Food review: Hadley Park House, Telford

It is located near to some of Telford’s larger business parks and provides comfortable hotel rooms for businessmen and women who are passing through.

It’s geared up for such work, with ample functional room for presentations, meetings and the likes.

Money

Those who say weddings would also be right on the money given that the hotel’s beautiful layout and design, in addition to its rooms and large, airy dining room, lends itself to precisely that.

And I often think people are missing a trick by not paying more attention to the hotel’s restaurant.

While it caters perfectly well the business set, to a discerning crowd of ladies who do afternoon tea and to large wedding parties, it also offers good lounge and bar food to casual diners in addition to more sophisticated offerings for restaurant guests. There are plenty of qualities to admire about the venue, not least the staff.

In venue owner Mark Lewis, Hadley Park has one of the smartest and most genial gaffers in the county.

A man of many years of experience, he’s led from the front for a considerable period and demands high standards from his staff.

The kitchen team offers admirable consistency, meeting the brief day-in, day-out as they serve a full-day menu.

And front of house is particularly good; when my friend and I visited, an exceptional Italian restaurant manager was charming, polite, efficient and engaged.

It’s time then to smash some of the misconceptions about Telford’s premier hotel-restaurant and make the case for its restaurant being a worthy destination for all-comers – and not those just getting hitched or schmoozing with colleagues over a large brandy and an XL.

My friend and I visited for a midweek dinner on a relatively quiet evening.

We were greeted by the aforementioned restaurant manager and Mr Lewis, who was also on duty. Both were all-smiles and charm, welcoming us to the venue like old friends and putting us at ease.

Pre-dinner drinks were served in a small bar just beyond the restaurant, where we also perused the menus.

Hadley Park has ample room.

Its principal dining room is a delightful orangery-like space that’s flooded with natural light, with the sun kept under control by a raft of blinds.

Decorated in neutral tones, it’s an ideal space in which to relax.

Delightful

There are other rooms in an older part of the building; including a delightful smaller dining room that’s perfect for dinner a deux.

On this occasion, my friend and I were shown into the larger dining area.

The restaurant manager brought a Moroccan spiced bread and Parmesan bread for us to enjoy while we waited for the main event to begin.

My friend had chosen a mackerel and beetroot dish to start; the strong, salty taste of the mackerel being cut through by a delightfully acidulated beetroot puree.

It was a relatively straightforward dish but had been expertly executed.

There’s much to be said for sticking to the basics and for doing the simple things well.

I started with a delightful, vegetarian starter of gnocchi with cherry tomatoes, courgette and spring onions.

It was served in a butter sauce that was deliciously indulgent and the gnocchi had been pan-fried so that they had a delightful, golden crust. The courgette and cherry tomato added light spring flavours while the spring onions added the merest hint of heat.

It was a perfectly decent seasonal dish.

Our mains were similarly good. My friend had a delicious salmon fillet that had been pan-fried and served with wilted pak choi and a deliciously piquant sauce.

The salmon was nicely caramelised all-over, with the golden exterior yielding to reveal a soft, pink inner.

I’d opted for a chicken dish served in a cream sauce with peas and baby onions.

The skin of the chicken had been unnecessarily drizzled with yoghurt, which obscured a skin that would otherwise have been crisp.

The fillet had been cooked on the bone and was wonderfully tender while the peas, onion and cream provided for a classic combination.

So far so satisfying.

We were in two minds over dessert; so rather than take the risk of missing out, we ordered a selection.

An upmarket strawberries and cream was the pick of the bunch.

Featuring new season strawberries beneath a light, thin biscuit crisp, it was almost like a strawberries and cream sandwich.

A delicious crème that sat beneath the thin biscuit top and bottom was delicious; almost brulee-like in its consistency.

A layer of finely chopped strawberries had been placed above the crème, making for dreamy eating.

Favourite

Our other favourite was a salted caramel tart, with good, short pastry that broke with a snap and a hearty, sweet filling.

We also ordered a blueberry dessert, comprising a mousse topped with a layer of coulis and fresh fruit.

It was served with two biscuits.

The textures were good, though the balance between sugar and fruit was a little off-kilter; the fruit needed to be sharper and more pronounced.

The same was true of a final dessert, a similar construction featuring rhubarb.

Unfortunately it lacked a little tartness and punch in my view.

Less sugar was required.

Nonetheless, we’d enjoyed a thoroughly pleasant evening in a superb dining room where the service had been exceptional.

The food was bang-on one AA rosette level with some impressive touches during our evening.

As my partner and I ended our dinner we were both in agreement. Hadley Park ought to shout from the rooftops about its restaurant – as it does its business and wedding facilities.

It’s one of the best in the region and deserves to be more busy.