The White Lion, Llynclys

and her boyfriend enjoy a pleasant evening at a Shropshire country pub.

I've passed The White Lion at Llynclys many times on my way between Oswestry and Welshpool. I'd heard mixed reviews, but after seeing that it had come under new management, I decided it was high time I dropped in to see what was on offer.

The country pub is at a crossroads on the A483, and so when we arrived at 6pm we expected it to be fairly busy with people stopping off on their way home from work for a quick drink or for a meal. There were a few cars in the car park when we arrived, but it wasn't too busy inside.

The pub has a very friendly feel, and we were greeted by Anna, the waitress, as we went in. She handed us our menus and didn't mind us loitering at the bar while we debated over the many choices on the menu.

We had decided we wanted to leave room for puddings, so decided to share a starter. There was plenty of choice, with pate, duck spring rolls and black pudding all on offer, but we decided to try the garlic mushrooms with cheesy garlic sauce and garlic bread (£4.30).

For the main course we ummed and ahhed over what to have. The pub offered two course meals for £8.95, and for a while we looked through the selection of meals on that menu before deciding to order from the main menu. Here we were really spoiled for choice, with gammon, battered haddock, vegetable korma and Cajun-seared tuna steak all catching my eye.

There was a children's menu with five options and the main menu offered a few vegetarian options. I got the feeling that the staff would have been happy to try to accommodate any special requests as well.

We'd dropped in on "pie night", and Kevin had been tempted by the steak and ale pie, but eventually I plumped for the chicken breast with barbecue sauce, bacon and cheese, (£7.95) and Kevin ordered the rump steak (£9.95). After taking our order we went to sit down in a side room.

The pub has a really comfortable old fashioned feel, with exposed beams and a fireplace in the area we sat in. The tables were quite well spaced so that even when other people came in later on we could still have a private conversation while we ate.

We didn't have to wait long before Anna brought over our starter along with two sets of cutlery. The mushrooms were presented in a large bowl with a wonderfully creamy, cheese sauce. We were glad that we decided to share, as it was large for a starter, but it was absolutely delicious, and afterwards we decided it was probably the best thing we ate all evening.

Unusually, the garlic bread wasn't made from a baguette, but was a mini roll cut in half. Little touches like that made the meal seem more thoughtfully presented, and made it feel as if the meal was something special.

After such a tasty starter the main courses had a lot to live up to, but they managed to deliver. When our meals arrived we were impressed by the size of the potions, which covered a good third of the large plates, and Anna brought over two full bowls of freshly cooked vegetables, new potatoes and chunky chips for us to help ourselves from.

My chicken was beautifully moist and looked as if it had been prepared freshly rather than pulled out of a box and microwaved. I've had similar meals in other pubs, usually on the menu as "hunter's chicken" but this was the best I'd tasted.

Kevin's steak was cooked exactly as he had ordered and he found it very tasty. He did find a few chunks of gristle in the meat, but pointed out that it was only to be expected in a rump steak. By the time we'd cleared our plates (and I did need some help to finish off my chips!) we were comfortably full, but after such a good meal we decided to see what was on the puddings menu.

Profiteroles tempted us for a while, and I was intrigued by the plum, fig and pistachio frangipane. I would have been quite happy with ice cream, but strangely this wasn't on offer, despite ice cream being offered with the frangipane. I wanted something quite light to finish with so I eventually chose the blueberry cheesecake (£3.75) while Kevin had his eye on the banoffee pie (£3.95).

Unfortunately this was the only part of the meal which was a bit disappointing. Maybe our expectations had been raised by the rest of the meal, but my cheesecake had a rather soggy base and the banoffee pie was more like a cake. We suspected that the puddings had been bought from somewhere else and defrosted to order, which was a shame.

But despite the puddings being not so good as the rest of the meal, we were still impressed with the food, the atmosphere, and the service, and will be dropping in again for another meal.

ADDRESS

The White Lion, Llynclys, Oswestry SY10 8LJ

Tel: 01691 831181

MENU SAMPLE

STARTERS

A bowl of warming soup with garlic bread (£3.20)

Duck spring rolls with hoi sin sauce and mixed leaf salad (£4.10)

Black pudding, bacon and sauteed leek stack (£4.60)

MAINS

Mushroom stroganoff, boiled rice and side salad (£6.95)

Braised beef steak with shallot and bacon sauce served on garlic mashed potato (£8.25)

Whitby scampi deep fried with fresh lemon and side salad (£6.95)

DESSERTS

Lemon meringue pie with orange sauce and cream (£3.85)

Cheese: Cheddar, Brie, Stilton, served with celery, apple and biscuits (£5.50)

Sponge treacle pudding with creamy custard (£4.10)