TRIED AND TASTED
Where To Start? H
owever, as a retired journo, he also, always, asks me another: have you got your fi rst line? By this he means, have I already
written, in my head, the fi rst line of my review? Usually it’s a yes – in the case of this review it
was a no. Why? I just simply don’t know where to start! This month’s review was at The Inn at Penallt. I
love The Inn at Penallt – I’ve been lucky enough to visit a few times and I can honestly say it’s one of only a select handful of eateries where the food is consistent each time we visit – it’s always good. We headed up on a bleak-looking Saturday-
afternoon to enjoy the Inn’s three-course set lunch – we being Dave, Penny and I. The menu for the set-lunch offers a good
choice of starters, mains and puds, all made, where possible, using produce sourced from suppliers within the locality of the pub. You can enjoy it as a two or three-course option
– if you go for three, do not fi ll up on the slate of bread that comes to the table prior to the starter – you’ll end up missing out on your pudding! To start I chose the Welsh cheddar cheese
beignets and Dave went for one of the two soups of the day – cream of vegetable. We chose to have Penny’s meal served at the
same time as our starter – she chose the chicken strips with chips and beans from the kids’ menu. My starter was wonderful; the delicious beignets
84 /
WEAREVOICE.CO.UK / SEPTEMBER.2013
Whenever I do a food review, my father-in-law asks me a few standard questions: How was it? Was the food good? Were they nice people? Those type of things.
came served with caulifl ower puree and truffl e oil. They were in the lightest batter you could
imagine, and the truffl e oil and caulifl ower puree added a fragrant note to the dish – beautiful. Dave ate his soup silently – a sign of his
enjoyment. He looked up briefl y to say “my God, this is good”. That was all that needed saying, really. Now, as I warned earlier on, the amazing bread
that comes to the table prior to the starters is to be avoided at all costs – it’s too good and disappears quickly, and having fallen for the slate of bread we were already veering to the full-side when our main course arrived. For my main I chose the burger with Dave
choosing the fi sh and chips. Having ordered a burger, I was fully expecting
the whole burger in a bun thing, with onion rings – but of course in the Inn’s style. That wasn’t what turned up. What turned up was a huge homemade hamburger, cooked perfectly throughout with a mound of mushrooms on top, sitting in a pool of mushroom cream sauce. Incredible doesn’t do the dish justice – it was by
far the fi nest burger I’ve ever had; succulent, tasty and generous, it was amazing. Dave’s fi sh and chips came as a large portion
also. He ate this silently too, only to comment on how good it was that the fi sh came with a larger than-usual chunk of lemon, and that it was in a fl uffy batter.
Both of our dishes came served with what can
only be described as the piece de résistance - the Inn’s immense triple-cooked chips. Now, some places have a bash at triple-cooked
chips and, yeah, they’re OK – but The Inn at Penallt gets them perfect. Crispy outside with fl uffy centres- seriously, if
there was a V Awards category for chips of the year, these would win hands down! Penny’s lunch went down a treat – and although
chicken strips , chips and beans sounds pretty standard, Andy and Jackie take pride in the fact that they pay as much attention to the ingredients in the child’s menu as they do in an adult meal, meaning that it wasn’t just any only chicken strips my Penny ate.
Now, I’m sure you’ve already guessed, but
we were way to full to even contemplate dessert (even though I had already decided on the plum and cinnamon crumble and Dave has chosen the strawberry soup and vanilla ice-cream). We were devastated. Tempted to give the Inn at Penallt a whirl?
You really should! The inn is located at Penallt, Monmouth, Monmouthshire, NP25 4SE. Call 01600 772765 for a reservation and visit www.
theinnatpenallt.co.ukfor information and menus.
@wearevoice
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132