Armoury

I visited the Armoury
last night. To attend our Thursday night club, Xmas party. The food was excellent,
very tasty and cooked to perfection. The service was fantastic, considering
there was fourteen of us, and the building was packed. A five star service, from
all the staff. Thank you for making our evening enjoyable.

Management call The Armoury a city pub in a truly impressive space. The space is large, although I wouldn’t say impressively large. It is a city pub in respect that it would fit in quite nicely on the banks of the Thames, and the food prices certainly match those of many London haunts! The whole place is illuminated with lovely large windows looking out over the river. It has a large bar, and the bar service is very quick. The walls are decorated with large bookcases full of books, which you can peruse over a beer or whilst waiting for your meal. The bar overlooks the River Severn and is a beautiful setting in summer, with a small number of seats located outside the pub, to allow the smokers to soak up the vitamin D. There is the Severn riverboat on the same quay as the bar for you to visit after your dinner. For my starter I had the Potted beef with caper salad, sweet onion chutney and toast for £5.75. The potted beef was very unusual (in that I hadn’t had it before!!), it was basically shredded beef potted in butter to preserve the meat, the same way you would do it for potted shrimp. It was absolutely delicious, substantial and very filling (as it should be for £5.75). Main course consisted of Slow roasted belly pork stuffed with lemon and thyme served with seasonal vegetables for £13.25. This meal was really disappointing. The pork had been slow roasted for far too long and was quite chewy and rubbery in places. The vegetables were cooked very Al Dente to the point of being a little inedible and the sweet red cabbage that came with the pork was so sweet that it overpowered the rest of the dish a very bitter disappointment for £13.25. I suppose I should have sent it back, but when there are 20 of you around a table, you never know when you will get it back and you don’t want to be eating on your own. I suppose the restaurant would use the excuse of undercooked veg on the fact that there were 20 around the table, but IMHO when you purchase a meal, there IS NO excuse for undercooked food, irrelevant of how much you pay for it and how many people you are feeding! The menu is very varied with a good choice of meals, however it is quite expensive No matter how much you dress it up on the menu £12 for fish, chips and mushy peas is expensive! The bar itself is a beautiful building with a great selection of ales and ciders. There are not many places that serve 3 ciders without one of them being Strongbow!!.

Expect London prices, but this unique venue is kind of worth it. It feels like someone put a posh gastropub inside a posh library, but left some of the books. I love unique venues, even if they are not quite to my tastes. The ales (and the barmaids) were to my taste however. There were several to choose from (beers!), from which I selected Hobson’s Twisted Spire, which was very nice. I would wager that the food is worth a nibble too!

A great place to eat and unwind Good honest food in a relaxed atmosphere. The ale is the best kept in Shrewsbury. Recommend a pint of Shropshire lad.

When you walk into this gastropub, you immediately get the sense that it is brand new. Although the buiilding probably dates back to the 1600’s or earlier, the inside has been completely redone. With that in mind, there are some shortcomings. We visited this place on a Monday night and it was very busy with both drinkers and restaurant goers.
The place lacked a distinct separation between the folks grabbing a pint and the people there for a meal. One of the complaints overheard is that the folsk having a drink were crowding the folks enjoying their dinner. That is a fair criticism. With two dining areas separated by a bar in the middle there was no where for the bar patrons to congregate or sit. One suggestion is to take one of the dining areas and insert high pub type tables and use if for the bar patrons.
The drinks were expensive, but I did like the fact that on a cold night they had multiple hot drink options and a good selection of crisps. Be forewarned that it can get really warm and stuffy inside in the wintertime.

The Armoury 15^th Feb 2010
Having eaten at The Armoury for many, many years on and off I thought it was high time I took my partner there to eat to make up for the awful Valentine’s meal the night before at Traitors Gate Brasserie.
I had the Pan fried Venison steak, dauphinoise potatoes and sweet red cabbage £16.95 which was delicious no comments other than I would easily have this again and totally enjoyed it. My partner had the Steak burger with bacon, cheese, sun blushed tomato ketchup and hand cut chips £10.25 I stole some of his chips I will admit to that as they could win awards for Worlds Best Chips. He thought the burger was delicious and would have it again.
We couldn’t help ourselves and had puddings too. I had the Warm chocolate brownie with ice cream and chocolate sauce £5.10 which was more of an experience than just a pudding it was heaven on a plate. I WILL be having this again I just hope I return in time before they change the menu as they are good like that and keep their menu fresh and update it regularly. My partner had the Sticky toffee pudding with toffee sauce and ice cream £5.25 which he finishes rather quickly so I think it was just as good as my Brownie.
The Armoury never fails me great atmosphere, rustic charm of mismatching chairs and tables, book lined walls, it was also really busy — not a table unfilled on a Monday lunchtime, which says a lot. They offer a wide selection of real ales, ciders, wines and spirits. My partner loves this Crabbies Ginger Ale which they stock and I had Thatchers Gold cider which was very easy to drink.
All in all 5 out of 5 and we will be back soon.

The Armoury is large airy pub-​restaurant in an historic building fronting the River Severn in Shrewsbury. The service is good and friendly and the food is reasonably-​priced and good quality. My infrequent visits are usually for lunch and, last week, three of use tried prawn and mango salad and the tradional haddock, chips and peas. All were delicious and the quantity of fish and chips defeated us.
A well-​stocked bar with locally-​brewed ales complements the table fare very well.

Not the cheapest in town but certainly not the most expensive either for food or drink. The atmosphere is excellent and the bar /​waiting staff are polite and friendly.
For real ale lovers this is a most place to visit in Shrewsbury, with around ⁸⁄₁₀ ales sourced locally and some well known favourites they are all guaranteed to hit the spot.
If just food is your thing then you certainly won’t be disappointed as it’s fresh, healthy and good sized portions.

Whilst the Armoury may be slightly more expensive than some of its neighbours, you get what you pay for I visited here with 3 friends on a Sunday lunchtime. It was already very busy bit staff were happy to put our names on a waiting list for a table, advising there would be about a 20 minute wait. We had drinks at the bar, and the table was ready within 15 minutes. I had a lovely pasta dish, cooked to perfection. All the meals were excellent, and definitely worth the total bill of around £85 (this did include a few drinks too). The atmosphere is very relaxed, staff are friendly, and nothing seems too much bother. There is an extensive selection of wine available.
Would highly recommend the Armoury, although it may be worth reserving a table if you don’t want to wait
The location is lovely, right on the riverside.

If this place was in London, it would be loads more expensive, so even though it’s not cheap, being from London it seemed like a bargain, if you see what I mean. Big nice done-​out pub, all wood and old pictures from ye olde times and real fire etc, set just by the Severn in Shrewsbury. We reserved for Sunday lunch at half 12 and by 1 the place was full. Big menu but not in a bad way — everything is top quality and freshly made, I bet they don’t even own a microwave. Pigeon wellington should have been amazing but the meat was overcooked and tough and chewy, and the pastry was a bit hard on the bottom and soggy on top. Soup came with a massive hunk of fresh bread and good butter. Roast dinner was giant and all top quality — think it was about a tenner and I reckon they don’t make a big profit margin on that. Ham hock with pork belly and cabbage was yum! totally fell off the bone, as it should, and far superior to a similar dish I had in Germany the week before. Yes, this place outdid the Germans on pork goodness. Lovely big bar, friendly good-​looking staff, millions of ales and nice wines by the glass. Wunderbar.

The Armoury is a hidden gem the interior looks nothing like a pub, more like your entering a stately home and eating /​drinking in the library of the home. The ceiling is exceptionally high, the tables are chairs are all very sturdy, and chunky, very comfortable. The food is excellent, top quality, fresh ingredients, although this is reflected in the price, the Armoury is not the place for an everyday meal, more an ocassional treat. They have an extensive wine menu, and a good real ale selection, although again these are on the pricey side. The pub is in a lovely riverside position by the River Severn, right by the Sabrina the boat that does trips up the River Severn.

Quite fancy and expensive but all the staff are very friendly and there is a good atmosphere and the food and service are excellent. Good for a treat but a bit expensive for a regular haunt unless you can afford it (Prince william does frequent it)

Longstanding reputation for excellent beer and food.
The prices are a little more expensive than other places but the setting and atmosphere really makes up for it.
The place feels very special yet also incredibly relaxed.
Food is generally worth the money, although don’t go expecting massive portions — you really are getting excellent tasting food that you can tell has been prepared and cooked on the premises. However the blueberry pancakes had just been reheated and you could tell that they hadbeen made some time ago. WHatever you do make sure you try the chips — chunky and very well cooked.

Favourite haunt of Prince William when he’s up doing helicopter training in Shropshire, but not the main reason I drink here! The Armoury is a bloody great pub in a really interesting old building, which may have been an Armoury. With a veritable legion of local real ales on tap, you’d be happy just drinking here. I had a delicious pint of Wood’s Shropshire Lad for lunch, to wash down with my roast pigeon and black pudding salad, which was also divine. Fantastic stuff, and a great location on right on the River Severn.