Anyone who was dining at the Admiral Rodney on Tuesday evening of this week may remember me. I was the one who was salivating and staring wide-eyed at the sight of all of the food being served.

It may have been because I was ravenous after a hard day in the office. It may have been because I am a self-confessed greedy guts.

But I reckon, on this occasion, it was because the culinary delights concocted in this little pub’s kitchen appeared so succulent, rich and tasty and with the kind of presentation you would normally get in a flash restaurant.

My colleague and I set out to find somewhere to eat a hearty meal after work and, because we must be getting a bit snobby in our late 20s, we had certain criteria to match.

We didn’t want run-of-the-mill pub grub. Neither did we desire loud music and tasteless wine bar nosh. And it had to be somewhere quiet and leafy.

So into the south Staffordshire countryside we drove and soon came past the pub known to locals as The Rodney.

At just after 6pm on a week night, business seemed to be close to booming. We were offered a table in the restaurant area and handed menus.

But before I could look in detail, the smell of rich lasagne hit me as a member of staff took the Italian favourite to a couple sitting behind me. This was followed up by a huge steaming bowl of sausage and mash. Then a colossal plate of fish and chips was passed under my nose.

The sight of these meals meant my intention to go for something light went right out of the window.

I decided on a starter of sardines on ciabatta and my friend had squid.

She’d spotted that on the special’s blackboard. As we’d expected, our meals came out looking yummy. They were good portions.

For my main I chose seabass. It came with new potatoes the size of boulders and a mouth-watering salad.

My pal went for lamb shank, which was accompanied by a cheesy mash.

There were a fair few bones in my fish, but I have to say it was delicious and I was left feeling satisfied.

My friend, on the otherhand, was stuffed. She told me her meat was so soft it melted in the mouth.

Our bill, with a couple of drinks each, came to £34.

ADDRESS
Admiral Rodney, Dean Street, Brewood
Tel: 01902 850583

By Becky Sharpe