Foyles of Glasbury — Restaurant in Wales

This is a review for the restaurant only.

l have been twice to Foyles in the last 2 months, which is very unusual for me to go back to a place so quickly. The first time, l found the reception a little bit dry (was it because l had forgotten my mask and we were dryly asked to put them on, so l had put my cardigan around my nose which perhaps was not popular) and l had been with my very nice landlords, their son and his tenant.

We didn't have starters, but l did order the Halibut which was £27 and was served with samphire, new potatoes, and a lot of very interesting green additions , and it was the best dish l had eaten in months. They had ordered chicken pie, which had no "soggy bottom" but just a piece of caramelised looking pastry square. The others had had a fish with capers (very generous on the capers) and a fish and chips. l had tried the fish skin of that other dish but it wasn't as nice as mine. Mine was so delicious l had to eat it ever so slowly while the others indulged in heated conversations. The only desserts which were eaten were the Brenda's apple crumble, with creme anglaise, which l thought was a little bit less interesting than the meal, in my opinion the topping was a bit too hard under the tooth, there were no unsual interesting spices which l could detect, and the creme anglaise was runnier than our francaise version but very nice. The staff was good, but l would have said the atmosphere felt a little bit tense with the staff, they were very efficient just not the most relaxed.

The second time l came with a good friend and we came a little earlier, decided to splash out on a cocktail. The welcome was warmer this time, l am not sure he recognised me with the mask on but he was really kind in making a cocktail which wasn't on the new list and he (is he front of house? He seems in charge) was very nice and we even had a smile (i had got a bit paranoid the first time with the cardi on, l had kept imagining evil looks) The cocktails came after 10 minutes, and we had hardly started the cocktails, that the "amuse-bouche" had arrived. l felt a little bit rushed, and when the waitress brought us the starters (scallops and green soup, both delicious) we still hadn't drunk our cocktails and l politely told her that was a bit fast, that we wanted to relax a bit first before eating, and she was stunned and had asked if l wanted her to take the dishes away, but l said no (imagining the delicious scallops getting rubbery under the drying kitchen lamp). They didn't rush us after that, which was nice. My friend had a very good main course, and l had the beef pie, which again came with a rectangle of caramelised pastry. It was very generous and filling, but didn't have all the beautiful additions that my previous experience dish had last time. We did have desserts but the ice-cream which were pistachio, strawberry and blackcurrant were bought-in, and not spectacular; but l did ask for a fresh leaf herbal tea, and after going twice to the kitchen to find they had no coriander and no parsley, he came back with a fresh mind tea-pot, which forgave every dish that hadn't been as outstanding as that one dish. l was tamed with that gesture. l really enjoyed this second experience also, it was nice to see a friendly welcome, and l hope to go again and try another dish, that first dish was so outstanding l didn't realise everything they did didn't match that with interesting additions. It is well worth booking. A very very decent, good pub for food. Distinguished and honouring of...

The building and decor is very warm and welcoming. As we arrived, the restaurant was empty so didn’t have an atmosphere feel to it, which I was expecting. The staff were friendly but couldn’t take our order quick enough, when we asked for 5 more minutes to look at the menu, they were back within 2mins. The menu is over priced for what you get, I personally think £15 for a cheese board is a bit over priced, the menu doesn’t tell you the size of the steak, so when we asked the weight, the chef weighed the steak, it was under 9oz, so £30 is a bit expensive for that. My partner asked for her steak medium, and it came rare so was sent back, which was disappointing, as my partner has only just started to eat her steak a little pink as she’s always had well done, my partner was struggling to eat the steak, so after having to leave the table to find the waitress to complain about the steak, the waitress came and apologised, took my partners plate, the steak was reheated and returned to the table, this is bad practice, a fresh one should have been served. ||After the food arrived, it was quite the opposite to when we arrived, nobody came to check back if everything was ok with the food, only came to remove my partners steak as I complained. ||The coating on the chicken was very salty. While the lemon dessert was delicious. My partners creme brûlée, stated, it was served with strawberries, but once arrived, it was served with raspberries, which again was disappointing as my partner doesn’t like raspberries, and the crempat was grainy.|||The waitress bought our bill to us when we had asked for it. But Then returned about 2 minutes later with the card reader machine to pay, didn’t give us chance to finish our drinks then go to the bar to pay. | |Unfortunately this was a poor experience from start to finish. We will not...

The building and decor is very warm and welcoming. As we arrived, the restaurant was empty so didn’t have an atmosphere feel to it, which I was expecting. The staff were friendly but couldn’t take our order quick enough, when we asked for 5 more minutes to look at the menu, they were back within 2mins. The menu is over priced for what you get, I personally think £15 for a cheese board is a bit over priced, the menu doesn’t tell you the size of the steak, so when we asked the weight, the chef weighed the steak, it was under 9oz, so £30 is a bit expensive for that. My partner asked for her steak medium, and it came rare so was sent back, which was disappointing, as my partner has only just started to eat her steak a little pink as she’s always had well done, my partner was struggling to eat the steak, so after having to leave the table to find the waitress to complain about the steak, the waitress came and apologised, took my partners plate, the steak was reheated and returned to the table, this is bad practice, a fresh one should have been served. ||After the food arrived, it was quite the opposite to when we arrived, nobody came to check back if everything was ok with the food, only came to remove my partners steak as I complained. ||The coating on the chicken was very salty. While the lemon dessert was delicious. My partners creme brûlée, stated, it was served with strawberries, but once arrived, it was served with raspberries, which again was disappointing as my partner doesn’t like raspberries, and the crempat was grainy.|||The waitress bought our bill to us when we had asked for it. But Then returned about 2 minutes later with the card reader machine to pay, didn’t give us chance to finish our drinks then go to the bar to pay. | |Unfortunately this was a poor experience from start to finish. We will not...