I visited welcoming pub with wonderful food, The Cross Keys

GOING out for a meal is always a real treat and sometimes we play the safe option of going somewhere that we have tried and tested before, writes Su Perry.

But on this occasion, for a joint birthday and Father’s Day celebration, we decided to act upon the word of friends and opted for The Cross Keys at Llanfynydd.

It so was the right decision.

The Cross Keys reopened at the end of last year after undergoing a major revamp.

It was reopened in memory of former patron, Mark Steene. The 54-year-old sadly died six years after a cycling accident left him paralysed.

The pub offers a good selection of lagers, ales, cider and wines and soft drinks.

There is plenty of dining space, with a cosy little ‘nook’ area, seating eight comfortably and outside the beer garden looks lovely, it just needs some better weather!

As soon as we arrived we received such a warm welcome and were quickly shown to our seats.

It was early evening but there were a few in the bar and one group eating with a couple of couples but the numbers soon grew as our evening progressed.

It was such a warm and friendly atmosphere, very relaxing and inviting.

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Straight away we were given menus and offered water for our table.

After our drinks orders were taken we then had to decide what to eat.

We all agreed that we were just going to go for a main course on this occasion. But there are plenty of starters and nibbles to choose from including: Creamy wild mushrooms, toasted garlic ciabatta; Teriyaki Chicken wings; Honey and mustard chipolatas; Hummus, flat bread, olive oil; Welsh baked cheese, bread, pickles ; Slow braised ox cheek, celeriac puree, crispy leeks; Cheddar Welsh cakes, leek puree, mustard mayo for example.

What I tend to do when dining out is always go for something that I would not usually have at home and for me the mutton biryani just leapt off the page.

I can remember having mutton cobbler back in my schools days so it had been a long, long time since I had tried this meat.

Mutton biryani (Image: staff)

My partner opted for the chicken breast in a tarragon sauce while the birthday boy chose good old ham, egg and chips.

To me biryani is a mixed rice dish, made with rice, some type of meat and spices.

This version had the actual curry in a separate dish with the rice, poppadoms and mint raita on the side.

The menu also said it came with plain rice but mine looked as if it had been cooked with turmeric and there were a few cloves which added an extra flavour level to the dish.

The curry itself was delicious with plenty of spice but an added sweetness to it too, very flavoursome and the mutton was soft and tender.

But I have to say I then had food envy when I saw the chicken dish.

Chicken in tarragon sauce.

The tarragon sauce was superb with a healthy portion of greens to boot.

The ham, egg and chips was a monster of a meal and I am told the ham was soft and not too salty while the eggs were cooked to perfection with bright yellow yolks and sweet roasted tomatoes on the side.

The chips were large too and were ‘proper chips, crispy on the outside but pillowy soft on the inside.

Ham, egg and chips

There was just no way any of us had any room for dessert but yummy sounding options included ice creams; cheese and biscuits and Lemon tart, raspberry gel, raspberry sorbet; Cherry and almond Cheesecake, cherry gel, crystallised almond, boozy cherries and cherry sorbet; Brownie, mint choc-chip ice cream, chocolate ganache; Sticky toffee pudding, vanilla ice cream; Apple and rhubarb crumble, custard.

On their website it says ‘A good pub brings people and communities together’ and from judging by the amount of people and happy faces we saw I think they are certainly achieving that.

The Cross Keys at Llanfynydd is well worth a visit and it is lovely to see a village pub serving its community so well.

We will definitely be going back.