The Black Lion

The Black Lion Inn, Machynlleth

(Gastro Pub)

Saturday, 1pm

Reviewer: Drew

The Black Lion Inn

Machynlleth

Derwenlas

Wales

SY20 8TN

This 16th century, grade II listed building still has many of it’s original features, including a large open hearth and rustic dark wood beams, the first thing that strikes you about it is the feel of history as you enter. With a truly an authentic old school pub feel about the place, the second thing to hit you is how small the place is, a sign of it’s age, I found myself having the keep my head down when walking about for fear of low beams.

Restaurant: 59/100

Service: 13/30

I should start off by mentioning that we had what appeared to be a brand new member of staff, so I have cut the score a bit of slack for that fact, however the training must have been lacking. He had a very poor knowledge of the menu, even offering us a special menu which turned out to not be available. When we called in earlier to book a table, we were also not made aware that we would have to pick from the smaller lunch menu, and that the a la carte options would be unavailable. On the plus side the staff were very friendly and attentive, and when a diner didn’t want a part of their meal, they were offered alternatives.

Decor: 16/20

The place had a very old and rustic feel to it. The old open hearth was a delight and the brass trinkets, black and white photography, and dark wood furniture very much complemented the dark oak beams. For such a small establishment, the tables were very spacious, and the noise level was suitably comfortable.

Drinks: 10/20

A small but well stocked bar sit’s in the corner of the room, and the beer I had was excellent. Marks knocked off, however, as one of my fellow diners was given what appeared to be a dirty glass.

Value for Money: 17/20

Whilst the evening prices were above average, we ordered from the lunch menu, which were very reasonably priced.

Menu Selection: 3/10

No vegetarian options at all on the lunch menu, which in itself was very basic, which wouldn’t have been so bad if we had been able to choose off the main menu too. The lunch menu itself was very basic, so we were left a little disappointed and wishing we’d booked for the evening.

Starter: 80/100

Gamekeepers Pate/Terrine, venison, pork, duck and boar, wrapped in bacon & served with a homemade apple and ale chutney. (£4.95)

Taste: 25/30

The pate was wonderfully rich and smooth, an absolute delight for the palate. The chutney had just a small amount of kick making it sweet and tasty but not overpowering. The rich flavours of in the terrine worked very well together, no single flavour overpowering the others. Even the salad was crisp and fresh.

Presentation: 16/25

Served neat and tidily, even the toast was sharply cut and fairly unraggedy on the edges. Nothing massively special worthy of the higher marks unfortunately, but it certainly was far from an eyesore.

Wait Time: 23/25

9 minutes wait, given the simplicity of the dish I assume the wait was primarily for my dining partners dishes, as the only time consuming bit would be waiting for the bread to toast.

Portion Size: 16/20

Did you see the amount of toast they gave ? Look at the beer mat just in view for an idea of scale And then it had a side salad! For a starter it was very generously portioned. The main downside of that, was given the amount of toast that was given, the pate didn’t go as far as I’d hoped.

Main Course: 83/100

10-12 oz Horseshoe cut of Gammon, with egg, pineapple and chips. (£8.95)

Taste: 27/30

The gammon was cooked to perfection, at once crisp, but also falling apart under your knife. The Egg was fried just right, leaving the yolk runny while the albumen was perfectly white. The chips were crunchy on the outside  and fluffy on the inside, and the veg was subtly season. All in all one of the best Gammon dishes I have ever had!

Presentation: 14/25

It was neatly presented, notably the small sub plate for the veg was a nice touch, as it kept it neater whilst also stopping the mash from making the chips soggy. No real artistic flair was present though.

Wait Time: 25/25

5 Minutes, for a main, is an amazing turn around time. Absolutely no way I could give anything other than top marks.

Portion Size: 17/20

Again, whilst the picture above doesn’t show it off well, the corner of the tablemat should give you an idea of scale. Amazingly generous portions again, I only just about managed to finish it, and none of my fellow diners managed to finish theirs.

Dessert: 75/100

Lemon & Orange syrup sponge with custard (£4.60)

Taste: 25/30

Served very hot I had to take my time at first with this one, the soft sponge was packed with zesty citrus flavour, really cutting through the custard. The custard deserves special mention however, I’m not normally a fan of custard, and anticipated leaving a lot of it in the bowl when I saw how much their was, but my god, this was delicious, I ate the lot and only common decency stopped me from licking the bowl.

Presentation: 12/25

Sponge  swamped in custard, there wasn’t really a lot to do right or wrong on this one. No frills, but there wasn’t a single drip around the outside of the bowl, so a little effort had gone into making it a bit neater at least.

Wait Time: 23/25

10 minutes, still very good, but not in the same ballpark as the level of excellence displayed with the main.

Portion Size: 15/20

Sponge was ok, but a made to look a bit smaller given the massive amount of custard. A bigger sponge would likely have balanced out the portion a bit better. Certainly, however, the amount of custard given was more than generous.

Overall Score: 297/400 (74%)

Excellent food, at good prices, in good portions. The main things letting the Black Lion down was the lack of communication to patrons over menu’s, and the seemingly untrained new member of staff on duty. The lunch menu not having vegetarian options beyond the salad menu was a real disappointment to see though. As a lover of meat however, I would certainly eat here again given the chance.

The Wynnstay, Machynlleth

The Wynnstay Hotel, Machynlleth

(Hotel restaurant)

Wednesday, Midday,

Reviewer: Em

The Wynnstay Hotel

Heol Maengwyn

Machynlleth

Wales

SY20 8AE

This hotel restaurant sits in the heart of Machynlleth, a town deep in the Welsh countryside, it has been there since the 1800’s. Honestly, the history of the site is in scant supply on the hotel’s website, which is a bit disappointing for a hotel placing pride on existing for over 200 years.

Restaurant: 42/100

Service: 9/30

There was a certain amount of confusion over whether this was a table service establishment or a bar service one – all of the menus, including the set lunch menu we took advantage of, had 'order at the bar' written at the bottom of them in large red letters, but their wait staff came around to take out orders instead. In hindsight, this may have been because it turned into a particularly busy lunch service, but still, it would have been nice had this been clarified. Additionally, we ordered a jug of water at the beginning of the meal, and it didn't appear until the starter plates had been collected...as this was the first opportunity we had to grab a member of the wait staff, who were perpetually out of sight unless they were bringing or collecting plates or taking food orders; no one bothered to check we were alright with our meals either when each course was delivered.

Decor: 10/20

Rather aged – the walls and wall paper was faded, and most of the flower arrangements were noticeably fake, although it was at least clean – just to add to this odd sense, the walls were liberally littered with paintings and prints which were for sale by local artists. In a place where the building itself was a little more of a blank slate, that may have worked well, but in this case, it just felt confused.

Drinks: 5/20

They had a rather limited selection of non-alcoholic drinks, and while they had a good selection of real ales, one of which was local, my dining companion informed me – having first pulled a rather disappointed face – that the tubes were either in dire need of cleaning, or had been recently cleaned and not flushed properly.

Value for Money: 12/20

We went for the set lunch menu – which was 2 courses for £10 or 3 for £12.50 – but ended up having to select dessert from the a la carte menu, as the set gave so little choice. The a la carte was a little over average prices.

Menu Selection: 6/10

The a la carte menu had a wide variety of choice, most of which was locally sourced – the same can't be said for the set menu, which had only 3 choices for starter and mains, and if you wanted the meat option, you'd better hope you like venison as this was your only option. To give them credit, there was a vegetarian option on both of the courses, even if they were a little uninspired – soup, and that ubiquitous menu listing, 'vegetable curry'.

Starter: 53/100

Venison Terrine with Apricot Chutney and a selection of Breads (2 courses for £10)

Taste: 4/30

Unfortunately, the main word that springs to mind when describing this course is 'disappointment'. I'm a big fan of terrines, but this wasn't a good one. Texture wise, it was incredibly firm, and to have any hope of getting it onto the bread instead of eating it with a knife and fork, I first had to slice it thinly myself. Then there was the taste; I couldn't have told you this was venison. Actually, to be honest, from the taste I couldn't have told you anything other than it contained a large quantity of close-to-raw garlic, the harsh, acrid taste of which was so strong that both myself and my dining partner could still taste it when we left the restaurant after finishing the other two courses! Due to some french heritage on my side, not being a fan of garlic is something I could never be accused of – I use it in nearly all of my cooking – but this was just too much. The chutney was overly harsh as well, but in many ways, the vinegar in it, over done though it was, was needed to cut through the garlic in the terrine, but even it failed eventually, and gave up the fight. Eventually after struggling my way through about half of it, it became too much for me to stomach, and I ended up feeding the remainder to my dining partner. A very low score here – about the only positive I can give is that it didn't make me ill!

Presentation: 15/25

There had been some effort here, I will allow for that – the chutney was colourful and heaped in three separate piles which drew the eye – there was a very small side salad to prop up the slices of terrine, which had obviously been placed with care. Nothing ground-breaking, or even overly pretty, but care was taken and it did look appealing.

Wait Time: 24/25

6 minutes flat – fine, it was always going to be relatively quick, as this was off a set menu and was cold, so was more than likely preprepared and plated, but still.

Portion Size: 10/20

Two thick terrine slices, three heaped spoonfuls of chutney and 3 slices of bread with butter is certainly a decent portion size for a starter, but could never be mistaken for a main course

Main Course: 54/100

Poacher's pie with greens (2 courses for £10)

Taste: 7/30

It was better than the starter, but given the score that the starter got, that really isn't saying much. It was at this point that we realised that the main clientèle of this restaurant were all significantly older than us, and suddenly the overly strong flavours that were coming through in each dish made sense – although, for those who still have most of their taste buds in a functioning state, it doesn't make the resulting dishes any more palatable. We'd been told that poacher's pie is effectively shepherds or cottage pie, just with venison where lamb or beef may be – I couldn't have told you this if my life depended on it; the meat tasted mainly of onion. They'd also minced some carrot into it as well, which is one of my pet peeves – I firmly believe carrot and anything else you have by way of veg in a potato-topped pie should be chunkily diced, and not smaller – and the entire thing was far too liquid, when a couple of tablespoons of seasoned flour would have thicken the entire thing and bound it together perfectly well. The greens were far to insufficient for the amount of meat on the plate, and weren't actually greens, but wilted savoy cabbage which had been seasoned heavily with cloves; not especially pleasant. The mashed potato was rather under seasoned and bland, but actually, this provided a bit of relief against the other two main ingredients on the plate, which is never a good thing. Overall, the entire thing put me in mind of a shepherd's pie you might have been served at school, if the chef had had an accident with the spice rack. Low score.

Presentation: 7/25

To be fair to them, there isn't an awful lot you can do with a pie like this, where the filling is so runny, and it's not being served in its own container or similar – the choice of plate wasn't brilliant, it might have done better in something more high sided – but they'd managed to get the potato out in one piece, and the 'greens' were piled to one side. A 7 is the best I can do.

Wait Time: 25/25

4 minutes. Flat. Set menu it may be, preprepared it may be, but frankly, short of going to a fast food take away – and not even then in some circumstances – I don't think it's humanly possible to be faster. Spectacularly short wait time pulls it back with a perfect score.

Portion Size: 14/20

I was certainly full when I'd finished this, but the size of the components on the plate was off. To have the majority of the plate taken up by, effectively, onion-y mince, while the potato is a mere topping and the greens an after thought, isn't an ideal break down. While the overall amount was ok, there should have been less mince, and more potato and greens.

Dessert: 66/100

Chocolate Terrine with Hazelnut ice cream (£5.50)

Taste: 12/30

I ended up ordering off the set menu, as the two items on offer there for dessert – an apple pie and a banana sponge – didn't appeal to me. I've never had chocolate terrine before – being an absolute chocolate addict, I've had most everything else – and so was intrigued by what a 'chocolate terrine' consisted of. If this is an adequate representation of one, the answer is 'something that's halfway between a torte and a cake, with a solid, an almost powdery texture'. I'm not sure if the chocolate that was used to make this was of a low cocoa solids percentage, or whether they didn't actually bother to use any and just defaulted to cocoa powder, but either way, the taste of chocolate didn't exactly smack you in the face, but it wasn't totally unpleasant. The ice cream was sweet and cold, but I couldn't have told you it was hazelnut flavour – there were no actual pieces of the nut even. Had you given it to me in a blind test and asked me to name the flavour, I'd have gone with 'caramel'. The caramel sauce, mind, was a nice touch.

Presentation: 15/25

The two terrine slices have been placed carefully, and the caramel sauce pattern was well done, plus, the ice cream had been balled nicely. Obviously effort had been put into it, but nothing spectacular.

Wait Time: 24/25

6 minutes and some change – very impressive. Even more impressive when you consider they had a stuffed restaurant where everyone else was ordering off the set menu, and I'd gone a la carte. Over 5 mins, so I can't give a perfect score, but very nearly.

Portion Size: 15/20

Certainly, I felt like I was struggling to finish by the time I hit the end – I would have preferred to see more ice cream though, as the single ball for two terrine slices wasn't brilliant.

Overall Score: 214/400 (53%)

A very fast, but very disappointing meal – for the price we paid, thankfully, disappointed is all we felt. Had we ordered off the a la carte menu, and therefore the starter and main had cost us more than £5 per dish, we'd have ended up feeling seriously hard done. Saved by the short wait times and set menu offer.

The Swan, Stafford 2013

The Swan, Stafford
(Hotel restaurant)
Monday // 21:00

Reviewer: Drew

The Swan Hotel

46 Greengate Street

Stafford

Staffordshire

ST16 2JA

A member of the Lewis Partnership group, the Swan was formerly an 18th Century coaching inn in Stafford town center. With a gamut of recent refurbishments and more apparently in the works, now is a time of change and modernization the hotel is evolving and moving along with the times.
Aside from a restaurant, it is also a hotel that comes highly recommended online, and with a seemingly responsive management team that reacts well to criticism.





Restaurant: 83/100

Service: 28/30

The staff were polite and showed an attention to detail – for example candles which had burned out were replaced within minutes. They demonstrated a good working knowledge of the menu, and provided an all round efficient service. Even more, they openly engaged in chatter with other patrons, showing a friendlier side to the establishment. Only real niggle we noticed was that when we asked for a still water, we were given the bottle which wasn't poured for my girlfriend, but rather she was left to do it herself.

Decor: 16/20

A rather eclectic mixture of styles – candles, oaken beams, wicker seating and fake floral displays. Certainly nothing offensive or hard on the eye but it lacked a cohesive theme. Plenty of space was given which no doubt contributed to the very reasonable sound levels, making it easy to hold a conversation with your fellow diners.

Drinks: 18/20

Most of the usual selection was present, and a selection of ales and ciders from some of the smaller breweries. What really jumped out was a very extensive wine list, and a selection of 'dessert cocktails'.

Value for Money: 10/20

Certainly on the higher end of the price scale, perhaps a touch pricey, however 12-7pm they do have a 3 course set menu deal which is much more reasonable and offers good value for money. Outside of that time frame however, offers were a little thin on the ground.

Menu Selection: 9/10

Nearly faultless on the menu front, with a selection of high end fine dining items, pastas and pizzas. Whilst a little lacking in traditional British cuisine, several items were locally sourced, and what really impressed was the selection of vegan, vegetarian, and gluten free items on the menu, showing a startling compassion towards those with special dietary requirements.





Starter: 65/100
Goats cheese and tomato roulade, with aubergine caviar (£5.50)

Taste: 18/30

The goats cheese was incredibly delicious and smooth, an absolute treat, with the acidity of the tomato cutting through the cheese nicely for an all round tasty combination. Letting it down more than a little was the aubergine caviar which was lacking in flavor and generally rather bland, adding relatively little to the dish.

Presentation: 19/25

Slate plates look amazing! The lettuce wrapping was expertly done and stayed looking very neat. All in all, it was a very visually appealing starter which required a bit of skill to pull off.

Wait Time: 23/25

10 minutes to arrive for a starter is well within acceptable standards and entering the boarders of excellence.

Portion Size: 5/20

Portioning let the starter down however, in my opinion. A very small portion, I was left barely feeling like I eaten anything.





Main Course: 74/100
Braised shoulder of lamb & Dauphine potatoes, with a side of chips. (£15.50 +£2.85)

Taste: 24/30

The lamb was an absolute delight to eat, perfectly cooked in practically fell apart to the touch. The homemade chips were thick and crisp, but not quite as fluffy as I'd have liked on the inside. The Dauphine potato was well made and had soft yet firm texture. The gravy was delicious, and amongst the tastiest I have had the pleasure of eating. Letting the side down a little were the parsnips hidden underneath the lamb, which were slightly undercooked.

Presentation: 12/25

Nothing especially outstanding, a fairly vanilla presentation. Still very neatly done though.

Wait Time: 24/25

The dish arrived 9 minutes after starters were cleared, which for a main course is pretty close to perfect.

Portion Size: 14/20

As a standalone dish, the lamb and potato would have been slightly lacking, however the recommended side of chips took the dish up towards a very generous portion.





Dessert: 73/100
Small cheese board (£4.95)

Taste: 15/30

The definite highlight of this dessert was the chutney which was sweet and tangy but not overpowering. It was served with a nice selection of biscuits. The main downside that detracted from the dish was the selection of cheeses, which were all mild.

Presentation: 21/25

When ordering a cheeseboard I had reservations about what the presentation would be like, but this delivered visually on most levels. The little pot of chutney was a particularly nice touch, as was the baby slate of butter

Wait Time: 22/25

Arrived in 12 minutes, which is an excellent response time for a dessert.

Portion Size: 15/20

So you see up there where I said I'd ordered the small cheeseboard? They lie! There is nothing small about it. By the end I was absolutely stuffed to the gills.





Overall Score: 293/400 (73%)

An exceptional meal, let down little by a lackluster starter, however it was all up from there. The price of the standard menu does detract from it a little, meaning I wouldn't dine there regularly (£57 for two dining without alcohol is a bit steep for me), but I would certainly come again during the periods when offers were on.

The Shire Horse, Stafford 2013

The Shire Horse, Stafford
(Pub Food)
Friday // 19:30

Reviewer: Drew

The Shire Horse

1 Hurricane Close

Stafford

Staffordshire

ST16 1GZ

A member of the Chef & Brewer line, the Shire Horse is a short distance from Junction 14 of the M6. Built in 2002 it was designed to have all the old world pub charm, with several log fires and many rustic open beams. With an ample sized beer garden, it’s charm remains even in the heat of summer.





Restaurant: 79/100

Service: 27/30

The extremely friendly and bubbly staff were very attentive, coming to check we were happy with every course. Every time one of our drinks was down to a quarter full, they’d be over asking if we wanted any more. All staff presented a good working knowledge of the menu, only downside is we were originally given the wrong menu (but it was quickly rectified when we asked about it)

Decor: 15/20

Very nice oaken beams, and little oddities on the wall all adding up to a very charming old world pub feel. The venue had a very high standard of cleanliness. The main downsides were that where we were didn’t feel open and spacious, and the noise level was bit on the loud side - but we did have the last available seat in the pub, so they were very busy at the time.

Drinks: 18/20

Large selection of all the usual suspects you’d expect in a pub, but with the addition of a large wine list, local breweries on tap, a selection of non-alcoholic drinks, a coffee machine and a selection of herbal teas. Hard to find any real fault, only really lacking in mocktails.

Value for Money: 12/20

As another chain pub, there were plenty of special offers to be had to help bring down it’s higher than average price. Mid week you can get 3 courses for under £15, but even on a friday I got the deal of 3 courses for £17.95. However, it is still on the higher scale of the pricing spectrum, and without the deal would hit £20+.

Menu Selection: 7/10

All the burgers and steaks and usual pub favourites were accounted for, and several vegetarian options were available. With WIld boar, Pheasant, and Venison on the menu, there we some real delights to be found. No specific mentions of where the food was sourced from, however, and could have been more vegetarian friendly on the starters menu.





Starter: 64/100
Bubble and Squeak, with poached egg, crispy bacon, and hollandaise sauce (£3.79)

Taste: 18/30

Very enjoyable, the egg was poached perfectly, and the bacon was crisp without being overdone. There were however a couple of downsides. The Hollandaise was a little too thin and swamped the dish, overcoming some of the other flavours. Also potato cake was underseasoned and a touch undercooked for my taste, leaving it no real firmness.

Presentation: 13/25

Far too much sauce made the plate look a little sloppy, however the food was neatly stacked and the plate was nice and warm.

Wait Time: 19/25

From the moment of ordering it took 16 minutes to arrive, which is well within the bounds of acceptable.

Portion Size: 14/20

This dish was very filling, and more than ample for one person, with a good sizeable helping of potato cake for a base.





Main Course: 55/100
Wild boar, pork apple & sausage burger, with american mustard. (£11.49)

Taste: 14/30

Let’s go with the good first, shall we ? The onions rings were beautifully crisp and perfectly cooked. The chips with crisp but still fluffy inside, but could have done with a few more seconds in my opinion. The bun was lightly toasted with the cheese melted onto it’s roof, and the apple chutney was delicious. The downside ? The strength of the chutney completely and utterly overpowered the meat. Honestly, I could have been eating a veggie burger for all I was aware of it’s presence. Lets face it, the wild boar meat was the draw of this dish - when you can’t taste it, what’s the point ?

Presentation: 12/25

Neat and well presented on the wooden board and separated into its elements, leaving the top bun off to present it is a nice touch. Marked down because of the mustard spray around the sauce dish, and the burger construction was lacking - due the the rings of the sausage, half the meat fell out the side of the burger in the first bite, and this happend to both me and my fellow diner, so was clearly a flaw in the construction.

Wait Time: 15/25

The dish arrived 19 minutes after ordering, which is still slightly above average.

Portion Size: 14/20

Very filling, was absolutely stuffed after it. Plenty of sausage for your money and an ample side of chips, it was a good size portion for an adult.





Dessert: 87/100

Hot Chocolate Fudge Cake w/o ice cream  (£4.79)

Taste: 27/30

Now, this fine specimen of a cake was de-freaking-licious. Smooth chocolate and fudge was oozing out of it. It was hot and moist all the way through, and was frankly the finest fudge cake I have ever had the pleasure of devouring. And believe me - I devoured it. I was half a thought away from licking the plate.

Presentation: 21/25

The dash of extra fudge was a very nice addition to the presentation of the dish, and the sprinkle of the top added a bit of colour to bring the two elements together. The small jug of cream was given along with an explanation (I asked for it without), that they gave me a jug of it just in case I change my mind, but it did add an eye pleasing third article to the plate.

Wait Time: 24/25

Arrived in 9 minutes, which is a nearly flawless response.

Portion Size: 15/20

The slice of cake was huge! Of course, I didn’t let that dissuade me - the taste was so good it was gone in the blink of an eye. It left me feeling stuffed and satisfied afterwards.





Overall Score: 285/400 (71%)

A very good meal in a fine establishment. The main factor letting it down was the main course, which in some ways was very lacking. I would certainly come back again, if only for more of that fudge cake!