Love. Love. Love this place. There are hospitality business' where the sum of all its parts go further than each individual aspect if you took these at their own value. The brasserie at Langland is one of those places, the view, its outside balcony seating area and its location are the main stars in this constellation. On the balcony sometimes when it's busy you can feel the tables are a bit too close to each other, while inside I could wish for a better interior design theme and more attention paid to the washrooms. I have also to especially praise the staff, their attention to service is fantastic and their work rate is top notch, the owner is clearly proud of his team and for good reason.

The last two occasions we visited I had a hot chocolate and a custard slice, then the crab gratin with baguette. The hot chocolate was excellent, sooooo many places bring the hot drinks to you slightly not as hot as it could be or something else ever so slightly lacking. Not here. The custard slice however ... I think I understand why it's there, it's the price point, offering a cake choice that doesn't break the bank in this age of constrained household budgets. But honestly, I think it's let's them down. The custard has a gelatine firming agent in it and it spoils the taste and the experience. I also have a slight worry about the crab gratin, I'd have been a lot better informed if on the menu it specified brown crab meat, either that or mix more white crab meat into it. For some people the more fishy brown crab meat is perfect, for others, like me, I much prefer white crab meat and am not much of a fan of brown meat only.

It sounds like I'm complaining and really I'm not, we stop here fairly often and we will continue to do so. First because it is absolutely fantastic and second because excellent hospitality businesses like this need the support. Imagine if places like this went bust and we no longer had them. Life would become that much more shallow.