Address: Old Raglan Road, Abergavenny, Wales NP7 9AA. (On B4598 off A40)

Telephone number: 01873 854220

Website: www.Thehardwick.co.uk

Date of visit: 7 January 2012

Last visit (published date): 17 Aug 2010

Likes and dislikes: All the favourites are available as pasrt of the Sunday set lunch – excellent approached. Do they have to charge for bread?

Approximate cost per head:  Around £20. Set lunch available at £18.50 for 2 courses and £23.50 for 3 courses.

Cuisine: Nearly haute cuisine – modern European

Comments on wine list/beer: Otley. Fairly serious wine list at around 300% mark up – A 2008 Albarino was priced at £29 whilst a 2006 Chateau Neuf du Pape was priced at £68.50. Certain wines were available by the glass or half bottle.

Summary:

I was in Wales for a birthday party and decided to have lunch with a friend in The Hardwick before the journey back into England.

The only slot they could offer me was a 12.00 slot. They were otherwise fully booked.

The Hardwick has now finished with the new extension – a bar area. It was full of leather settees. There are now 3 dining rooms – one small, one medium and a large sun lounge.

On Sunday, they offer a set lunch with choices. It was £22 for 2 courses and £28 for three courses. Bread was extra.

The wine list was as extensive as before with plenty of wines close to £100. At the lower end, it was in the £20s.

I started with ravioli with ricotta, spinach and roasted pumpkin followed by roast pork. M ordered roast beef. I ordered  a bottle of I’ntruse  2008 – an Italian blend. This was a very drinkable wine.

The ravioli was 2 large ones filled with the ricotta and spinach mixture with the roast red butternut squash dotted round the plate. It came with a butter sauce, very nice and very visual.

For main course, the roast pork came with whole fried chicory. The pork was pink – have we eradicated tape worms? Unfortunately, I developed a mild tummy ache and couldn’t eat a thing. M’s roast beef was very pink and it was warm rather than hot. It came with roast potatoes, a huge Yorkshire pud and cabbage.

Although I was in distress, M didn’t lose her appetite and went on to have a dessert – rice pudding. This was served with ice cream and poached pear.

The waitress offered the wrap up my lunch for me. I later had it that evening at home. The re-cooked pork was no longer pink and it was very nice.

Hardwick is a top act in South Wales. Its brochure now claims that Michele Roux Jr has declared that this is his favourite restaurant in Wales. I think that the chef (Terry Stevens) trained under Marco Pierre White, so he is not a Roux protégée.

 

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Address: High Street, Raglan Village, Monmouthshire, NP15 2DY

Direction: Where A40 meets A449.

Telephone number: 01291 690935

Website: www.beaufortraglan.co.uk

Date of visit|: 15 October 2011

Date of last visit: 4 February 2011

Approximate cost per head: Main courses £10 – £16, starters around £6

Comments on wine list/beer: decent beer (Buckleys, Wye Valley etc) on tap – £2.80 a pint. Basic wine list but nearly all wines available by the glass from £3.20

Cuisine: Pub Food – International

Likes and dislikes: Not a lot wrong with this place – good value and quality food, large car park, decent beer and wines. Service can be a bit slow.

Summary:

This is a great place to stop over when you travel via the M50 to go to South Wales.

The Inn/Hotel has a formal dining room and a lounge bar. I have never seen anyone eat in the restaurant during lunch time.

We had soup of the day (2X), sandwiches and homemade Thai fish cake.

Soup of the day was cream of carrot (£4.75). This was pronounced as very nice but the bread roll that came with it was too salty. The sandwiches – brown bread – home smoked ham (£5.75) and Welsh cheese with onion jam (£5.25) would thin rounds of sandwiches served with crisp and a small salad. The fillings were thick and a round would do very nicely for lunch.

The fish cakes were a bit strange. There were 4 identical pieces all shaped like a chocolate whirl. Two were full of fish (not 100%) and the other two had an abundance of potato in it – was this a mistake? The two that had enough fish in it were judged to be very good.

The Wye Valley (£3) bitter was as good a pint as you can get.

Including drinks (3 large glasses of wine) and a pint, the total cost came to just over £45.

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Address:  69 High Street, Cowbridge (A48), Vale of Glamorgan , CF71 7AF

Telephone: 01446 774645

Website: N/A

Date of visit: 15 October 2011

Costs: Just over £20 per head for 2 courses. Most starters £6.95, Most main courses £16.95

Wines and beer: Medium size wine list at the lower end of mark up. Some decent wines. Good value for a restaurant

Likes and dislikes: Excellent food and service. No criticism.

Cuisine: Modern Welsh

Summary:

Huddarts is operated by a husband and wife team in a terrace house near The Bear hotel in Cowbridge.

Cowbridge is a one main street town about 10 miles west of Cardiff.

The restaurant is very tastefully decorated, white table cloth and white washed wall. The tables are well spaced apart and it takes 40 covers.

The main menu is mainly modern British using prime Welsh ingredients sourced locally. On the night we went, they had laverbread  (seaweed).

Two of us had laver bread £6.95). It was served a three duxulles chopped up with cockles and oat meal and a green salad. When I last had it, laver bread was fried with cockles and bacon. This version was  firmer – almost like stuffing – and very tasty. My friend J, who has never had laver bread before,proclaimed that he liked it very much. The other two of my friends shared a boned quail (£6.950 which was proclaimed as very good.

For main course, two had the duck (£16.95), the other had the venison (£17.95) and I had the goat’s cheese (£12.95).

The goats cheese was chopped up with spinach, covered in breadcrumbs and deep fried. It was served in a pool of raspberry and cream sauce. The duck was served pink and the skin of the breat was crispy. The venison was presented as a rich stew. Our main courses was served with a side dish (came as part of the meal) of two types of potatoes (perfectly round roast and fondant). There were cabbage, carrots and swede. Everything was cooked to perfection.

To wash the meal down we had a bottle of cava rose (£28.95) anda bottle of 2004 Italian (Aglicnico) – £28.95.

For dessert, the others shared a creation which was two slices of Welsh cake (biscuits) with raspberry and clotted cream.

It was a very satisfying meal – quality of the cooking, service and price. Excluding service it was £146 for 4 people. You will probably pay doubt that in London or the SE. No wonder this place is listed in the Michelin Guide and  was listed in The Good Food Guide.

You must visit this place if you are in the area. The Bear Hotel is 10 yards away – rooms are a bit small but adequate.

 

Address: St John’s Street, New Quay SA45 9NP

 

Telephone number: 01545 561 844

 

Website: www.treath.co.uk

 

Date of visit: www.traeth.co.uk

 

Approximate cost per head: Two courses around £20 plus.

 

Comments on wine list/beer: Excellent wine list – short and good value.

 

Likes and dislikes: Everything good, however, I prefer my raw meat in smaller bits

 

Cuisine: Modern British, Steak and seafood restaurant

 

Previous review: 19 August 2010

 

Summary:

 

 

Another visit to what I considered to be one of the best steakhouse in GB. Well, I have eaten in steakhouses around the world especially in the US – Prime, Mortens, Sparks, Hy’s etc, so I believe that I am allowed to make this judgement.

 

The menu and wine list have slightly changed, Chef Nige Jones still there.

 

Lat year they had a 1999 Ch Musar (Lebanon) at under £20 a bottle. http://www.chateaumusar.com.lb/english/home.aspx

 

This year they have a 2006 Graves at £24.50 – the most expensive red on the list. We had a bottle – excellent wine.

 

Now onto the food.

 

Steak tartare and most of the cuts (hanger, sirloin etc) are still on the menu – the most expensive is the veal T bone at just over £21. The rest are all priced at under £20 including chips.

 

The fish selection was also very good. Turbot was on the menu but they ran out and skate wing with black butter was offered as a substitute. All the meat and fish are now sourced from sustainable stock, traceable source etc.

 

My friend had the crab spaghetti ( £13.95) which was highly rated.

 

I went for my usual steak tartare (£12.75) with french fries and a side salad (£3.50). However to my horror Chef Jones has changed the recipe. Instead of minced or chopped meat, you now have julienne. Still taste very nice but it doesn’t work from a digestion point of view as you have to really chew the meat or its stays in you stomach for hours like a very rare steak.

 

The chips were first class.

 

Later when Chef Jones was doing his round, I told him that I preferred my steak tartare minced or better still – coarsely chopped.

 

I also picked up a rumour that this could be Chef Jones’s last season at the Treath. Well, if you are in the area, go and have a steak with a decent bottle of wine.

 

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Ffostralsol  Arms

 

Address: Ffostrasol Arms, Ffostrasol, Llandysul SA 44 4SY, Wales (Pub is on A486)

 

Telephone number: 01239 851348

 

Website: N/A

 

Date of visit: 19 August 2011

 

Approximate cost per head: Less than £10 for most main courses.

 

Comments on wine list/beer: HB at £2.90 a pint. Wines available – nothing special.

 

Cuisine: basic pub food

 

Likes and dislikes: decent car park, spacious restaurant and very good value food.

 

Summary:

 

You may ask: what is in Llandysul ? Not a lot, but this is a famous cheese making area –Teifi Valley Cheese  http://www.teifivalleycheeseproducers.com/english/contact/index.htm

 

I was in the area to procure some cheese and ended up in this pub for lunch – not many decent looking places around here – my criteria was that the car park must be big and was at least half full.

 

Inside a pleasant looking building on the corner of the main road aws to my surprise a very large pub. There is a drinking area complete with  pool table and large screen TV. The dining room and sun lounge on the other side of the bar is huge and would easily offer seating for 100 plus. There were easily over 30 diners on this Friday lunch time. The restaurant is waitress serviced but you pay at the bar and nothing was leaving a tip.

 

The beer selection here is pretty poor – one bitter on hand pump and the rest were gassy lagers. The bitter was HB and it was pretty good at £2.90 a pint.

 

For lunch, they was a choice of sandwiches – priced by the number of fillings – from £5.

 

The you have the usual suspect: burgers, scampi, fish and chips etc. They also offer breakfast (served between 12-2) for £5.75 (bacon, egg, beans, sausage, hash brown and tomato) or the large breakfast (double everything except the beans) at £7.

 

I had the beakfast which was as far as breakfast goes, pretty decent. The susage and bacon was of good quality. Pity they don’t do toasts. Looking around the fish and chips, scampi etc were all pretty decent looking.

 

In conclusion, nothing special but pretty decent and good value for money.

 

 

Teifi cheese

 

Address: Glynhynod Farm, Ffostrasol, Llandysul SA44 5JY. Sign posted off  A486 at Ffostrasol. Once you are down the unnamed lane, turn right just (10 meters) before you get to the end. Take next left, farm is at the end of the lane. Please note that your sat nev will not take you to the farm gate!

 

Website: http://www.teifivalleycheeseproducers.com/english/teififarmhousecheese/index.htm

 

Tel: 01239851528

 

Sales: Farmers markets (Carmarthern, Cardiff), mail order and at farm gate.

 

Teifi Cheese is made by a Dutch lady called Patricia. She was mentioned in Henrietta Green’s Food Lover’s Guide to Britain. This was a BBC series made (1997) before BBC discovered Rick Stein. In fact anyone that was in Henrietta’s book and is also appearing in Rick Stein’s Food Hero book must be good – they will have traded for at least 10 years.

 

I tried to call before I visited but was unsuccessful as mobile signal in the area is not great.

 

The farm has a shop and I was served by a Dutch lady in her 60s – probably Patricia.

 

All the cheeses are very Edam like with sweet pepper, onion and garlic, cumin, seaweed as additive flavouring. The cheeses were not very strong more like medium with a Edam taste but more crumbly and not as elastic as the Dutch cheese. They also do a Caerphilly and a blue cheese.

 

What I tasted, I liked. They sell at £14.40 a kilo. I bought the cumin, seaweed and the normal unflavoured cheese.

The map is for Teifi Cheese

 

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Address: Llandenny, Usk, Wales, NP15 1DL (A449)

Website: www.raglanarms.com

Beer and wine: Wye Valley (£3 a pint), House red and white (£5.75 for 250mls). Pretty good value wine list for a pub

Cost oer head: Approx £20 for 2 courses

Cuisine: Gastropub

Like and dislike: All good

Date of visit: 21 May 2011

Summary

The area around Abergavenny is fast becoming a major “dining”  hub - outside London and Ludlow, this place has several decent pub restaurants – Walnut Tree, Beauford Arms, Hardwick and now Raglan Arms.

The pub is sited off A449, the main road linking the M4 with the M50.

The Raglan Arms is both modern and old. It is housed in a building several hundreds of years old, it has exposed beams yet the decor and plastering is ultra modern.

On the day I was there – en route for the Heiniken Cup Final in Cardiff, the place was about a third full. There are a couple of sofas in the place, otherwise, it is set up for dining.

To start with, I had the whitebait (£6.50). Absolutely fantastic. I rate it as one of the top 3 whitebaits I have ever eaten. The others being The Hand and Flowers and the Five Mile House. The rose marie sauce even had chunks of tomatoes in it, a sure sign that it was not bottled.

For main course I had the ragatoni with bolognaise sauce and shaven parmeason (£9). The ragu was made with chunky mince and the plate was arranged reversed with the sauce on the bottom, pasta on top and the shaven cheese on top of the pasta. For the first time ever, I  had more sauce than pasta. It was a stunning dish.

Now to the freebies, with the meal, I was offered a shot glass full of dry roasted peanuts, a small bowl of olives and wonderful bread and butter. The tap water was also excellent. The Wye Valley bitter was OK but it is not my favourite bitter as it is a bit light. The house red -  French Cabernet Melot was full bodied with a hint of cherry and quite fruity.

An excellent  meal.

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Address: Monknash, Cowbridge, CF71 7QQ (off B4265). Very poor mobile signal around the area. So, get directions first.

Telephone number: 01656 890209

Website: www.theploughmonknash.com

Date of visit: 2 March 2011

Approximate cost per head: Around £10 for a main course. £3.95 for desserts.

Comments on wine list/beer: Basic wine list with wine by the glass. Good selection of ales (£2.80 for a pint of Wye or HB and £2.90 for guest beers). Excellent selection of Welsh Cider and single malts.

Cuisine: Traditional pub cuisine

Summary:

This is the oldest pub I have ever visited. Part of the building dated from the 14^th Century. It was converted from monastic buildings when the monestry closed. It is also used as a club house by the local rugby team. If you want to see a really old building, an old fashion pub that is still the heart of the local social life, good food, good beer etc this is it!

We were a foursome (J and S – their birthdays). M and me – the birthday guests.

The interior of the pub (bar side) looked its age with a huge fire in one corner and bench seats with high backs that looked like pews from a church.

The beers were excellent and I was quite pleased to see that several barrels were on gravity drip – I prefer that to hand pumps.

Three of us ordered Welsh faggots with chips and mushy peas – £7.50. The other ordered mussels – £8.50. The mussels came in a large coup plate with 2 chunks of baguette type bread and a cream sauce. All the dishes were chalked up on a black beam that went across the room. The most expensive item on show was steak and chips (£10). They also offered a curry of the day with half and half. Half and half is a South Wales “invention” – half chips and half rice. All Indian Restaurants in Cardiff offered half and half.

To be honest, I have no idea as to the difference between Welsh and English Faggots. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faggot_(food) .They all taste the same to me.

The faggots came as two huge balls with a pile of good chips, large portion of mushy peas and thick dark gravy. It tasted strongly of liver and I liked it very much. This was a much more meaty (minced) version than the one available commercially – Bains.

If you are interest in old medieval buildings, visit the church in Llansannor when you are in the area. Apparently the church was used for worship before it became a church. So it’s a case of Christians taking over a pagan place – I saw plenty of churches build on top of mosques and vice versa in Egypt.

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Address: Old Raglan Road, Abergavenny, Wales NP7 9AA. (On B4598 off A40)

Telephone number: 01873 854220

Website: www.Thehardwick.co.uk

Date of visit: 13 August 2010

Approximate cost per head:  Around £20. Set lunch available at £18.50 for 2 courses and £23.50 for 3 courses.

Comments on wine list/beer: Otley. Fairly serious wine list at around 300% mark up – A 2008 Albarino was priced at £29 whilst a 2006 Chateau Neuf du Pape was priced at £68.50. Certain wines were available by the glass or half bottle.

Summary:

The Hardwick is listed in the Michelin as well as Sawday’s. This makes it a serious proposition. I paid a visit for lunch whilst I was enroute for the Penderyn Distillery.

The pub is sited on the main road. I nearly missed it as it was covered with scaffolding. Only the “wick” part was visible.

Inside the pub are two traditional rooms and a large modern extension like a huge conservatory. The place was about 90% full.

I was offered a table in the modern extension next to a family with 4 young children. In between courses, they all played games with their mother and grandparents – well, it was Friday 13. The grandfather did offer a good tip to the waitress aftwerwards for the disturbance but he didn’t apologies to me or offered me a drink!

There was no draft beer as the bar was being renovated. I had a bottle of large Otley Ale @  £3.20.

I went for 2 starters as they all looked very interesting on the menu. To start with I had the belly of pork stuffed with black pudding (£9). This turned out to be terrine style with layers of “pulled pork” and thinly sliced black pudding. The whole terrine was then covered in bread crumbs and fried. It was served hot and sliced with apple puree and a radicchio & cooked fennel salad. This has got to be one of the most interesting and inventive dish I have eaten for a very long time.

For my second starter I had a chorizo, courgette flower, peas, broad beans and potato salad (£8). It was served warm. Again, I was highly impressed. Only the flower petals were served as part of the pea and shelled broad bean salad. The chorizo was fried till crisp and the fried potatoes were served as wedges with their skin on.

The food here is definitely close to being awarded a Michelin star. Go quickly before they put the price up.

E

 

PS  The pork belly recipe can be found in Diana Henry ‘s Gastropub Cookbook (ISBN  978 1 84533 337 9). This is one of the most difficult recipe I have come across in the last few years. It is a true restaurant dish and it is not worth doing unless you are creating 50+ portions.

Address: Brecon Road, Pen y Cae, Swansea Valley, Powys SA9 1GL (A4067 Swansea-Brecon Road)

Telephone number: 01639 731167

Website: www.craigynoscastle.com

Date of visit: 5 and 6 August 2010

Approximate cost per head: Rooms start at £42.50 pp for 2 sharing for B&B. Single from approx £70

Comments on wine list/beer: Carling is the main larger on tap in the bar and that sums the place up.

Summary:

I was there for a Wedding.

The castle specialises in functions. They do not serve lunch or dinner except as part of a do.

As this is a foodie blog, I’ll start with the food. The normal breakfast is described as continental – I have never experienced anything so poor anywhere in the world where I had to paid to stay.

On a long table, there were:  a basket of bread (while and brown – incidentally, the brown was a sort of seeded German loaf which was the best part of the meal), a basket containing butter and jam patties, a bowl of yogurt, a basket of cold hard boiled eggs, a selection of cereals (the small individual multipacks that you can buy in a supermarket), tea in a thermos flask and coffee on a coffer warmer and NOTHING else. Sorry, we did have a toaster.

They do serve cooked breakfast but only at weekends and for a wedding party – if the guests were staying overnight.

At the “wedding breakfast”, for starters, we were offered Thai fish cake with a sweet chilli sauce or parma ham with melon, main courses were a choice between roast beef (over cooked) or slow cooked lamb shank. The accompanying vegetables were beans, carrots and parsnip all over cooked. I had the lamb shank which was excellent – it came with a rich clingy dark sauce and nice mash. The Thai fish cake was thin and dry.

For desserts, there was a choice between strawberry crème brulee or chocolate brownies with ice cream. I never saw the crème brulee as the bride sent it back on the basis it was more like angel delight than something firm.

Later that evening, we had a hog roast with all the trimmings. The meat was moist, the crackling crisp and the meat easily pulled apart – excellent.

For breakfast the next day, cooked breakfast was on offer to the hundred or so guests that have stayed. You can have anything (or everything) from, fried and scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, black pudding, grilled and tinned tomatoes, bake beans, mushrooms, hash brown and fried bread.

The moral of the story is that this place is only geared for functions – although they do welcome guests for B&B.

Now that the food part is over, let me tell you about the rooms and the castle.

The castle was built in 1840s by a Captain Powell, after his death, the Morgans bought it and by the 1860s sold it onto Adelina Patti – the famous diva. She subsequently spent £100,000 upgrading it. The most famous part of the building is her theatre which has a floor that can be raised at the back to offer those sitting at the back a better vantage point or levelled for ballroom dancing. The theatre can sit 150 people. She used it to entertain her friends – including Edward VII. The place is also full of furniture styled in Louis XIV fashion. By the way, if you are not staying there, they offer tours of the place including a ghost tour.

Back to the hotel, although the rooms are pretty nice looking, there are all sorts of problems. For example, the hot water ran out and if you get up very early, you could be in for a surprise when you take your early morning shower. There are rooms with its own hot water tank but it is only good for 2 showers or a bath (it’s in the brochure). The toilet roll in my en suite only had five sheets of paper and there was no replacement roll. On top of that, some rooms have no TV reception – Sky is available in certain  rooms and the lounge. There is a Spa but I did not visit it.

Nearby are the world famous Dan Yr Ogof Caves and the Penderyn Distillery http://www.welsh-whisky.co.uk/  (Welsh Single Malt!).

 Two miles from Craid y Nos Castle is a place called Abercarf. The inn there is also called Abercarf  http://www.abercraveinn.co.uk/, I recommend that you eat and stay there – there will be a write up on the Abercarf Inn. Do visit Craig y Nos Castle.

E

PS Overall the wedding was great.

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Address: Alltwalis, Carmarthenshire, SA32 7EB, Wales

 

Telephone number: 01559 384044

 

Website:

 

Date of visit: 21 June 2010

 

Approximate cost per head: Less than £5 for a standard bar meal

 

Comments on wine list/beer: Forget the wine. Real Ales is Brains S.A. – Rev James (£3.05 a pint)

 

Summary:

 

The only reason why I reviewed this Pub is that it is located on the main road to West Wales after Carmarthen. It is open from lunch till closing time (11pm) and they serve food all day. On top of this, it is easy to park – pull in off the main road (A 485) – and the loos are clean.

 

The menu is mainly rolls and basket meal – from ham egg and chips to fish and chips. They are all priced at under £5 and the food is nicely cooked, especially the chips. They also offer children’s meals.

 

As you enter, there are several tables then the bar at the back of the pub. There is a pool table sited by the bar. They also have a huge dining room and a beer garden.

 

This is a good place to stop.

 

E