Food review: CSONS, Shrewsbury

It lacks the fancy dan flourishes of fine dining restaurants – there’s no starched linen, no knives and forks placed just so, just scrubbed wooden tables, small bowls of salt and pepper and paper napkins to clean sticky fingers.

There’s none of the formality, either. Csons is a smart casual kinda place. It’s a restaurant where you’re just as welcome in a T-shirt and jeans as you are in a summer blouse and frock. It’s a place where the emphasis is on cool vibes, on happy days (and nights) and on good times with family and best friends.

The service is singularly brilliant. A loyal team of friends, relatives and long-servers work the room efficiently, dressed in a uniform of knowing smiles and black T-shirts with cool slogans. They put guests at ease, make them realise nothing’s too much trouble and create an ambience where life slows by 10mph and people are encouraged to chill.

The motto at Csons is apposite and explains what they’re about: ‘Locally sourced & Globally inspired’. So ingredients are largely grown, reared and processed in Shropshire and presented to guests when they in peak condition. Everything reflects the seasons. Everything is about maximum flavour. But that doesn’t mean menus feature Shropshire steak and chips. It’s avowedly forward-thinking and takes its inspiration from flavours of the world. So dishes that originated in Africa, Japan, the USA and across Europe find their way onto an appetising and intriguing menu that shows intelligence and an appreciation of world cuisine.

The restaurant formerly opened through the day, closing at evenings. But over time there’s been a concession to demand as regular Friday and Saturday dinner services have become operational. More recently, the restaurant has started to open a casual and informal street food night, on Thursdays, to showcase easy-on-the-wallet dishes that provide intoxicating meals from all corners of the world.

So there are dishes from North Africa and Peru, from Japan and the USA, from Spain and Greece. The food is sublime, the prices cheap-as-chips, the atmosphere as you’d find at the coolest house party.

I’ve eaten the dinner menu, the lunch menu, the breakfast menu at other times – and, yes, they’re all brilliant. For my money, Csons is the best restaurant in town. Sure, there are occasions when a fine dining restaurant might be more appropriate. But Csons is the place I visit when I’m spending not reviewing, when I’m hanging out with friends; it’s the place I recommend to others when they’re passing through town and looking for great food at reasonable prices in an environment that’s neither stuffy nor forced.

I started with an Argentinian-style beef flat bread. It was utterly, jaw-droppingly, lip-smackingly, tastebud-tinglingly delicious. Savoury and sour, fragrant and filling, it was a flavour bomb that detonated the moment it hit the table. The beef was served blue – treat – and was dressed with a delightful marinade of chopped herbs and oil. An acid hit cut through, from small pieces of pickled onion – not the ones you get from a jar – and the elements were served on a toasted flatbread, which served as a plate. It caught the juices and served both as a vessel on which to eat food and a tasty morsel in its own right.

My main was the Csons burger.

Burgers are ubiquitous in Shrewsbury. Every Tom, Dick and Sally – it’s fine, Harry’s on holiday – serves a bespoke burger. They’re becoming passé. The next food trend can’t come soon enough, for my money. The Csons version was a cut above others. An aged limousine beef burger was served pink, so that it fell apart and oozed chin-tickling juices in a feast of unashamedly messy eating. Thick slices of Cheddar had been melted on top, so that I could taste the cheese rather than merely see it. Pickled courgette cut through the luscious lipid extravagance while chipotle mayo added smoky indulgence. A seeded milk bun was absolutely brilliant; light, fluffy and with bags of flavour; it was the frame to the burger’s gastronomic Caravaggio. Roasted new potatoes, rather than fries, were served to the side, making it a dinner, rather than a snack, while an interesting salad – devoid of the wan, limp, sorry leaves beloved by supermarkets and unimaginative chefs – completed the dish.

Unusual leaves and herbs added bitterness and a welcome hit of aromatics. If only every restaurant made the same effort and thought about flavour and customer experience, rather than cutting costs to the bone and serving flavourless iceberg with a washed out slice of greenhouse tomato from southern Europe.

I had my eye on a Greek custard number but the beef starter, beef main had got the better of me and so faced with the prospect of fat shaming myself or paying the bill, I opted for the latter. It came in at £20 for two courses and a large bottle of sparkling water – it was cheaper than a night at the pub and twice as enjoyable.

Csons is a fabulous restaurant. It’s one of the absolute bests in Shropshire. It doesn’t compete with the fine dining boys – The Checkers, at Montgomery; Old Downton Lodge, Fishmore Hall and Mortiomers, at Ludlow; Lion & Pheasant, in Shrewsbury; or Sebastians, at Oswestry. There’s no sense of trying to replicate French dishes, deconstruct a classic dessert or dazzling with cutting edge techniques.

But, like the chefs at those restaurants, its kitchen knows all there is to know about flavour. Seasonings are spot on, combinations are brilliant, dishes are imaginative and robust – the chefs cook the sort of food that people like to eat.

In two short years, it’s developed a reputation for excellence and is firmly established on the county’s dining scene. And it’s prowess means that it’s a restaurant not just for Shrewsbury’s discerning diners – it’s a destination restaurant, one that’s worth the trip from north, south or east Shropshire.

The team who run it are cheery, know their onions – literally – and provide service with a smile. What’s not to like.