La Lanterna at the Old Vestry — Restaurant in Shrewsbury

I struggled to find the place using Google Maps. I was tired and should have zoomed in to see the street names. Walking up from the station area I didn't turn left at the top of he hill to follow the road. I continued on towards the shops. Church Street is off to the right not far from that turn. I still got there half an hour before my booked time. Both the starter I had (bruschetta al funghi) and the main (maialino al porcini) looked very much like the images I had seen online. Their home-made tiramisu was presented in a glass, a presentation which I had not seen before, but it hit the mark like any tiramisu should. The decorations screamed "Italy" and the walls were full of posters emblematic of Italy 🇮🇹. There were some statues and busts in the entrance area. I particularly liked the pot model immediately opposite my seat. I hoped the models involved weren't passing comment on the food. lol. I liked the food and ate the starter after the main, though they had been brought out together. The vegetables had been cooked a bit more than usual, just as I had requested. It seemed very important to book in advance to...

The food is excellent. But I felt only able to award 3 stars. Here's the reason why. As with most restaurants, the food and drinks menus are publicized online on the restaurant's own website. But the drinks prices are misleading. For instance, the house wine is listed online at £17.50 a bottle. But if you buy it you will be charged £22.50. And the Italian (white wine) Spritz is publicized on their website at £3.50. But you'll be charged almost double that. And if you order the Set Lunch, be careful, because it is supposed to include a glass of house wine, but we initially got charged (as in the photo). It's a lot easier to change prices on a website than to have to print out a whole new set of menus. So I don't understand why the owner has let himself down with out of date prices. Even the blackboard at the restaurant entrance was showing an old price for the set meal. I do hope the misleading online prices are just a case of proprietor incompetence, and not something Shropshire Trading Standards would want to know about. So despite the great food, the overall experience left a bad taste...

We are from South Africa 🇿🇦 & visit Shrewsbury often to see my partners children who live in the surrounding countryside

As a result we dine out often & are mostly disappointed with food (we are avid cooks) & service in Shropshire county - the worst experience being a recent visit to Indigo Hotel restaurant (Liverpool) owned by Marco Pierre White, shocked that this Michelin star chef 👨‍🍳 may not be aware of the terrible food served by his staff - we were all disappointed by what we were served - my dish being a basic Mac n cheese, topped with a poached egg - when I told the waitron the egg was overdone (I expressly requested a soft egg) I was sarcastically told "no-one can make a soft poached egg 😱"

I think Marco should visit La Lanterna in Shrewsbury & leave his chef/s there to take some much needed cookery lessons !!!

The service, food & ambience is ALWAYS fantastic - the best in the entire county - we will continue to visit every time we are in England

Hidden gem - I would recommend to locals & tourists, trust me, you will not be disappointed on any level

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