Food review: Novello Lounge, Shrewsbury

Dog-friendly, child-friendly, OAP-friendly, family-friendly, date-friendly, dinner-with-friends-friendly . . . God dammit – Lounges are purveyors of smiles, good times and bonhomie.

Founded in 2002 by a trio of long standing friends, Dave Reid, Alex Reilley and Jake Bishop, they have popped up in towns and cities across the UK ever since.

Telford’s is called Novello – and it’s the best place to eat in the town’s Southwater retail development.

Dave, Alex and Jake had a simple motivation – they wanted somewhere to drink themselves. So they created a cool, beautifully-designed set of venues that were filled with board games, book exchanges, doggie bowls, fresh juice, a great range of drinks and brilliant, knock-‘em-dead bar food that’s easy-on-the-eye and even easier-on-the-mouth.

The trio started their business in an empty opticians in Bristol and after a few months of sort-of-not-knowing-what-they-were-doing, Lounge opened in 2002. They liked it a lot and so, it seemed, did other people. They pondered whether they should open another one, maybe in Gloucester, and in what was an absurdly short space of time they did, and Loungers was born. The rest, as they say, is history . . .

So across the West Midlands – from the suburbs of Birmingham to Lichfield and across to Telford – there are lounges where people can sit in comfortable leather chairs to enjoy a coffee, tuck themselves away in a corner with a whisky and a game of Jenga, occupy a window seat with grannie and a cup full of sweet potato fries or sit in the middle of the room with a brilliant bowl of chilli.

Lounges are so good, in truth, that it’s remarkable other chains haven’t tried to get into that market. The joy is their informality. The music is great, the décor is all dimmed lights in tasselled shades, there are talking-point pictures on the walls and there are board games galore for those who want to get back to the simpler pleasures and leave their smartphones in their pockets.

The Telford Lounge is fabulous. It’s one of the best places not just in town, but in the whole of Shropshire. Because good food is – or should be – about good times. It should be about scintillating service, brilliant vibes and a great time with friends or, if you like, on your own. It should be transportive, it should allow you to leave your worries at the door and indulge in a feast for all the senses. And that’s what the Lounges provide. People of all ages were present and correct in Telford – from couples of a certain age with their friends and neighbours to young ‘uns out for a date; from business people grabbing a bite to eat to quiet bookish types reading something serious. It truly is a venue for all seasons.

The menu is marvellous. Covering all bases, it provides through-the-day eating, from breakfast and brunch through lunch to supper. There are sandwiches and Panini, salads, burgers, tapas, puddings and big, slap-you-around-the-face-with-explosive-flavour mains.

I’ve spent more time and more of my disposable income than I ought to have done in Lounges. As an alternative to meeting people in either: a) Costa, or, b) the pub, they seldom disappoint. The Telford Novello Lounge is one to add to the list – it gets my recommendation.

My lunch-time walk-in was short and sweet. A quick main, a tasty side, a refreshing drink and back to the office to write another 5,000 words before home. The main was bang bang chicken noodles – they were delicious. Sticky, starchy noodles were dressed in a peanut and coconut sauce while a smorgasbord of lightly-cooked vegetables added greenery. Pak choi, tenderstem broccoli, button mushrooms and sugar snap peas made it light and refreshing. The buttermilk fried chicken had been overcooked – it made the outer, golden coating even better, though the meat was a little dry. Cashew nuts and a few slithers of red chilli completed a mighty fine dish.

A few days earlier, I’d tried their Mexican superbowl – a round dish filled with different compartments of South American deliciousness. Spiced black beans, avocado rice – that was over-cooked and stodgy, lime-marinated kale, spiced sweet potato and butternut squash with sour cream and a mango, tomato and chilli salsa were finished off with a little spiced chicken. Soul food. Marvellous.

A side of sweet potato fries finished my lunch. Stickily naughty and packed with flavour, they were wolfed down voraciously. A glass of freshly squeezed orange juice – and, yes, I watched the woman put the oranges into the juicing machine, the wheels go round and the juice filter out – served both as drink and dessert.

Wi-fi was free of charge so that Mr Workaholic was able to immerse in tasks that should long ago have been completed while grazing on Lounge’s finest. Win-Win.

Lounge isn’t absolutely perfect – though it’s not far off. There are occasional slips in the kitchens, where food is a little overdone (the rice from the rice bowl elsewhere, the buttermilk chicken) and they seem to have a policy of loading up on carbs and cutting back on protein – so don’t expect sizeable portions of meat. I think that’s a blessing, in truth, though there’ll be some Telford diners who might expect more of one thing and less of the other.

Either way, given the quality of their operation in comparison to others, they’re light years ahead. The staff are young and cool. The menus offer the sort of dishes that people like to eat, rather than dishes that scream ‘I’m the chef and I want to show off. Have I impressed you?’ The venues are habitually entertaining and provide talking points for diners. And the prices are just about right.

Carefree, relaxed and offering good times as well as pleasant food and drink, the Novello Lounge is one of the coolest places in town.