The Boiler Room, Steampunk Coffeehouse, Hills Lane, Shrewsbury

As I walked into The Boiler Room I felt like I was stepping into a quirky version of the Shrewsbury Sixth Form common room. My friends were already there, and Hannah, my partner in crime, wasn't looking too happy. Apparently the large number of students were making her feel uncomfortable. They were fairly noisy at times and taking up the best seats in the cafe, the area at the back with the comfy chairs and low tables. And annoyingly they didn't seem to be buying much. Perhaps this is something the owner should address in the near future...

Anyway, I decided the best thing to do was to crack on and order our food and drink. There's no waitress service or menus on the table but there is a comprehensive blackboard menu on the wall behind the counter. Items available include sandwiches, rolls, bagels, wraps and homemade soup. The drinks list was quite impressive offering several types of tea and coffee (including decaf), flavoured hot chocolate and frosted milkshakes.

We finally settled on a roast vegetable and mozzarella panini (£3), homemade spicy tomato soup served with a roll (£2.50) tea (£1 per mug) and a coconut hot chocolate. It's worth noting that all sandwiches are freshly made to order and as long as they have the ingredients, they'll make you whatever filling combination you fancy. The panini was made with a seeded roll and served with a salad garnish drizzled with olive oil. The homemade soup was deliciously creamy with just the right amount of spice and Hannah seemed very happy with her hot chocolate. The service was quick and efficient.

No meal is complete without dessert and as usual we decided to share a slice of cake as we were feeling fairly full. Apart from a tray of doughnuts and large cookies, we had the choice of two homemade cakes, coffee and walnut or carrot (£1.80). We chose the latter. And we weren't disappointed. It was moist and mildly spiced, but perhaps the topping was a bit too soft.

After we finished eating we discussed our impressions of the cafe. We liked the eclectic mix of furniture, wall clocks and general steampunk themed decor but had to mark it down due to the fact that we felt the students were taking over the cafe by gradually moving all the spare seats to the back (and blocking our route to the loo). It was generally clean, the food was tasty and freshly prepared, service was efficient and the toilets were fine.

If you want a reasonably priced, freshly made sandwich to eat in or takeaway and you don't mind sharing the space with a noisy but well behaved bunch of students, this place is for you.

Atmosphere **
Cleanliness ****
Food & drink ****
Service ****
Toilets ***

Overall ***