The Old Smithy — Restaurant in Stafford

Visited on Thursday 16 August 2018 , after phoning ahead to book a table after reading favourable on-line reviews. The Old Smithy has a reasonably large car park alongside to the north / right of the pub for about fifteen cars. The entrance at the front of The Old Smithy is identified as the restaurant door and leads into a hallway with the main bar in front and the restaurant area to the left. A set of glass doors at the rear of this area leads out to a pleasant outdoor area with seating and interesting water feature.

We ordered a half of Tim Taylor Landlord and Courage Directors which were the two real ales on the bar. The service was polite and efficient and our drinks were brought for us to the table.

The soup of the day sounded interesting - spicy sweet corn soup with fresh bread. The staff said that it was only mildly spicy but my wife and I found it rather strong , in fact it reduced my wife to tears with a burning sensation in the throat. It had an interesting initial sweet corn taste but the spicy after taste is rather too strong for a summer soup in my opinion.

We had our main course afterwards . I had a pleasant Steak and Ale pie with chips and vegetables whilst my wife had a beef stroganoff with rice.

A visit to the toilet means a trek up the stairs and then to the right along a landing and corridor with the gents on the left and the ladies further on then on the right. Although there is a toilet for the disabled on the ground floor to the right of the bar.

The place was busy but in my opinion seems to lack atmosphere at the time of our visit. The Old Smithy is clean, well presented and has a...

My partner, parents and I went for Sunday lunch and were not disappointed! The pub itself was very warm and cosy, although quite modern inside which surprised me as it’s history is the old smithy.

Service and staff were excellent! We sat in the bar (booth) as we had our dog. They were so attentive and even made sure the dog bowl had water and even gave him some doggy treats!

The food was excellent! I had the Sunday roast (beef) which was cooked to perfection. My mum had the lamb which was also superb. Dad had the homemade pie…I will be having that next time as it was a proper traditional homemade pie (I think a proper hot water crust pastry) and dad said the best he had for a very long time. My partner had the chicken roast which was also brilliant. Oh, and the garlic mushroom starter was delicious! I could have eaten that for a main course!

Highly recommend and will be going...

After trying our luck on a table for four without a booking, we were met by lovely staff who accommodated us well and found us a table - which was fortunate for us.

We all had the Pie, Chips, Veg and Gravy and I can honestly say it's probably the best restaurant meal of that type I've eaten in a long time, if not ever. Pie was full of meat filling, tasty sauce and lovely soft pastry. The chips were so well cooked with flakey salt and the veggies were delicious. Great portion sizes.

For dessert, a Sticky Toffee pudding for me, which is a personal favourite of mine, and was also absolutely delicious with some vanilla ice cream. Wonderfully soft with some fantastic toffee sauce!

I would absolutely recommend a visit here, whether you're passing or a local. The staff are friendly, the atmosphere was lovely and the food is 100% worth the restaurant prices - you...