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The ideal venue for a quiet relaxing meal, dining at Raphaels is like being invited into a friend's quaint country cottage. Inside the seventeenth century building is what must have been two rooms now one for eating. There is also a small comfortable lounge seating six or so people.

The welcome is friendly and the food is exquisite. Booking is advised, if only to check opening times. During the week there is the choice of a set menu or a la carte.

Raphaels always has at least one good vegetarian choice available and occasionally offers vegetarian gourmet evenings.

Starters include crab rosti cakes with a lime and lemon herb dressing; goats cheese and roasted red pepper salad; caramelised onion and anchovy tart; sautéed chicken livers and mushrooms on garlic toast.

Main courses include grilled fillet of sea bass on sautéed fennel; Moroccan chicken tagine served with cous cous; boned confit of guinea fowl and half a duck breast served with a port and redcurrant sauce; venison casserole with prunes and pickled walnuts; layers of aubergine and red kidney beans in a rich tomato sauce finished with béchamel sauce and grated cheese.

The three course set menu is £16-20.

Butler's Restaurant is part of a hotel, which has been formed after combining two elegant 17th century country houses, and then adding the odd wing or two in good taste. The Park House can be found on the edge of the market town of Shifnal, and serves as an ideal base to explore the outstanding countryside and attractions in and around Shropshire.

The overall ambience is one of quiet opulence, and Butler's provides a good range of comfortably-priced English and Continental dishes, served well and supported by an excellent wine list that embraces Old World and the New.

On the à la carte, peppered fillet of beef is pan-fried and paired with stilton and red onion salad, while main courses of pork fillet appear with crushed potatoes, creamed cabbage and bacon, crispy crackling, candied apples and calvados cream Grilled fillets of lemon sole are served with potted shrimps, saffron potatoes, asparagus and baby leeks, crab and tarragon velouté.

With its high backed leather chairs, solid wooden tables and comfortable sofas, the bar is a great place to visit for a drink.

The Horns is at least 300 years old and was a regular stop-off for cattle drovers taking their charges along the old Holyhead road. In recent years it has had its ups and downs but new management has recently (2004) ensured a return to the good days and an air of relaxed enjoyment now pervades. The panelling and warm decor in the restaurant make for discreet comfort in which matters of business or more social inclination can equally prosper.

The menu aims to hit a spot somewhere between brasserie and gastropub. The food is not fancy, but freshness, attractive content and comfortable portions prevail. For starters expect to find around ten choices, plus specials, to include avocado, Parma ham and prawns with a sour cream and chives sauce, venison pate and an imaginative range of home-made soups.

Main courses, excluding the excellent range of steaks, number around sixteen - choose from a half shoulder of lamb, fillet steak medallions wrapped in smoky bacon and served with a hollandaise sauce, a delicious home-made steak and kidney pie, or a potato and red cabbage layer cake with Madeira sauce. Vegetarians are particularly well looked after.

A sensible, both in content and pricing, wine list offers a range of choice that will bring a mellow contentment to the occasion. It is encouraging to see what used to be decent pubs that suffered from the decline caused by the breathalyser, having new life injected into them by proper management able to drive a safe line between profitability and customer satisfaction.

Shifnal's charming market place is home to Fennels, a cosy traditional restaurant that is popular with locals and visitors thanks to its relaxed ambience and young chef Dan Vasey's eclectic cooking.

The restaurant has enjoyed a chequered history; nothing to do with the food, which has always been interesting.  However, things have changed for the better and Fennels should now be set fair for a secure future, creating something special in a town with many restaurants, but few of much distinction.

The wine list offers a fine choice of well-priced numbers.