Starters - Menu of the month
Holly Bush Inn, Salt, Staffordshire
Style: Traditional pub food with a twist, but thankfully not too much of one.
What's on offer: Both the appetiser and main course lists have a range of classics suddenly punctuated with something a bit more daring. So for starters you can play safe with the breaded mushrooms with a garlic dip (£3.25) or the day's homemade soup (£2.10), or go a bit more lush and try Staffordshire Blue stuffed pears with a raspberry and poppy seed vinaigrette (£3.25), or green-shelled mussels, served in the shell with blue cheese and garlic sauce (£3.45). In among the steaks and scampi you'll find braised venison with chestnuts and celery (£8.25) or supreme of chicken in red wine with raisins and apricots (£7.95).
If it's lunchtime and you're not too hungry, there are options on sandwiches, jackets and toasties. The triple-decker breakfast sandwich (£2.95) features bacon, egg and two sausages, with sautéed potatoes on the side. The menu goes to great lengths to provide expanded details of how dishes are prepared, and local producers get acknowledgements all the way down the line, including butcher William Perry and Crackle Wood Farm, which supplies the chicken. John Knox of Staffordshire Cheese provides the rolling line-up for the cheese board (£4.25). Puddings start from £3.25. The pub: White walls, low ceilings, thatched roof and latticed windows. You get the picture.
Anything else: Hog roasts, morris dancing and live music in the garden during the summer. Co-host Joseph Holland claims to be the country's youngest licensee at just 18.
Recommended: Grilled pork chops with cheese and beer for £8.25. The cheese and beer is mustard-flecked in a crumble topping.
