Shropshire Magazine

The interior of Raphael’s.

Neil Thomas heads to the east of the county, to Raphael’s restaurant in Shifnal. Pictures: Russell Davies

While chatting over coffee on our first ever visit to Raphael’s restaurant in Shifnal, we were asked one of those questions that could easily come with multiple-choice answers.

Our smiling hostess Mary Wild politely inquired: “How did you find us?”‘

My wife Vanessa answered in a flash: “Past the traffic lights, first right and first on the right.”

She’s quick my wife. Mary’s smile widened. Not really the answer she was after.

I was tempted to throw in: “I found you perfectly acceptable” but that would only have confused things further.

What Mary needed to ask was:

How did you find us?

(A)   Satnav, AA routefinder, tatty old road map, directions from a constable;

(B)   Perfect, excellent, okay, hideous;

(C)   Website, advert, recommendation, pot luck.

What she was keen to discover was the answer to C. What had brought us there? (1. Car; 2. The desire for good food and wine; 3. The urge to spend a Friday evening in Shifnal . . . no, stop it!).

Well, English may be a language fraught with amibiguity but there is nothing ambiguous about my opinion of Raphael’s.

We went there on the recommendation of a colleague and I enjoyed it.

Husband-and-wife team Roger and Mary Wild have run this interesting little restaurant for 21 years. The cottage dates back to the late 16th century, put up in the wake of the Fire of Shifnal of 1591 which destroyed virtually all of Church Street.

Roger and Mary Wild have been at the venue for 21 years.

Different

Roger and Mary say they are trying to provide something a little different — and our arrival was certainly that. Despite having reserved a table, we arrived to find the front door locked against us and the place apparently closed. Then Vanessa spotted the sign asking us to ring the bell. Mary opened the door, smiling warmly, and ushered us in. Unusual — I’ve been to a few lock-ins down the years but never a lock-out. It seemed rather like being invited to dinner at the home of new neighbours and I felt as though I should have handed over a bottle of plonk or a bunch of flowers accompanied by a kiss on the cheek and a polite inquiry along the lines of “we’re not too early, are we?”.

Still, it ensures every diner gets a warm, personal welcome, which is rather pleasant.

Bijou and quaint are words that sprang to mind on encountering the interior. The capacity is 25 covers so the atmosphere can’t really be anything other than intimate. Classy background music and soft lighting amid the period charm make it a rather romantic and couple-friendly place.

We were ushered through to a tiny lounge area — slightly cluttered, could probably have done with losing a chair or two for absolute comfort — for pre-dinner drinks and to study the menu.

Fish, prawn, mushroom and shallots finished in a light cream sauce and served with a crisp mini-croissant.

I started with a delightful butternut squash soup, creamy and full of flavour, while Vanessa tucked into sautéed chicken livers with caramelised apples, beetroot and crispy pancetta on dressed salad.

Other starters we could have chosen included seafood-stuffed croissant; warm camembert and leek tart with dressed salad leaves; Roquefort, walnut and grape salad; and melon with apple and cranberry compôte.

Vanessa enjoyed her main course of grilled fillet of sea bass with baby tomatoes and a balsamic and olive oil dressing, while my oven-baked chicken breast stuffed with Boursin cheese, wrapped in Parma ham, provided a pleasant contrast of flavours and textures with a tender piece of fowl underpinning it. Fresh seasonal vegetables were perfectly cooked.

Roasted, boned quails with a rice-and-apricot stuffing and a Madeira sauce.

Other mouthwatering options on the menu included grilled fillet of haddock with a bean succotash, described as a North American Indian dish with butter beans, celery, peppers, onion and cream; roasted boned quails with rice-and-apricot stuffing and a Madeira sauce; fillet steak with either Shropshire Blue cheese sauce or caramelised onion sauce; smoked salmon and mushroom pasta finished with a white wine sauce; and black-eyed bean patties coated in sesame seeds, sautéed and served with a lightly spiced pear-and-apple chutney.

My chocolate Amaretto torte was a delicious dessert, a chocoholic’s delight (for all I know it could an alcoholic’s delight, too, although the sweet, almond-flavoured liqueur certainly didn’t overwhelm the chocolate).

Vanessa’s tropical fruit and white wine sorbet was as refreshing an end to the meal as you could wish for. Other desserts we could have chosen included meringues with caramel sauce, apple and berry fruit crumble, vanilla cream ramekin with forest fruits, lime and lemon tart and a series of ice-creams. A selection of cheeses was also an option.

There was a small but well-thought-out wine list with choices to accompany everything on the menu.

Lashings of filter coffee and tea with mints rounded off the meal nicely.

Shines

Roger and Mary are clearly a hard-working double act. He predominantly takes care of the cooking, though she helps out with the prep. Mary then shines front of house with an informal, friendly manner that can’t help but put diners at their ease.

The food is good, wholesome, unpretentious fare, cooked by someone experienced enough to know what he is doing and what his customers want him to do and presented with few frills. The emphasis is on bringing out the flavour of the food rather than decorating the plate with whirls and drizzles, which is as it should be.

Vanilla cream ramekin with berry fruits.

Raphael’s is certainly an eye-catching room in which to eat with original beams providing a wealth of period character. From a purely personal point of view, some of the rather old-fashioned fixtures and fittings ironically detract from the historical splendour and a perhaps more minimalist approach, with maybe a stripped pine floor, bare wooden tables and leather chairs might stay in keeping while modernising the look. Still, the chill wind of recession has howled through the restaurant industry over the past couple of years so perhaps I shouldn’t be quite so liberal with other people’s money.

Talking of money, our bill came to under £75 which, for three courses with wine, represents excellent value for money.

Raphael’s is certainly a welcome landmark on Shropshire’s dining-out map and even boasts a celebrity endorsement. Roger tells me that Greg Rusedski was a regular visitor when the national tennis championships brought him to the former Telford Racquet Centre (now Telford International Centre) in the 1990s. He’d often turn up on a Friday or Saturday evening before doing battle with Tim Henman the following day.

Roger even had to turn the 1997 US Open runner-up away on one occasion when Raphael’s was full.

Now that’s my kind of restaurant, where the cult of celebrity counts for nothing and the world number-three tennis player takes his chances like the rest of us.

• Raphael’s, 4 Church Street, Shifnal TF11 9AA. Telephone 01952 461136. www.raphaelsrestaurant.co.uk