Pound is bang on the money

I'm not sure that's right. When I tried to book a table for this week's restaurant review, it was near-impossible.

Restaurant one: Brrr, brrr….. brrr, brrr…. No answer. I tried three times and gave up, figuring they didn't want my trade.

Restaurant two: Brr, brr….. brr, brr….. Click. "We're sorry to inform you we're away on holiday and will be back in the middle of January."

And so it went.

I had a plan C: The Pound at Leebotwood, though this place is so good that it ought to have been my Plan A, B, and C.

The Pound is the answer to all of my questions, and most of my prayers.

When restaurateurs criticise the humble reviewing corps, soliciting for higher marks, telling us we don't know our abalone from our paloney and trying to discredit us, The Pound is THE answer.

You see, The Pound does what it does so well, it is so far ahead of the pack that when others say: "We deserve nine," my answer is this: "Then The Pound must be a 12." And even us non-mathematicians know that 12 out of 10 isn't possible.

The Pound doesn't pretend. It doesn't pass off rubbish service as being acceptable. It doesn't serve over-cooked food. It doesn't use ingredients that are second best. It doesn't mess up the basics.

The Pound gets it right. Night in, night out. Service, food, value. Tick. Tick. Tick. There is very little to criticise. And it gets the other stuff right, too. Ambience, setting, environment. When restaurants and correspondents tell us that we're too harsh, The Pound is the reason why.

It's run by John and Debbie Williams, and they personify class. John has more than 30 years experience and has worked at all levels of catering and in some of the best hotel and restaurants in Britain. He trained in south Wales and Jersey and achieved his first head chef's position in 1985. In 1989, he came to Shropshire as head chef at the Old Vicarage Hotel, Worfield. It was here, over the next seven years, that he transformed the food and won Shropshire's first Michelin acclaim – a Bib Gourmand.

He was also the county's first chef to achieve three AA rosettes. In 1997 John and Debbie opened their first restaurant, Sol, in Shrewsbury where they were the only restaurant in town to date to achieve a coveted Michelin star and three AA rosettes. They achieved the town's highest Good Food Guide rating making it one of the UK's top restaurants.

John's a Master Chef of Great Britain. There are only 30 or so of these. It's a title only given to craftsmen who have held a Michelin star and three rosettes for 10 years or more.

You want a CV? There you have it.

Debbie probably can't boast as many awards and accolades as her hubbie. But she's equally talented. Service is an art – and it's one that she's perfected over many years. Polite and attentive, deferential without being obsequious, charming and engaged – she has superlative skills.

There are many couples who try to run restaurants – and a small handful who succeed. Chris and Judy Bradley, at Mr Underhill's, in Ludlow, are the gold standard. They've also been at it for more than 30 years and are the region's best. The Studio, in Church Stretton; The King & Thai, at Broseley; Stephanie Borie and co, at Checkers, in Montgomery; Stuart Phillips and family at The Hundred House Inn, at Norton, and a small number of others get it right. But that's about it. The cream of the crop.

John and Debbie run the front of house and kitchen at the beautiful thatched 15th century restaurant. They offer keenly-priced contemporary British food that's high on flavour, is presented with great artistry and is of the highest provenance.

It's one of the county's finest venues. In fact, I'll put my head above the parapet and do an impromptu top 10. My class of 2014 probably reads something like this: Mr Underhill's, Ludlow; Checkers, Montgomery; House of the Rising Sun, Shrewsbury; The Pound, Leebotwood; King and Thai, Broseley; The Green Café, Ludlow; The French Pantry, Ludlow; Crown Inn, Aston Munslow; Sebastians, Oswestry; Hundred House Inn, Norton. If you need a decent restaurant, look no further.

I've visited The Pound on a number of occasions and it's never been less than delightful. My most recent visit, on a blustering midweek evening, was wonderful. Debbie was charming and friendly. John's cooking was thrilling. On nights like that, I realise I have the best job in the world. And I am grateful.

So, to dinner: I started with smoked salmon in a gingerbread crust with a cucumber and watercress salad and wasabi mayonnaise. Ding dong. Brilliant. The salmon was imbued with complex flavour, which the sweetness of the gingerbread served only to enhance. The wasabi mayo was subtle, with a hint of horseradishey heat. It was as light as a feather and was delicately balanced. The greenery added colour and chimney stacks of peeled cucumber counterbalanced the heat. Delish.

My main course was a beautifully roasted chicken with slices of bacon, grain mustard sauce, roast potatoes, caramelised carrots, fine beans and a swish of butternut puree. Amazing. Simplicity is the hardest act to master – and Williams has. Every element sang in perfect harmony – the saltiness of the bacon balanced the savouriness of the delightful chicken, not to mention adding textural contrast. The mustard added gentle heat, the carrots were sublime – I could have just eaten a plateful of them, so deliciously sweet were they. Harmonious flavours, attractive presentation and precision cooking.

Pud was crumble. The apple had been seasoned with warming spice, the ice cream was dreamy and flavoured with vanilla, the crumble was sweet and had great texture.

In a county of star performers, John and Debbie are among the finest purveyors of food. They shine bright like diamonds, to steal from RiRi. They are consistently brilliant. Those restaurateurs who bemoan constructive criticism, those armchair critics who have their own neighbourhood favourites, could do much worse than pay a visit. Because THAT is how it's done.

There's a small number of Shropshire restaurants in which you can have confidence and The Pound is among them. It offers all of these things and more: a value-for-money menu – mains start from a tenner – great starters and flavoursome puds; attentive service; sublime food that is artfully served in comfortable surrounds.

I forgot to mention the breads, which were ace. And I didn't mention the interior. Damn. It was cool, contemporary and with pictures of big cows on the walls, showing that they don't take themselves too seriously. They don't need to. They're serious about food and service, and that earns them a comfortable 4.5 stars.

Put simply, it's worth every Pound.

By Andy Richardson