Food review: The Granary, Newtown, Powys

It’s a brave restaurateur who takes a winning formula, scraps it and decides to do something new. And yet at The Granary, in Newtown, that’s more or less what’s taken place.

A former steak and tapas bar, tucked away in a small alley just off the high street, has been re-imagined, re-branded and given a new lease of life.

And, remarkably, it just might work. For The Granary has everything going for it: a talented chef who is unafraid to push the boundaries and challenge customers, a brilliant front of house team who are personable, polite and charming and prices that are more competitive than those in many other venues offering comparable standards. Lucky old Newtown.

The Granary has an interesting history. Having first opened in early 2009, it has explored many directions, menus, dishes and flavours.

While that journey has evidently excited the venue’s owners, staff and customers, its new direction and menus have got people really excited.

Concentrating on the use of local produce, the best of Welsh and British food producers and foraged ingredients, its new head chef has worked tirelessly on its culinary approach.

Menus are seasonally focused and dictated by nature and produce available at the time. It is, in short, the philosophy that all self-respecting restaurants ought to have.

The chef in question is Seamus Russell, who brings with him a wealth of experience and has worked in some well-known kitchens – Ynishir in Machynlleth which is a one Michelin Star restaurant, Noma in Copenhagen which is a two Michelin star restaurant and The Little Truffle on the Gold Coast in Australia.

Most recently, he worked alongside the brilliant Karl Martin, at Old Downton Lodge, near Ludlow, where he honed his skills and developed relationships with some of the producers whose ingredients now feature at The Granary.

Seamus’s enthusiasm is infectious, his skills are obvious and his hard work and devotion are starting to pay off.

Oh, yes, one last thing: the rebrand. The Granary pays homage to the history of Newtown.

Evidently, the building was a bakers back in the 1900s while in the 1950s it sold grains and seeds.

My partner and I booked a table on the recommendation of a chef friend who’d purred complimentary opinions about the quality of the revamped restaurant. We’re glad we did.

The venue is light and airy with neutral tones, sheepskin rugs thrown over informal chairs and plenty of stripped wood. There were two menus: a taster and an a la carte. We opted for the latter.

The evening got off to the best possible start. A restaurant manager and waitress were politeness itself, offering a choice of table, talking through the menu and making polite conversation. They were exceptional ambassadors for The Granary.

We enjoyed exquisite bread – one slice of sour dough and a mini maple-infused tin loaf – with butter that Seamus had made.

The maple loaf was a work of beauty; gently sweet, as though nectar were drifting on the spring air. The butter was magnificent; creamy, light and indulgent.

My partner started with a cured salmon dish with celeriac purée, puffed wild rice and caviar. Boom. £6.95. Ridiculous. The salmon was delicious while the flavours and textures of the purée and puffed rice were highly complementary. The oyster added a swish of decadence.

My braised pork terrine was decent, though lacked a little in the execution. It was served with a hazelnut crumb, parsley oil and blackcurrant leather. And though the sharp leather was pleasant, a little more acid on the plate would have helped. Our mains were first class. She ate a pear barley risotto with king oyster mushroom and a parmesan custard. Packed full of flavour, cooked with genuine skill and featuring big, ballsy flavours, it was a welcome alternative to the can’t-be-bothered vegetarian dishes that pass muster in many local restaurants. Imaginative, well-seasoned and finished with precision, it made for pleasant eating.

My 14-day aged duck breast with a potato terrine, roast onion and mushroom ketchup was also enjoyable. The duck was divine and had a rich, gamey flavour, a bacon crumb offered salty contrast to the sweet, roasted onion while the terrine, if not a little over-cooked, was decorated with a drizzle of intense jus. It was a good dish.

Desserts were spectacular – so good, in fact, that I ordered a second, much to the surprise of both the restaurant manager and the chef.

My first was a chocolate ganache with with a salty, umami-infused miso caramel, banana foam and oats. It was sensational.

The foam was richly flavoured, the caramel so good I could have eaten it four times while the ganache was intense but neither heavy nor too filling.

She ate a lime cheesecake with Italian meringue and caramelised white chocolate – and so did I, after I’d finished my ganache and been so bedazzled by her dessert that I ordered one for myself.

The cheesecake was light and exquisitely flavoured, the Italian meringue was gossamer light and the white chocolate added contrast and an element of luxe.

A chocolately fudge finished the evening on a high note and our bill was under £70, including sparkling water and a decent glass of red: bargain.

And though The Granary was strangely quiet for a Saturday night, that might be explained by the fact that it’s trying something new.

Doubtless it’ll be packed to the rafters in coming months as word gets out and discerning diners book to try Seamus’s intelligently-formed food.

In recent years, the focus on gastronomy in Shropshire and Mid-Wales has very much been on Ludlow and Shrewsbury.

Both continue to boast good independent restaurants. And yet there are others further afield that are worthy of inspection.

The brilliant Docket 33 at Whitchurch gives residents in the north of the country something to enjoy while The Granary is punching above its weight for diners in Mid-Wales.

In truth, it’s a venue that’s worth the drive for those who live in Shrewsbury and other county towns in Shropshire. With great service, modern, flavour-bomb dishes that use great local, seasonal produce and prices that are ahead of the game compared to other venues, it has everything going for it.