Windsor Castle Inn, Lye

The Windsor Castle Inn comes highly recommended, writes our meal reviewer 'The Insider". When television wine expert Oz Clarke raves over the food and drink on offer, you have to give it a try.

The Windsor Castle Inn comes highly recommended, writes our meal reviewer 'The Insider". When television wine expert Oz Clarke, a man known for his discerning palate, raves over the food and drink on offer, you have to give it a try.

But that is not the real reason why this week's Insider comes from the Windsor Castle in Lye. Much more important than that, I decided it was time I took up Express & Star reader Philip Farmer's recommendation to try this brewery taphouse in the Black Country's industrial heartland.

The Windsor Castle was featured in this week's edition of Oz and James Drink For Britain, where the pair raved about the food and drink on offer, with Clarke describing the pub's mild as "the best he has tasted for ages."

Philip also described the place as "great", although he did feel the tapas options were rather expensive. It also won a Campaign for Real Ale Pub of the Year award for 2007.

I know what you're thinking - spit and sawdust, beardy geography teachers, obese middle-aged men in huge jeans and scruffy white T-shirts stretched over bulging bellies,

Well, it's nothing like that at all, it's actually quite trendy. On the Friday night we visited the place was heaving, with almost every table reserved, and it was perhaps a little surprising how young the clientele was.

The majority of diners were well under the age of 50, and at least half the customers were female.

There were a few older people standing around the large wooden barrels which double up as tables in the bar, but there wasn't a tweed jacket or a pair of National Health glasses in sight.

A young couple sat at the table next to us, while an exuberant group of fortysomethings on the table behind were enjoying some lively banter. A couple of tables away a party of stylish young girls appeared to be making a real occasion of it.

It is certainly hard to believe that just five years ago, this buzzing hostelry was a print works. In fact, part of it still is.

The original Windsor Castle brewery was founded in Oldbury in 1900 by Thomas Alexander Sadler, and at the height of its success it supplied its 12 tied pubs with its Sadler's Ales. But the brewery closed in 1927, and it looked like that was that.

Then after a 77-year-absence, Sadler's made a dramatic comeback.

For some years, Thomas Sadler's grandson John had been running a successful publishing business in Lye. But brewing always remained in his blood, and in 2004 he decided to revive the brewery, making use of a vacant part of his print shop. Within a couple of years another part of the building was converted into a pub, and since then it has gone from strength to strength.

It is styled like a modern gastropub, with wicker baskets, wooden floorboards and candle-lit tables. The walls are painted in pastel colours and feature soft lighting, and one room is furnished with stylish brown leather sofas, and a coffee table where the newspapers are kept.

The design of the building imposes some limitations, with its regular shaped rooms and large, square windows, not to mention the ill wind that was coming through door on a cold winter's night. Nevertheless, the owners have done a superb job in transforming premises which were originally constructed for function rather than character.

To make the use of one of the large windows, a set of high stools have been installed looking outwards, although the view is not much to look at. Oh well, there are some things you just can't change.

The tables are simply, but stylishly, laid out, with tealight candles and neat decanters for vinegar and olive oil.

A blackboard at the back of the main room offers tips about the wines on offer - I wonder if Oz Clarke had some input - and a poster tells customers that all the pubs' eggs are from free-range farms. I think the latter, a laminated plastic affair stuck straight onto the wall, spoiled the atmosphere a little though; an inexpensive picture frame would have made all the difference.

The menu is varied, with many speciality dishes cooked in the home-brewed ale, including beer-battered chicken fillets and beer-baked ham as well as the more predictable steak and ale pie, and bangers and mash in onion and ale gravy.

We decided to begin by trying the home-made beer bread, which was excellent value at £1.25, and I tried both Jack's Ale and 0z Clarke's favourite mild. Of the two, I preferred the Jack's, a light, hoppy bitter with a lemon undertone, but it's a shame I didn't get the chance to try the other six ales on offer.

For a main course, I went for the 8oz rib-eye steak with hand-cut chips and salad. A Jack Daniels sauce was available for those with more adventurous tastes, but I decided the ale provided enough liquor for myself, and went for the peppercorns instead.

At £14.95 it was a little on the pricey side, but it was worth it - nicely cooked, and accompanied by delightful golden brown chips. My companion decided to go for one of the specials for the day, a foil-baked salmon with pesto topping, green beans and new potatoes. She said the fish was very good, but would have liked a few more potatoes.

The chocolate brownie I had for afters looked almost like a piece of modern artwork; three spheres of mint ice cream were lined up on top of a long, thin chocolate base, with another strip of cake on top. It had a dark taste and a biscuity texture.

The bill came to £41, a little on the high side, but I had no complaints. In fact I then went and added another £9.20 by ordering four pints of Jack's Ale to take out.

It's not hard to see why Oz and James liked it so much, it just has that little something extra, that little bit of flair and personality that you don't get in the big chains.

It's not perfect, and it's not cheap, but it offers great food, delightful beers, and a great atmosphere. But most of all, it has that undefinable quality that comes through the owner's passion, that marks it out as a labour of love rather than a means to earn a living. I love it.

ADDRESS

The Windsor Castle Inn,

7 Stourbridge Road, Lye, DY9 7DG

Phone: 01384 879809

MENU SAMPLE

Starters

Soup with beer bread and butter £3.75; Prawn cocktail £4.45; Home-made fish pate served with beer bread and fresh lemon £4.25; Smoked salmon with dill sauce, baby gherkins and beer baked bread £5.95

Main courses

Chicken curry served with basmati rice and popadum £8.95; Roasted Herefordshire beef served with salad of the day and horseradish sauce £7.95; Hop picker's platter - slices of ham, Hereford hop and mature cheeses, served with apple, celery, pickled onions red onion marmalade and Sadler's beer bread £7.25; Black Country faggots with mashed potato and traditional mushy peas in Sadler's ale gravy £7.95; Steak and ale pie £8.75; Sadler's ham and free-range eggs, with chips and salad £8.25; Roast Romaro peppers with feta cheese, basil and pine nuts £8.95

Desserts (all £4.95)

Banana creme brulee; Blackberry and apple crumble; Banana and butterscotch crepes