I recently went here with my family, I remember coming here when I was younger but I had never eaten here before.

The pub is located in Ironbridge and has a beautiful garden. I imagine it would be lovely to sit out there on a hot afternoon. It's not the easiest pub in the world to find, I don't think there is much chance of you driving past it, but that said it was still quite busy when we were there, and I'm sure with Sat Nav people can find it.

The pub is dog friendly, which is great as my Dad has two dogs and they came with us. I imagine they only tolerate well behaved dogs. I personally have no problem with dogs being in any restaurant or pub, so I think it's great when places actually allow them in.

The décor of the pub is very old fashioned but in a classy way, it was very pleasant, and the facilities were very clean and tidy.

The pub has a large choice of real ales, both British and imported, and has a wide selection of other drinks too, all reasonably priced.

You can either eat in the pub part of the establishment or the restaurant, we sat in the pub as it just felt a little less formal, and it wasn't a special occasion.

The food was brilliant. They have a huge selection of options, including lots of vegetarian choices, which I was pleased about. The food prices are very reasonable and for the quality of the food, I think they are right. A starter ranges from £4.00 to £6.00, a main meal ranges from about £7.00 to £12.00 but there are a few specials which are more expensive. The deserts were all £4.95.

A sample of their meals taken from their website are:

Starters
* Flash Fried Tiger Prawns with Pernod and cream, served with dressed leaves - £5.95
* Grilled Halloumi cheese served over dressed grape salad - £5.50
* Pan Seared Pidgeon Breasts in a rich Madeira sauce - £5.50

Mains
* Welsh border Rack of lamb over grilled black pudding served with caremilsed onion mash, fresh seasonal greens and a port and redcurrant sauce - £14.95
* Fresh Highland Mussels cooked in a garlic, white wine and cream sauce, served with a chunk of warm crusty bread - £9.95
* Lightly spiced sweet potato and chickpea casserole, topped with a coriander scone and served with a basket of warm bread - £7.95

Deserts
* Sticky date and walnut sponge
* Pear Almond and Amaretto Crunch Cake
* Ginger & Rhubarb crème brulee

All the food we had, came out reasonably quickly, with friendly helpful service, and the food itself was beautifully presented and of excellent quality. I had a main course of mushrooms stuffed with blue cheese which was a special and it was extremely tasty.

I would definitely recommend this pub for eating or drinking. The service was great, food was lovely and the prices were very reasonable.

For more information you can visit their website at:
www.goldenballinn.com