Old Post Office, Shrewsbury

Star rating: *** Andy Richardson is pleasantly surprised at finding an unpretentious, homely local where the food is neither fussy nor fancy

Star rating: *** Andy Richardson is pleasantly surprised at finding an unpretentious, homely local where the food is neither fussy nor fancy.

It was with a mixture of fear and trepidation that my daughter and I approached The Old Post Office, in Shrewsbury's Milk Street. The last time we had visited a Shropshire pub to dine, it had been an unmitigated disaster. The venue had been unprepossessing and the food dire.

The subsequent review prompted one angry letter writer to question whether I'd been on the sauce, as it were, before visiting.

If only I had. It's more than eight years since I last imbibed the amber nectar, though it would have made that particular visit far more palatable.

The Old Post Office, thankfully, was a different kettle of fisherman's pie. It was a friendly pub offering reasonably priced food and a delightful warm atmosphere. Within minutes, it was smiles all round.

Located at the top of Shrewsbury's delightful Wyle Cop, it sits on the corner of Milk Street and is a black-and-white timbered building, steeped in history.

The interior is clean and tidy, without being overly smart. It's a homely local, with plenty of regulars dotted around the bar.

The restaurant is separated from the drinking area and has normal wooden tables and chairs.

There was nothing fussy or fancy, main courses came in at around £7 to £10, there was a reasonable selection of desserts and the waiter was so laid back we feared he'd fall over.

"You're table's over there," he drawled. "Thank you," we responded. "Yeah, cool."

And so it went. "We'd like the steak and chips." "Yeah, cool." "Could we get the apple crumble," "Yeah, cool." "There's a polar bear at the bar." "Yeah, cool."

It was a busy Friday evening and we sat down to eat at 6pm.

The starters were all fairly straight forward - pate, garlic mushrooms, soup of the day et al. We were, however, too hungry to trifle with such dishes and went straight to the main course menu.

Dinah opted for steak and chips, with a side portion of onion rings. In recent years, she's become something of an expert in all things steak.

Really good

She can spot a poorly-cooked portion at 100 paces and distinguishes between meat that's high-quality and well-hung. This one hit the spot. "Perfect," she purred. "This is really good."

I opted for the burger with a side order of potato wedges. It was colossal, in the style of a horse-between-two-mattresses rather than a humble beef pattie.

The burger was above average, there was plenty of mozzarella smothered across it, the bread was mediocre and there was no sign of the advertised rocket. A reasonable attempt, all the same.

For dessert, I opted for the apple crumble with cream. It was served swiftly and, though it lacked bite, it was sweet enough. Dinah opted for a chocolate number, which she devoured.

We lingered a while, soaking in the atmosphere, enjoying the reaction of our waiter: "Did you enjoy your food? Good, cool, yeah..." and so on.

The Old Post Office doesn't offer diners a gourmet experience.

There are no gastropub touches, no swirls of mulled wine reduction or swishes of purŽed raspberry.

Saffron has probably never made it on to the premises.

But it does offer customers honest-to-goodness food at economy prices. And it does so with a smile.

Standards at pubs across Shropshire are not always as they should be, so Dinah and I thoroughly enjoyed a hearty, fun Friday night dinner in a warm environment.

The waiter 'Erm, like, yeah', well, he was cool. It would be worth returning to The Old Post Office again, just to see him in action.

The Old Post Office, Milk Street, Shrewsbury 01743 236019

info@oldpostofficepub.co.uk

MENU SAMPLE

Starters

Garlic mushrooms (£2.95); chicken, liver and smokey bacon pate (£2.85).

Main courses

Lasagne (£5.95); 10oz sirloin steak (£7.95)

Desserts

Homemade apple crumble (£3.95); home made bread and butter pudding (£3.95).

ATMOSPHERE

Great. Lively, warm and welcoming.