Dining Out « Express & Star

Not for the first time, I found myself going round in circles looking for this week’s chosen spot, writes our mystery meal reviewer The Insider.

Chandlers, Lichfield

Sophisticated is one word I would use to describe Chandlers bar and restaurant in Lichfield city centre, writes Laura Blyth.

The Hollybush, Trysull

It could have been a metaphor for the times we live in. Desolate, dishevelled, with its shabby cream paintwork and forbidding grey sheeting screwed over the windows, The Hollybush, stood like a bleak monument to our times.

The Badger Inn, Eccleshall

The Badger was actually one of the very first recommendations when this column started 18 months ago. And word must have got out; when I turned up last year, the place was fully booked and we had to eat elsewhere, so this time we were taking no chances.

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Casa Italia, Bearwood

A gentleman lit the candle on our table, and as we settled into our chrome-framed, high-backed black chairs, my eyes were drawn to a small sign on the wall. “Life is too short for cheap wine” it declared.

Basils, Kinver

BASIIIILLL! It takes a brave man to call a restaurant Basils. First, there are all the Fawlty Towers connotations, the inevitable jokes about rats in the kitchen or staff being rude to foreigners.

The Cock & Magpies, Smethwick

Eating out . . . I should know better than most, that it can sometimes be a bit of a lottery, writes ‘The Insider’.

The Royal Oak, Wolverhampton

Needless to say, as the recession bites, everybody is looking to cut back on how much they spend on food. The Royal Oak may be the place to go.

The Rag at Rawnsley, Cannock

Is it me, or aren’t you sick of those television advertisements telling us that Norwich Union is to change its name to Aviva?