The White Lion, Knighton

I’d been hearing some very good things about the food served up at this 17th century inn on the border of Staffordshire and Shropshire, reopened under new ownership a little over two years ago. On my first visit to The White Lion one Spring evening I found a warm welcome and quality, imaginative cooking.

Due to the eccentricities of the British postcode system, The White Lion in Knighton hadn’t been on my radar until relatively recently.

Yes, I know that sounds bizarre, but it’s true. When you’re close to county borders, it’s quite possible to be situated in one county and have a post code in an adjacent one. So, if you search online for places to eat by region you might not be aware of some real gems that are actually quite local to you.

For us, living in the Staffordshire Moorlands which is close to the borders of Derbyshire, Cheshire and Shropshire it’s a triple whammy but it was only after discovering the excellent Duncombe Arms at Ellastone, often listed under Derbyshire due to its Ashbourne postcode, that I realised what I could be missing.

Taking this into account in a subsequent search for more top-notch dining in Staffordshire, it was then that I came across The White Lion at Knighton with its tricksy Shropshire postcode.

I’d added the pub to my continually lengthening list of potential places to check out but, due to the interesting and tasty-looking dishes that kept cropping up on social media I pretty quickly decided that The White Lion needed to be bumped up the priority list.

Myself and my partner ID (also my photographer for the evening) pulled into the car park one Spring evening after a pleasant drive on what had been the warmest day of the year so far. Despite it being relatively early, there were quite a few other diners already, including one who’d tied their charming horse and buggy to an adjacent post. A few chickens wandering about nearby added to the rustic scene.

We made our way to the cosy, characterful seventeenth century bar where we were greeted by numerous friendly dogs. We ordered drinks and took them through to the dining room where Julian, who is one of the owners along with his wife Helen, showed us to a table in the conservatory area of the dining room.

Settled with menus, we found lots to choose from; not that it’s necessarily a long menu, rather that almost everything sounded very tempting.

A PROMISING START

First off on the menu are ‘Small Plates’ which would work well as either a bar snack (pork pie & home pickled onions, homemade Scotch egg) or as starters (whole baked Camembert, crostini & chutney, whitebait & seaweed tartar sauce).

Besides the starters proper there were also a couple of sharing plates including a selection of British cured meats such as Cornish coppa and Suffolk chorizo. It’s not that common to find British cured products on meat platters so it was good to find it served here.

I’m quite the seafood fan and love scallops, so it didn’t take long for me to decide on Seared Scallops, Tandoori Sweet Potato Puree and Apple. This was a very elegant looking plate of food, the predominantly orange and beige colours of the scallops and puree sitting on a long plate of pale blue.

The scallops, lightly browned on the outside, were perfectly cooked and their sweetness a good counterpoint to the robust spicing of the sweet potato puree which, thankfully, was not particularly sweet but nicely hot. A cooling swirl of yogurt and crisp, refreshing batons of apple completed this very good dish.

Unlike me, ID is a big soup fan so jumped at the intriguingly named soup of the day, Beer & Cheese and which was made, Julian explained, with Belgian Kwak beer and Cheddar. I virtually never order soup in a restaurant but, having tasted a little of it (and then insisting on tasting a bit more) I’d be prepared to make an exception in this case.

Arriving at the table, this dish managed to convey both simplicity and drama. In one of those white and blue enamel bowls that many of us of a certain age grew up with, and which now pop up regularly when eating out, the beige liquid itself looked quite pedestrian. However, a crisply fried sage leaf and skewer of bread-crumbed lollipop perched on its surface made it infinitely more interesting.

I’m not sure I could have identified what was in the soup if we hadn’t already been told, but it was rich, deeply savoury and with a pronounced pepperiness on the finish. In short, very good indeed. The golden crumbed skewer was a deliciously cheesy croquette and the fried sage leaf a crispy, herby bite. I thought Julian had looked a little pleased when ID ordered the soup and I can see why; it was a fine example of skillful cooking that any establishment should be proud to serve up. And when you consider that, coming with a hunk of good bread and a generous slab of butter alongside, this dish cost just £5 I think that makes it even more impressive.

After such a great start, we were pretty eager to get on with our main courses.

MAIN COURSES AND THE STAND-OUT DISH OF THE EVENING

Main courses at The White Lion are divided into several sections, the first of which is ‘Lion’s Classics’. This features popular pub choices such as fish and chips, pie of the week and a burger. However, even in these dishes it’s clear that this is not middle of the road pub grub; fish and chips comes with seaweed tartar sauce and charred lemon, the burger with smoked pancetta and caramelised onions.

In the ‘Steaks’ section of the menu are rib eye or fillet, reared in Staffordshire and dry-aged for up to 35 days, served with chips or salad along with some sensational-sounding optional sauces such as bone marrow butter or garlic & truffle butter.

We both chose from the section simply headed ‘Mains’ with its more modern dishes including the vegetarian Roquefort Stuffed Crepes, Salmon en Papillote with Seaweed Butter, Cod with Chorizo, Clams & Samphire, and Barnsley Chop with Minted Salsa Verde & Parmesan Polenta.

Unusually for me, I chose chicken. Unusual because, although I do like chicken, it’s rarely served in restaurants in a way that piques my interest. That wasn’t the case at The White Lion where the menu described it as stuffed with nduja and goat’s cheese and served with Parmesan string fries, smoked garlic and sauteed spinach. I’d never tried nduja before, although I was aware that it was a soft, spreadable sausage from the Calabria region of southern Italy.

I love goat’s cheese’s robust, farmyardy tang so partnering it with a meaty, spicy sausage sounded like rather a good idea.

The nduja turned out to be gloriously spicy and intensely flavoured, similar to Spanish chorizo. Traditionally made from pig liver, tripe, lung and other unmentionables, on paper it might not make your mouth water, but on this plate it was easy to understand why it’s become more mainstream recently. There was no pronounced offal flavour at all, just a hearty, well-spiced meatiness. With the goat’s cheese it was a powerful combination and the bright red speckles of chilli left a very pleasant tingling in the mouth. The stuffing, which also included a little spinach, kept the chicken nicely moist too.

I’d expected the shoestring fries to be very thin French fries but, in a welcome surprise, they were actually more like straw potatoes – an old fashioned accompaniment to game where the potatoes are cut matchstick thin before frying. I loved the crispy, crunchy texture which was a perfect foil to the softness of the stuffed chicken and perfectly cooked spinach alongside. There was plenty of finely grated Parmesan scattered over the top of the fries too which seemed to me an excellent idea; adding even more flavour to an already lip-smackingly good dish.

A further, quite unexpected, treat were a couple of leaves of endive or chicory. As a rule, I’m not greatly fond of bitter leaves but these appeared to have been dressed with a tangy, vinaigrette which cut through the rich and spicy flavours. It’s little touches like these that demonstrate great knowledge and skill in the kitchen and which can turn a good dining experience into a really good one.

For me, this was the stand-out dish of the evening.

For his main course, ID ordered the Pork Faggots, Braised Lettuce, Spring Onions, Creamy Herb Mash & Onion Gravy.

This was another extremely appetizing looking dish. The well-browned balls of meat and offal sat among lots of green veg including tenderstem broccoli, peas and greens, as well as the braised lettuce. The dish immediately said ‘Spring’ and was very apt on this, the most Spring-like day of the year so far.

As most people will know, faggots are a traditional British food (particularly in the Midlands and north of England) which were originally made to use up pig offal. Out of favour for some time, they’re now becoming popular again with the growth of ‘nose to tail’ eating which, quite rightly in my view, seeks to use up every part of the animal. Coincidentally, I’d learned only earlier that week, talking to the wonderful Village Butcher Ipstones, that the ‘savoury ducks’ I’d seen in a couple of shops are a local/West Midlands/northern name for faggots.

We found the faggots well-flavoured, perhaps even a little strong, but that’s how they should be and overall the balance of flavours was spot on. The mashed potato was good and smooth and, quite correct for this dish we thought, not overly rich. The onion gravy was more of a clear broth and this too was well judged as it allowed the delicate Spring vegetables to shine through rather than being swamped by a heavier gravy.

A SWEET, BUT NOT TOO SWEET, FINISH

For dessert I chose the Bakewell Tart, Brambled Cherries, Candied Almonds & White Chocolate Sauce. I suppose I was expecting a sliver of a larger tart, all fancied up with this and that so I was a little surprised when a quite plain looking plate arrived: an individual tart, some nuts on the side and a jug of what looked like custard. However, on breaking into the tart, pouring a little of the sauce over and eating it we were back in food heaven.

Despite living close to the Derbyshire border and the home of the Bakewell pudding (where they do insist on calling it a pudding by the way, not a tart), I don’t eat it that often as in the wrong hands I find it can be a little dry. But I’m tempted to say that this Bakewell tart/pudding was among the best I’ve tasted (sorry, Derbyshire).

The golden filling was light, very moist and full of almondy flavour, the browned top generously sprinkled with flaked almonds. The pastry was thin and expertly crispy with no sign of the dreaded soggy bottom. I don’t know what ‘brambled’ cherries are, but I liked them nonetheless with their slightly pickled air, possibly with a trace of alcohol. The crunchy, candied almonds on the side were a nice little nibble.

White chocolate sauce can be tricky; make it too sweet and it’s a cloying, sickly affair. But here, although this sounds unlikely, the accompanying sauce tasted agreeably salty to me. I could be wrong, but maybe it’s a new thing, in the same vein as salted caramel which, although everywhere these days, was surely once seen as rather odd. I enjoyed it with the sweet tart anyway.

For his dessert, ID chose the Lemon & Vanilla Cheesecake, Lemon Curd, Candied Peel & Citrus Tuille. I was a bit surprised at this as he usually plumps for chocolate desserts and even I, who rarely order puddings with lots of chocolate, was tempted by the Fruit & Nut Chocolate Brownie, Peanut Butter Cream & Salted Caramel Brittle.

But he was more than happy with his choice, finding the cheesecake filling rich, creamy with a predominantly vanilla flavour and not overly sweet. This meant it went well with the accompanying lemon elements – the lemon curd sauce, the strips of peel and the crisp citrus tuille. It was good to see a nice thick base to the cheesecake too as being a little stingy with the crumb often results in an unbalanced dessert.

ONE TO WATCH

Owners Julian and Helen took over and reopened The White Lion in March 2016 and in that relatively short time I think they’ve created a really great addition to the Staffordshire food scene.

The original, historic bar has been maintained and I can imagine sitting in there with our dog, drinking real ale and eating some exceptional-sounding pub classics. Or maybe just having a pint in the cosy snug after a walk. On summer days and warm nights the outside seating would be ideal, surrounded by the English countryside with maybe even the odd horse and buggy trotting by. I’ll certainly be returning to the restaurant too for more of The White Lion’s take on modern British food; quality ingredients, much of it local and seasonal, cooked with skill and imagination.

Front of house, Julian appeared genuinely interested in what all his customers thought of the food and was both engaging and knowledgeable.

Without drinks, our food bill came to £27 per person which I consider to be excellent value for three courses at this standard of cooking.

I’ve a feeling that The White Lion, which seems to have hit that sweet spot of combining traditional country pub with quality dining, is going to go from strength to strength and is definitely one to watch.

All images in this post © Ian Dakin Photography