Walls, The

In 1841 Thomas Penson built Walls as a school for the young of Oswestry. Following a brilliant conversion in 1993 his work lives on, now offering entertainment and good food for, shall we say, people of all ages. There is a country house feel around, assisted by the elegant grand piano that comes into its own at Sunday lunchtimes in particular.

As befits a former seat of learning starters are referred to as the Foundation course and may include pan-fried peppered fillet of salmon served on a horseradish potato cake accompanied by soft, garden-herb crème fraiche finished with a red pepper and chilli oil, or a delicious home-smoked chicken terrine wrapped in ham that has been air-dried and accompanied by a marinated apricot and kumquat chutney with lemon and basil oil and toasted walnut bread.

For the Main Event perhaps the braised half shoulder of lamb, Welsh of course, with honey roasted root vegetables and potatoes in a red wine, redcurrant and mint sauce or the seared calves liver on a black pudding and spring onion mash with a sherry and roast shallot sauce, finished with roasted parsnips. You may have difficulty ignoring the baked dark chocolate and orange pudding, served with a generous helping of clotted cream, in which case consider the caramelized mango and passion fruit tartlet topped with a lime sorbet.

Service is friendly and the range of wines extends round the world. House wines kick off at £10 a bottle, or £2.75 a glass. Sunday lunches are a real speciality with three decent courses for £13.95 and a wonderful atmosphere - people travel for miles.