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Housed within an 18th century Grade II-listed building, The Lion Hotel Brewood offers a fine dining take on traditional British dishes. The elegant interior is complete with photographic prints and cosy seating, and in warm weather guests can unwind in the tiled courtyard.

Using locally available seasonal produce, the carefully compiled Lion menu offers starters such as Staffordshire oat cakes and smoked haddock cooked in cream with local cheese. Follow with a rack of bacon served on a bed of braised red cabbage with sage sauce, or local Staffordshire sausages with wholegrain mustard mash and a red currant jus.

Enjoy a refined selection of drinks at the bar, or relax with a rich cup of coffee in the Coffee Lounge. The large function room at The Lion restaurant is perfect for business conferences or private events.

Set in the picturesque Staffordshire countryside, The Lion Brewood offers a clean, crisp setting for enjoying stunning local cuisine.

To gain further information, just visit their extremely comprehensive Website.

Brewer's Fayre restaurants offer a warm welcome to those who want a reliably tasty meal in pleasant surroundings, with plenty of choice, minimal fuss and friendly service. With a reputation going back 25 years they should have a fair chance of doing that, but don't take our word for it. Give them a try and see if you agree that this is how good quality pub food should be served.

Whether it's snacks, grills, pub classics, fish, Sunday roasts or side dishes they think their way through the options, talk to their guests, and then come up with the goods. Not everybody wants a full meal so they've considered the needs of those who want to keep the gap filled and the children contented, perhaps on a journey or a day out.

Hot filled baguettes are always popular be it sausage and red onion or a classic chicken club sandwich. Jacket potatoes are good on their own but filled with mature cheddar cheese and beans they take on a new dimension.

More paced occasions demand a wide menu, perhaps with starters of breaded butterfly prawns, chicken goujons or breaded camembert bites. Grills are there for the hungry and whole rack of meaty BBQ pork ribs served with extra sauce, chips and coleslaw can be very welcome. The days of the mixed grill are back - or did they ever go away - a 4oz rump steak, two pork sausages, and a gammon steak topped with a fried egg served with all the trimmings will remind you if they did.

Salmon and prawn fishcakes are served with buttered new potatoes, tartare sauce and a lightly dressed salad. A combination of sea and land comes with a rump steak, whole grilled chicken breast and breaded breaded butterfly prawns, served with chips and a side salad or garden peas.

The rise of eating out in pubs has brought into our daily lives a whole legion of what might be termed 'pub classics'. Many of them have their roots in what used to be called 'good home cooking' and include such dishes as sausage, egg and chips, beef and ale pie, chicken and mushroom pie and for the very daring a beef lasagne. Well, all of them and many more are on the menu at Brewer's Fayre, supplemented by such new regulars as vegetable Goan chicken curry, pork chop, chilli con carne and grilled chicken and bacon salad.

It has often been said that chicken tikka masala is now the most popular dish in Britain. Some may not really want to believe that, much as they love curry, but travel, population movement and other factors have widened our scope and they are probably pretty keen on fish and chips in Timbuktu.

What is certain is that the great British Sunday roast is exclusive to these islands, though copied maybe elsewhere or in ex-pat outposts. No surprise therefore that it's on the Brewer's Fayre menu. A trade of three roasts with an opportunity to trade up to a mega roast for a modest sum. With it come two Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes, fresh seasonal vegetables and that important element - gravy.

A fine list of immensely tempting desserts may well bring the most ardent weight-watcher to their knees. A short but well thought out wine list offers all choices, except champagne, by the glass. Staying the night - check to see if there's a Premier Inn next door - chances are you'll be lucky.

A quick click on their Website is always worth while. The only thing that stays still permanently is the quality which is helped by a changing menu, and some very special offers.

The Beefeater Grill range of restaurants, owned by the well established firm of Whitbread has transformed over time into what is now predominantly a cooking platform for chargrill. The restaurants are warm, modern and stylish, with low lighting and contemporary artwork. A comfortable, cosy, mainly booth layout offers guests their own space with no feeling of being hurried at any point. Staff are friendly and helpful if need be - what a difference that can make to a good evening out.

Be it the wide open spaces of Argentina, the intimate setting of a French restaurant, or a busy grill in London's West End, there's no denying the popularity of chargrill. As the production of quality beef, chicken, fish and lamb has grown, prices have come down by comparison, and the simple and traditional art of minimally cooking dishes by chargrill, sealing in the flavours and tastes by intense heat has caught the public imagination.

All the steaks at Beefeater Grill are matured for a minimum of 28 days before being seasoned. Whether it be juicy rib eye, the classic sirloin, that emblem of the Sunday lunch, a tender fillet, or a delicious 7oz rump, all grilled to your own specification, you're never far away from perfection. Even beefburgers have shaken off their dubious image and the highly popular Beefeater burgers are made from 100% beef.

The popular sirloin with giant prawns offers a treat to those for whom an alliance between sea and pasture is a natural attraction, whilst a 16oz steak platter links rump, fillet, sirloin and rib eye into one mouth-watering dish served with chips, battered onion rings, grilled tomato, a flat mushroom and peppercorn and brandy sauce.

Many of us love rib meat, and the rack of ribs at a Beefeater Grill has a meaty rack smoky flavour; maple ribs of pork with a choice of three sauces, mojito, smoked caramel and apple glaze, or Bourbon and black BBQ. And if all else fails and you are totally baffled by the wealth of choices, ask to have a word with the Steakmaster who will help find what is right for you, together with the best cooking method. These guys leave nothing to chance.

On a menu that is a delight to read, let alone choose a meal from, expect to find smaller dishes such as traditional prawn cocktail, whitebait, chicken liver pâté and baked Camembert, or juicy lamb koftas served with yoghurt and mint dip. There's something about a good steak meal that always leaves a gap for a little temptation to sweeten up the scene and from amongst twelve options look for Belgian chocolate cheesecake, treacle sponge pudding or a caramel apple crumble pie.

Throughout the day a wide range of more general dishes are yours for the ordering, sandwiches, jackets, classic favourites like fish and chips, pasta, salads, and sharing dishes of nachos, potato shells and a Beefeater Grill combo. Next door to many of the restaurants are Premier Inns, so staying the night whatever the circumstances need not be a problem.

And what about wine? Endorsed by Matthew Jukes, wine writer in the Daily Mail and bon viveur in his own right, a wine list that marches with the menu completes an impressive and compelling invitation to enjoy whatever takes your fancy at the nearest Beefeater Grill.

Click on their Website for menu updates and special offers.

If you're expecting to see a poorly maintained, ramshackle farm, chances are you'll be amazed when you come across Tumbledown Farm, a smart and stylish yet rustic and friendly traditional pub in Cannock. After receiving a warm welcome you'll notice it does not take time to feel at ease in Tumbledown's home from home atmosphere.

The refurbished pub offers its classy outdoor area and the services of a popular carvery that serves a daily changing selection of the very best British meats and vegetables that include pork, beef, lamb, turkey, gammon and lamb.

Dishes from a traditional pub food menu, also served in the carvery, encompass smoked haddock and mozzarella fishcakes, and mains of pan-fried British Farm Assured chicken breast wrapped in bacon filled with Somerset Brie, cranberries and sage, followed by a dessert of Belgian chocolate and West Country clotted cream tart.

Least but not in any way last, the Tumbledown Farm drinks list delights guests with its range of cask ales, wines and lagers.

Neros Restaurant offers a wide variety of dishes at great value prices, with a la carte, and daily changing menus available every evening. Sunday lunch is especially popular, with three courses and coffee for £8.95 per person.

This chameleon eating house in the picturesque Market Square at Brewood, less than ten minutes from Junction 12 on M6 and a neighbourhood café during the day, lowers the lights at 7 pm to become a friendly and informal restaurant serving cuisine of considerable accomplishment and style.

Our visit there on a quiet Thursday evening coincided with a cause for celebration on the part of my companion. We were met by Lynn Sims, co-owner of The Mess with her brother, Nathan White. By the way, zealousness by the local authority regarding signs, presumably in an attempt to preserve the scenic integrity of the Square means that you will have to be pretty observant on arrival. The reward is great views over the centre of this quiet community, including the Gothic style Speedwell Castle.

A blackboard announced a few additions to the autumn menu, so, after a false chase for the mackerel with Stilton crust (weekends only it seemed), we chose the Farmhouse terrine with apple, red onion chutney and French toast, whilst I headed towards the well recommended roasted parsnip soup, served with vegetable crisps that lolled indolently across the large plain white soup dish.

The enthusiastic speed with which the terrine vanished indicated satisfaction rather than hunger from my friend, who is not a leading London restaurateur for nothing. As for the soup all I can say is that, if anything, Lynn's recommendations were an understatement. Creamy, with an intensity of taste and body that could not have been improved on, it was the work of a master, and I loved it.

New Zealand white wine has covered much ground in recent years, so when a quick survey of the relatively brief but gutsy wine list revealed last year's Montana Sauvignon Blanc, it was no contest, though it could have done with a more thorough chilling.

Moving on involved us both discovering a preference for the Moroccan beef tagine, slow roasted for half a day, but this was not my turn to back off gracefully, and was I happy about that? All I can say in reply is that I have seldom tasted a better example of the breed. Served with a timbale of fragrant rice it had exactly the right consistency, even the colour was inviting, and more than a breath of cinnamon ran through it, gently pursued by a hint of star anise.

The collar of bacon too found a warm reception opposite me, good streaky stuff with a convincing look about it, well backed by a wholegrain mustard sauce. The pease pudding was a good colour, nicely seasoned and played a good rôle in bringing this flavoursome dish together.

With still only two tables ccupied besides ourselves we could not believe that such quality food should be so neglected. This is an area where it is necessary to really think hard for that special location, and with good food as most people's primary aim, why are they not packed to the rafters?

A move to avoid puddings in the interests of the Prevention of Rotundity Act lacked conviction, so we compromised on one dish and two spoons. In fact the richness and consistency of the parfait with sticky toffee sauce was so brilliant that we were very adequately served by our one helping, though it was noticeable that the pace quickened as the confection diminished.

The Mess should be under siege. Maybe it just needs to be 'discovered'. Perhaps the décor is not as brilliant as the pudding, but what matters most?