the UK based Restaurant and Hotel Review

I would like to recommend Shaun Hill's The Merchant House restaurant in Upper Corve Street, Ludlow. It is, in my opinion, the best restaurant outside London bar none. It is also a great deal better than 90% of restaurants in London. What makes it so special is that everything that appears on your plate will have been cooked by either Shaun, or, when it comes to desserts, his wife Anja. This means that you have the undivided attention of a uniquely talented and intelligent chef who has been in the business for over 20 years.

Many chefs with Shaun Hill's experience, talents and media exposure rarely see the inside of a restaurant kitchen, let alone deal directly with suppliers, write and execute the menu and even do their own washing up should it become necessary.

All this would be irrelevant if the food were not exceptional, and that it most certainly is. I have had three meals at the Merchant House, two of which were in 1999, all were memorable.

The most recent started with homemade buttermilk and wholemeal rolls (at least as good as the bread I had at my last visit to La Tante Claire). Served alongside were three appetisers of foie gras with ginger and brioche, smoked salmon with creamed leeks and sesame and roquefort biscuits. Quite a number of great taste and texture sensations to excite us even before the starters had arrived. I chose Steamed John Dory with a juniper sabayon and sauerkraut to begin the meal proper. Beautifully cooked fish and a delicious and technically perfect sauce. The dish was finished with the sharp cabbage and balanced with some chives and grated carrot. Fantastic. Next came some terrific saddle of venison, cooked rare and served with a flavourful red wine and lentil sauce, rich goats cheese gnocchi (a great recipe available from the Daily Telegraph website if you search using "Shaun Hill") and some wok fried mixed green veg. I took my time over this with a glass of a 1997 Chateauneuf-du-Pape from the impressive but reasonably priced wine list. Unusually, it includes a white wine from film maker Francis Ford Coppola's famous vineyard.

Although portions are very generous here, I could have eaten the dish all over again, it was that good.

For pudding, I had a prune and armagnac parfait, intensely flavoured with both the advertised main ingredients and an absolute delight to eat. Coffee and a few petit fours brought the bill for one, which included 2 glasses of house white, water and service to a little over £40.00. A true bargain, considering the fact if you want to eat the food of Mr Hill's peers you will have to go to London, pay twice the price and take the chance that the chef will be in a television studio somewhere, rather than behind the stove.