Shropshire Magazine

Mad Jack’s contemporary interior.

Neil Thomas visits a brasserie that’s buzzing with bonhomie

The restaurant on St Mary’s Street also provides accommodation for those wanting to make a night of it . . .

What a joy. What a positive delight. What an unexpected thrill . . . to eat in a packed restaurant, full of chatter and laughter. It was almost like we had been beamed back to the high and far-off days, the boom era when firms thrived, there was full employment and a ‘two up two down’ terraced slum in Hartlepool sold for the equivalent of the gross domestic product of Chile. We all took four holidays a year and the exchange rate was euros to the pound and not vice versa. A far-off, longed-for, halcyon era now shrouded in the mists of time – otherwise known as 2007.

As the recession bites ever deeper, a picture of a hospitality industry in freefall has begun to emerge.

Across the country restaurants are moribund, bistros bust and pubs closing at the rate of too many a week.

You are left with the impression that the only places doing business are the Wags lounges at Premier League football clubs and Canary Wharf champagne bars where gloating bankers toast their latest inflated bonuses.

That rather leaves me out in the cold as I’m not married to Wayne Rooney, nor have I banked a cruel million as reward for steering my company, and the nation, to the brink of ruin.

Even exclusive gourmet haunts run by celebrity chefs are struggling – witness Antony Worrall Thompson closing four restaurants when AWT Restaurants Ltd went into administration. So what hope the rest? 

Well, I needn’t have worried. Mad Jack’s in Shrewsbury was packed to the gunwales. In the wake of my visit to a nine-tenths full Sebastian’s in Oswestry last month, this is a real shot in the arm. I’m not sure how these places are faring earlier in the week, but Saturdays are swinging.

My wife Vanessa and I had never visited Mad Jack’s before and we were certainly impressed by its atmosphere. There was a real buzz about the place – the type of ambience that gives you a sense of occasion the moment you walk through the door.

Ages

The fact that Mad Jack’s appears to attract a wide range of ages helps. Though the beautiful young were well in evidence, more mature diners seemed quite at home and the couple on the table next to us had two children with them. This is clearly an ‘equal opportunities’ restaurant and all the better for it. 

There are places whose walls are lined with awards, where the cognoscenti speak in hushed and reverential tones about the masterwork on their plates, giving the place all the atmosphere of a chapel of rest. You visit a restaurant to enjoy the food and drink, not to worship the chef.

Having eaten and enjoyed at Mad Jack’s sister restaurant The Mytton and Mermaid, at Atcham, we were expecting quality and, generally speaking, we weren’t disappointed. The majority of produce used appears to be sourced locally and cutting down food miles is certainly worth a great fat tick in the box.

Braised local vension with Shropshire Blue dauphinoise potatoes, spiced red cabbage and root vegetable crush.

My Shropshire lamb was a highlight – tender and bursting with flavour – while Vanessa enjoyed her pork chop. Accompaniments – vegetables, salads and sauces – added all the right textures and tastes. Attention was also given to arrangement on the plate, so that the food looked appetising and as though some thought had gone into it. There’s clearly talent at work in the kitchen.

My treacle tart with vanilla pod ice-cream was a delight, perfect comfort food for a perishing cold February evening.

Vanessa’s cheeseboard featured a pleasing selection of Burland Brie, Shropshire Blue, Kidderton Ash goat’s cheese and Appleby’s Cheshire, served with chutney, grapes and biscuits.

It is generally felt that 2004 was a good year for Riojas and our choice was certainly representative of its vintage.

We rounded off a thoroughly enjoyable evening with coffees – Vanessa with espresso and I with latte – and huge, moreish chocolate truffles.

The restaurant appears driven by the vitality of youth with a team of attractive, well-groomed young staff presenting a sense of purpose and energy. They seemed completely at ease as they weaved in and out of the tables chatting affably as they placed plates, poured and cleared. The result was friendly and informal service, a positive aid to relaxation.

The staff were patient and indulgent with us as we dithered over the menu, despite the fact that they were clearly busy. There was no sense that we were being rushed through and out. 

Trouble was that, to a couple as indecisive as we two, there was simply too much choice. I’m a product of 1960s state education – here it is: one course, like it or lump it. Thus I grew up wary of options, a shortcoming I’ve found it hard to shake off in restaurants over the years by developing a habit of choosing the wrong dish.

Vanilla creme brulée with homemade pear sorbet and cinnamon shortbread.

I’m happy this time, however, that I made the perfect choice (although, now I come to think of it, the cassoulet looked mouthwatering . . .).

Our total bill came to under £90 which, in my recession-driven quest to find you value for money, wins me a gold star.

Cookery being the new rock and roll, and never off our television screens, means of course that more people are more knowledgable about food, its provenance and its preparation than ever. This, in turn, can occasionally engender a little stiff-necked pomposity among those who like to think themselves among the elite. Yet, many ingredients make up a good restaurant. Mad Jack’s, it seems to me, acknowledges an essential truism; that the most important ingredient is the customer.

REVIEW: NEIL THOMAS; PICTURES: RUSSELL DAVIES

• Mad Jack’s, 15 St Mary’s Street, Shrewsbury SY1 1EQ. Telephone 01743 358870. www.madjacks.uk.com