Review: Zenna, Pontesbury

Posh nosh or cheap eats? A taste of France or flavours of Italy? Thai or British, Bangladeshi or Persian? Fish and chips or roast beef and Yorkshire pud? Hmmmm.

The choices in Shropshire seem to grow with each week. We live in one of Britain's foodiest counties, a region that has more than its fair share of every conceivable type of restaurant, café, bistro and bar. Compared to those who live in other parts of the UK, when it comes to food, we are the lucky ones.

Though the county's food scene has improved beyond all measure during the past 10 to 15 years, we're still enjoying a period of growth and diversification. The good times continue to roll. If there's a fresh idea, our local restaurateurs embrace it. If Shropshire does one thing really, really well – it's food. Each month, new kids on the block open desirable restaurants.

There are venues for all prices and all tastes; something for all occasions.

If someone with too much time and not enough to do were to conduct a survey, or browse through extant data, they'd probably find that Shropshire has more restaurants per capita than almost anywhere else in the UK. The demand for decent nosh in our beautiful county is insatiable. We're like the kid with the bowl in Oliver: please sir, we want some more. The bounty of good, decent and exceptional venues means there's never a shortage from which to choose.

In recent months, a good friend made a remark over dinner that struck a chord. Please allow me to share the Tao of Gerard: "A good dinner isn't about the food, it's about the people you eat it with." There is a rule about Gerard that I have learned: Gerard is always right. Except when he is wrong. And on that occasion, he was. Because if nothing else, good dinners are about the food.

Gerard had a point, however: he always does and that's why his aphoristic musings are The Tao. The ingredients for a good dinner don't simply include good food, service and ambience – good people also rank highly. Gerard's formula might read: right food plus the right people, plus right place, plus right time equals Happy Days. That, my friends, is The Uber Tao. And that is why we are blessed to live in Shropshire. The county has the right place for every occasion. If we select our restaurants carefully, we can enjoy Happy Days until kingdom come.

Step beyond the county borders and it's a different picture. There are parts of the UK where gluten-frees have no choice but the bakehouse and vegetarians have to make do with the steakhouse.

When my friend and I were looking to book a mid-week dinner, it was a doddle. We had a mental tick list that featured an authentic food offering, good service and comfort. Value for money was important, too, despite the economy showing green shoots of recovery we live in chastened times and none of us have dollars to burn. We also wanted a venue where dinner wasn't the main event: where we were able to relax, chat, laugh and eat.

Zenna was the perfect choice. Zenna is Shropshire's finest Chinese restaurant – and don't just take my word for it. Listen to the guys on TripAdvisor – they tell it like it is.

Vicky F, of Shrewsbury, for instance, offered this in October: "The atmosphere is relaxed, clean and homely but not without charm. It feels acceptable to wear comfy clothes if you want to unwind after a hard day at work. Likewise if you want to dress up a little you wouldn't feel out of place. I always love ALL of the food here and I love the whole experience too. I feel sooo grateful and lucky to have found Zenna's. Why go anywhere else?"

Rebecca, also from Shrewsbury, said: "Lovely atmosphere whenever I have been. Best to visit as a large group as the range of food is amazing! The best bit is the service though, always going around topping drinks up without having to ask :)."

The peculiarly-named Towbar, from Shropshire, offered this: "Spotless restaurant, friendly obliging staff and a wide choice at VERY reasonable prices. First meal (For three) was superb. We discovered that because each meal is cooked to order, the chefs will adjust the spicing to suit individual tastes (just ask). Faultless !!!!"

Zenna has been a feature of Shropshire's dining scene for more years than its owners, Tom and Alison, care to remember. It has developed a loyal following and even on the most rain-sodden evenings, they do a brisk trade.

Zenna is the Paul Weller, or Van Morrison, of Shropshire restaurants. It's been part of the furniture for so long that we tend to take it for granted. If Zenna were a new restaurant, crowds would flock so as to eulogise its excellence. But it's become more of a favourite uncle, something that we expect great things from without ever really appreciating the work that goes in.

I've visited Zenna on several occasions down the years and never had a bad dinner. In fact, I'd go further, I've never had a bad course.

Chinese restaurants can prove something of a lottery. A number offer gloopy, sugar-filled, MSG-packed dishes that bear no resemblance to the cuisine on offer in the world's third largest and most populous country. Zenna's food isn't a parody, however: it's not iffy, bland or insubstantial.

It's light and refreshing, it's packed with flavour, combines plenty of different textures and isn't a million miles away from the dishes that are served in downtown Beijing or Shanghai – except, perhaps, they're not as spicy.

My friend and I arrived for an early dinner and were greeted by maître d' Ann. We were offered a choice of tables and alighted near to one of the large plate glass window, at the front of the restaurant. We spent so long talking that Ann had to make three visits to our table before we were ready to order. Truthfully, we ought to have had more manners and paid more attention: but we were keen to catch up. Ann wasn't sniffy or huffy, she was glad that we were relaxing and enjoying one another's company.

And so to food. I was hungry – I'd like to think that was the onset of ManFlu, AutumnVirus, BlokeFever or some such malady, but, in truth, I was probably being greedy. We ordered a sharing platter to start, then my friend ordered king prawns with ginger and spring onions as her main and I ordered two mains – oink, oink – a Cantonese sweet and sour chicken and a chicken satay.

The starter platter was stacked-high with deep-fried deliciousness. Sesame prawn toast, golden brown with a mix of sweet and salty flavours and a to-die-for crunch, were at the edge of the plate. A pile of savoury-sweet deep-fried seaweed provided flavour and textural contrast. We ate greedily from our chopsticks, impressing one another with our skills. A selection of spring rolls and samosa-like parcels of crunchy, savoury vegetables were quickly polished off and large, ball-shaped crab cakes – complete with a stick-out claw – were a treat. The highlight, however, were the spare ribs. They'd been cooked beautifully, so that the fat had rendered through the succulent meat and they dripped seductive, unctuous flavour.

Our mains were delicious. Served with a smile by the ever-pleasant Ann, they were cooked with precision. The prawns were tender and succulent, the accompanying vegetables were still fresh and crunchy while the sauce was a perfect blend of slightly-warm, complimentary flavours.

I'll refrain from heaping idle praise on Tom's egg-fried rice. If a restaurant can't serve a bowl of rice it oughtn't open its doors to trade. Suffice to say it was entirely pleasant. My Cantonese sweet and sour chicken, meanwhile, was a well-balanced plate of tender chicken, which had been so lightly and elegantly cooked that it might as well have been steamed. The batter on the exterior of the chicken was light. It was the sort of dish that's really difficult to write about – because doing so makes me so hungry that I'm minded to jump in the car and head straight back to Zenna to re-order. The satay was a blast. Nutty and hot, I was enraptured.

Full bellies prevented us ordering further and our bill, with drinks, was less than £35 – ridiculously, Ann and Tom haven't put up any of their prices for seven years. It was a bargain.

There's not much wrong with Zenna. The interior could be given a little more groove, but other than that it is deserving of its reputation for being the best in class in Shropshire.

Andy Richardson