UK Bound: Wales – the Food

I am not the sort of person to arrange my plates in a beautiful still life photo, and I often think of taking a picture, or jotting down a note, when partway through a meal. For my Wales trip it was a lot of hit and miss, which also meant my pandas were often stuffed in my small Lug along with a package of cookies, or sometimes a croissant, to appease them. However, from the back of the car to the Michelin Star, and only the memory of a meal (good and not so good) they were all special. Enjoy, we did for the majority of our time. I do wish I had tried the Welsh Rarebit. I did have Welsh cakes.

In Tintern we stayed at a somewhat quirky B&B, our room sloped. It certainly needed some updating yet was comfortable enough to disregard any of the minor problems. We also liked our host who happened to be Canadian. I am not including the name of the place because she has sold it and will be moving to Hay-On-Wye this summer. Breakfast was always delicious. Although the first bite of my waffle was a bit dry it ended up being quite tasty, especially with the naughty bit of real Canadian maple syrup. (I checked the label) Another morning I had the salmon omelette. Wonderful. Every morning the coffee was fantastic! Well breakfasted each day we were always prepared for our adventures. These were meals I did not take photos of. I don’t think I took any breakfast ones.

After exploring Tintern Abbey we were in dire need of something warm. (We had picnicked on the riverside earlier) The Wild Hare Cafe was perfect and had such cute cups. Do I recall what I ate with my coffee? No. £9.95 We would have dinner at their restaurant the following night – dreadful and what may have caused my to have a swollen, then numb, and eventually chapped upper lip for much of the rest of our trip. (It made enjoying some meals a challenge) However, our first night for dinner we ate at the Wye Valley Hotel where I had a Brie & Onion Tart. £12.95

When your host recommends a place that has a Michelin Star of course a booking is necessary. We were a bit worried I might not enjoy the meal after the night before and nearly cancelled. I was so happy we did not. Parma Farmhouse is accessed from one of the narrow side roads. We were greeted by the chef’s wife, settled into the understated lounge, drinks ordered (always hot water and lemon or lime for me) before being brought to our table. My nearly immediate thought was to note how quiet it was. No musical interference! I enjoy music, I prefer live if out for a nice meal. Instead, we were given a lovely meal, pleasant conversation between us, and a chance to unwind. My starter was asparagus with a poached egg in a thyme cream sauce. Silky sauce, perfectly blanched asparagus. The poached egg not so soft as to turn me off.

Divine duck. Two ways. I could have licked my plate but resisted.

I do not usually eat dessert and only then share it. Oh my. I thought my sauce was silky. The pistachio cheesecake was heavenly. A small round of raspberry ice cream balanced everything perfectly. Was what we paid worth it? In my opinion, yes. My share £41.50 for a once in a lifetime meal.

A car boot picnic somewhere!

Mumbles, a place I wanted to visit solely for its name. We were quite pleased to discover that’s where Oystermouth Castle is which was on my list. We even managed free parking before moving to a car park closer to the stunning promenade with its variety of beachside food trucks/shacks as well as ‘classier’ restaurants. The calamari at this little beach stand was succulent and priced very reasonably. £7.00. We sat in sling beach chairs and people watched. Dinner was also Mumbles but not nearly as wonderful. Perhaps by the time we ate the wind had picked up – we were on a patio. So what did we have for dinner and where was it? The fact I cannot recall the name even after searching online, nor the meal, although overlooking beach, means it was not very memorable. I found the receipt, Oyster House. I had the asparagus side as my main. Not nearly as wonderful as the Michelin Star meal a few days earlier. I do know I had an issue with the restrooms – probably out of toilet paper.

Porthcawl. We stopped at a little cafe, Fulgoni’s, to ask for directions to the town centre after finding the house my mother was born in. Paddington must have enticed us. We also bought coffees. Coffee being our go to if we ask for help in an establishment. We bought a loaf of bloomer sourdough at a local bakery after doing some sightseeing to have for an impromptu picnic at the community park lawn on New St. (Where the house is). A lovely break, fresh baked bread, with cheese, ham, lettuce and fruit from our cooler.

We knew there was a Starbucks off the main road in Swansea after passing it a couple of times to and from Porthcawl and Mumbles. Fortunately we also needed gas on our morning of departure to Tenby & SB was next door. I don’t know why we felt we needed more coffee but according to my notes we had more along the way.

Time for a bit more about why some photos were not taken. In Tenby we went to Caldey Island before we had checked in at Pen-y-Bong Guest House as it was far too early and about a 20 minute drive. Even more coffee, with sandwiches bought at the busy cafe on the island and enjoyed at a table on the grass would sustain us until the second to last boat back to Tenby. However, with all the visiting, exploring and therefore walking still to do we did not spend a lot of time dallying over our simple meal. The sandwiches were quite good. £7.00 for my meal. Perhaps we had a treat too?

We ate dinner at the Fat Seagull in Tenby after seeing it on our way to the boats for Caldey Island and tucked the name in our memory banks in case we could not find a place later. Fortuitous for us to have caught the second to last boat – we nearly did not get a table and would have been out of luck nearly everywhere else as bookings are about the only way to get a spot. They squeezed us in between reservations. At least six other groups also tried to get in. I had vegan meatballs in a very spicy tomato sauce (remember my upper lip?) and a lovely salad. Outstanding meal and great service. Only the chef and server working in an establishment that could have used more help. Yet we did not feel rushed nor neglected even after other diners arrived.

My daughter had the seafood trio (or perhaps it was a quadruple) She declared it delicious.

Another day of adventures always meant we needed to find dinner. We had considered driving to Tenby before stopping at Saundersfoot to find a place. We were striking out, once again everywhere was booked up. (We were eventually clued into half-term break for students) One eatery suggested the Australian place around the corner. It’s called Kookaba. Despite the chilliness and raindrops starting we were quite willing to sit in the back patio under a giant umbrella until a table was found for us inside.

My daughter’s order of a Billabong burger was so massive it deserves two pictures! Two burgers with cheese stuffed with shrimp in between and skewered with three prawns. Plus sweet potato fries! It was a good thing we had done a lot of walking and climbing stairs that day.

I had a more sedate chargrilled chicken salad with a few of the chips to help out. Delicious! My share £12.95

The Light of Asia in Aberystwyth. Another search for a meal was proving very difficult and I was at the point of picking up anything. Although hostel was next door to fort/castle ruins it too had seen much better days and was not in the most select section of town. Stumbling into this restaurant our expectations were not high. We just wanted food. Our meal nearly surpassed Parva Farmhouse. We shared onion Bhaji, tandoori king prawns, korma chicken and vegetable biryani. All cooked to please. Outstanding meal after yet another day of exploring.

Breakfast was at 8:15, I was starving! We booked for earlier the following day.

High tea across from Caernarfon Castle at the County Hall (I think it was something else when first built, perhaps a courthouse). We sat between two pillars. We had no idea there was a grand piano being played or other high tea visitors. I liked our setting. It was a lovely ending to visiting the castles, abbeys and churches of Wales.

Staffordshire: Littleton Arms in Penkridge. A lovely salmon tart with asparagus. We then headed to the large tent where there was a very good jazz quartet. We chose to eat inside first.

Although no longer in Wales we were still on our travels. Our final meal out
was in Lichfield at Bistro Number 19, across from Lichfield Cathedral. We had not intended on visiting here but were so glad we did. The Cathedral was beautiful. My oatcakes with cheese were delicious and my latte very good. We picnicked in our room with what little we had left before heading home the following morning. For some reason no breakfast was ready when we thought
it would be. Perhaps because it was a Sunday. We did not stick around to find out.

Some honourable mentions: Pen y Bont Guesthouse in Amroth, our two night stay included breakfast. Lovely view overlooking the gardens. Simple choices, eggs/toast/yogurt/fruit. We did love the touch in our room after a long day of adventures of two Welsh cakes. There was a clever pattern with each place when it came to B&Bs – we would be given a slip of paper to mark down our next day’s breakfast order. It works well for the hosts; the only downside for guests is if you change your mind overnight! Taldrwst Farmhouse: we slept in one of the stables, the only place we had to share a bed, a short walk to the main house for a delicious breakfast – I had to take care with how I made my order. Seems my eggs order read as one egg. Not that I needed two. What made this place extra special was dinner was also served. As tired little teddy bears we were not looking forward to searching for a place to dine out so we made a booking for when we determined we would be back. Delicious selections. As a result also the most expensive overall stay. After a couple of days ‘relaxing’ we are ready for some day trips until we head to Scotland.