chefs – whatever those without ratings might say – it's not the only listing to include The Green Café. TripAdvisor has awarded it a Certificate of Excellence for five consecutive years, The Good Food Guide has rated it for five years, the Observer Food Awards gave it a runner up award for the Best Ethical venue, The Sunday Times ranked it in the Top 130 Good Value Restaurants, Harden's has eulogised its gorgeous food and we've consistently raved about it here at the Shropshire Star. And with good reason.

For The Green Café is eons ahead of its competitors, in my view. It sources better produce, its dishes are unfussy and unpretentious, its chefs season and cook with better skill, its front of house is more friendly and engaging and the cost of its dishes is next to nothing. In short, The Green Café has got it going on.

Shropshire is fortunate to have a glut of independent restaurants. And a small number of them are very, very good. Quantity and quality should not be confused.

A small number elevate themselves from the masses. Their chefs have earned their spurs with quality cooks. They have a greater understanding of what it takes to deliver good food.

Personally, I think their menus are classier and more refined and, put simply, they're better.

Clive leads by example. He employs an impressive brigade whose culinary and front of house skills always ensure an enjoyable dining experience. I've eaten there semi-regularly since The Green Café launched and have never been less than impressed. And on my most recent visit, the same was true.

Service was superlative. Two waitresses shone bright like diamonds – thank you, Rihanna – throughout a working lunch. They were attentive and efficient, bringing menus quickly, taking my order as soon as I was ready, offering polite conversation and doing that rarest of things: smiling as they enjoyed their work.

The food was sublime. But then it always is. There's nothing so good as seasonal produce, expertly prepared. While there's a time and a place for gastronomic fireworks, for purées and fusions, there's something reassuring about simple food being allowed to shine.

The respected chef, Stephen Terry, from The Hardwick, at Abergavenny – a man who worked with Marco Pierre White, Gordon Ramsay and other elite cooks – riffs better than anyone on the joys of simplicity. "I like raspberries. Raspberries are beautiful. The last thing I want is a raspberry that's been turned into leather or a frozen ball. I want a raspberry to be a raspberry." Quite.

The raspberries served alongside Clive's beautifully wobbly panna cotta were a delight. Perfectly formed, perfectly ripe and bursting with sweet, tart flavour, they were the ideal accompaniment to a light and dreamy dessert that was flecked with vanilla.

It had been preceded by a Green Café classic: a pork ragu served with gnocchi. The brilliant chef/writer, Simon Hopkins, talks adoringly of visiting grand old Parisian restaurants and ordering the same dish over and over again. There's a simple reason for doing so: such dishes are so damn good. Why drive a Fiat 500 when you can drive an Alfa? I have the same approach to menus at The Green Café and habitually order the ragu and gnocchi. The gnocchi is light and pillow-like. It is the perfect vehicle for an intensely savoury and exquisitely seasoned ragu that is robust and powerfully flavoured.

My bill, including a seasonal elderflower presse, was ever-so-slightly north of £15: a steal for great food served in delightful surrounds by staff who combine competence and skill with enthusiastic passion. Clive's food is at the heart of things: it is hearty and delicious, thrilling and well-judged. And, frankly, I can't wait for my next visit.

The five-out-of-fives don't come along too often, nor are they offered without good reason. Clive and co, however, can be recipients of no other mark. In a scene dominated by the average and acceptable, The Green Café is head and shoulders above the rest in my opinion. It is recommended, without reservation.