East & West Midlands

The Holly Bush Inn

Salt, Staffordshire

First-time visitors to the sleepy village of Salt near Stafford could be excused for thinking that the local pub falls into the same category. With its thatched roof, floral displays and roses round the door, the Holly Bush is the archetypal village pub. But any similarity to other village pubs ends there.

Top listing

The Holly Bush serves up around 5,000 main meals a month, is listed in some of the country's top eating-out guides, and attracts visitors from all over the Midlands.

Admiral Taverns' tenant and Holly Bush licensee Geoff Holland is quick to rebuff any suggestion that his pub might be more akin to a restaurant.

"I don't take bookings and you won't see tables laid or pepper and salt left out. This is primarily a pub that serves food and we extend the same welcome to someone who wants a pint or a coffee to those who want a three-course meal," he says.

Ethical practice

Geoff deals directly with local suppliers that can guarantee authenticity and freshness of their produce.

He says: "I am ethical about food - animals should have a quality of life with good standards of treatment during rearing. I'm happy to name our suppliers on our menu."

Popular menu items include steak and kidney pudding and steak and ale pie, both at £8.95, while another good seller is the venison casserole, made to a centuries-old recipe and sold at £9.25.

Emphasis on home-made

The pub makes all its own sausages except for the famous Holly Bush Sausage made by local butcher William Perry, who also supplies the gammon, pork chop, steak, liver and kidney for the £9.50 mixed grill.

Pizzas and breads are produced on a wood-fired brick oven and a commercial smoker gives a different flavour to chicken, cheese, sausages and trout.

But the pub is not all about food with three cask ales on tap helping to earn regular Camra pub-of-the-month accolades.