The Cross Keys — Restaurant in Wales

We visited the Cross Keys as a couple last Friday for an afternoon bite to eat whilst staying locally for the weekend. The welcome from Gwen as we walked through the door along with the warm glow of the fires (it was chilly outside) made us immediately relax and enjoy. The recent top class renovation of the place is abundantly clear, beautifully finished with detail. There is evidence of the community everywhere – artwork by locals and the story of the personal legacy which was explained to us, beautifully woven through.

So already feeling great, on to the offerings. We had a main each and shared a pudding washed down with a very good Cote de Beaune. The ingredients were fresh – including the homemade tartare sauce with the fish and salsa with the burger. Great touches. The sticky toffee pudding which we shared was gone in a flash - delicious. Only downside to the meal was that we didn’t order two!

The place was immaculate – including pristine bowls of the glassware, offered by the stem. With an F&B background, this was much appreciated and made the wine just that little bit better!

We loved this visit so much that we flew by a few days later for a cheeky half on the terrace – beautiful seating and parasols make for a lovely space. It was really warm and felt like an instant relax. We got the opportunity to say hi to a couple of faces behind the reawakening of the Cross Keys who were winding down after a charity run – they were fun, welcoming, chatty and informative.

Word on the street has it that this is the best pub in the world, and do you know what, that might...

This was the first time back here since the renovations as we were treating ourselves to a Birthday meal. The pub is beautiful inside and we sat at a lovely prepared table by the window. The starters were lovely, very freshly prepared and not a long wait as it was early and fairly quiet. We both had Turkey off the festive menu. It looked like it had just come out of a microwave, absolutely boiling hot it burnt your mouth and you couldn't touch the plate. Aunt Bessie's roast potatoes, 3 sprouts, a piece of stuffing that looked like it had come out of a Mc Donald's festive burger ( is that even a thing ?? ) 1 well-done pig in blanket, awful pickled cabbage, mediocre Turkey and almost a teaspoon of gravy !! By the time someone appeared to ask for more gravy we were halfway through eating the meal,they then came back with a gravy jug, so why couldn't that have come out with the meal ?? Very poor I'm afraid and for the price we paid we won't...

Absolutely blown away! Over the past few years I've become increasingly jaded by the rubbish dished out by local pubs in the area.

Usually containing a hefty selection of the Brake Bros catalogue poorly presented and poorly served with often unreasonable prices.

I'm an ex head chef and sommelier so it's fair to say I understand food and wine and enjoy it.

It had sadly gotten to the point of not wanting to go out to eat such was the banality of the offerings.

However, this evenings meal at the Cross Keys has been a revelation and the food and the service were excellent.

Only comment I could make would be to reduce the size of the steak but serve it thicker so that a decent Malliard crust could be achieved. The sirloin was just too thin, half the size but twice the thickness would have made perfection.

All in all a fantastic evenings dining, look forward to the next....