The Drovers Rest Riverside Restaurant — Restaurant in Wales

Very Unwelcoming, rude proprietor'

We were in Wales for a hiking weekend and had planned our stay for weeks. The plans included having dinner at this restaurant for Saturday night! We had read the reviews and were looking forward. What a disappointment.

We arrived at the restaurant and had to awkwardly stand in the middle of the room as a young-looking waiter who received was quite keen to check whether or not we had a table booked rather than direct us to the counter where we would have been out of the way of other diners. He went away twice to consult/check leaving us in the middle of the room. While we waited, Peter (who was clearly the man in charge, and now I read here is the proprietor) - came asked us the same question and guided us to the counter. He then proceeded to check whether we were booked on his system and we clearly were not. It was clear that a table had not been booked and he asked yet again to see the confirmation email that my friend had received. He checked that twice. Having checked his records and then demanding to see a confirmation of our booking, Peter proceeded to tell us off about not calling to confirm that we were running late - so the problem became - our being a few minutes late; not about them not having a table for us. We apologised for being a few minutes late - we had under-estimated the distance from our glamping site to the restaurant.

No apologies just an angry man giving us an earful while other diners watched in bemusement! At this point 2 of us walked out as my friend who had done the booking tried to reason with Peter. Even if he had found a table for us, I wasn’t going to sit down in such a hostile environment to spend my hard earned £££s. It looks like a great restaurant, but it also looks like a refresher course on customer service wouldn't go amiss. I went in to spend some hard earned £££s and being embarrassed in front of other diners was not part of the plan for the evening, not then and...

We visited Llanwrtyd Wells out of curiosity; smallest town in the UK and bog snorkelling being its claims to fame. We liked its quirkiness.

So when it came to dining out we weren't expecting great options and certainly never expected to find something of the calibre of the Drovers Rest.

It's a relatively small restaurant but it's acquitted tastefully and it delivers a quality dining experience.

On arrival we were invited to either have a drink at the bar or at our table, we opted for the bar. That was a good choice as it enabled a very engaging conversation with Peter the chef owner. He's a very interesting guy and quite a character with plenty of stories to tell.

Following our drinks we moved to the restaurant to eat and what a treat that was. For starters we shared a venison terrine and followed with the pork tenderloin for mains. I have to say while I didn't eat everything on the plate, I did try everything on the plate. Every element in front of me brought a smashing surprise and was nothing short of marvellous.

I don't know that we will ever be back in Llanwrtyd Wells, but if and when we are we'll be visiting here again. So if you find yourself in Llanwrtyd Wells pay it a visit -...

Although we didn't stay overnight we were holidaying nearby. We found this place totally by accident when another pub closer wasn't doing food. I am ssssooooo glad we did. We were a group of 7 and were able to book on the day to eat in the early evening. The out side look like any quaint pub in a little village, but magic happened inside. Our meals were varied from the short ribs, burgers, and fish, the best happened with their amazing sausages 😋. We had macaroni dogs, and I had the best sausage meal I have had in my life. I had an all-day dog. Which was the longest sausage I had ever seen and the best I had tasted. The sausages were wrapped in a blueberry pancake and omelette topped with maple syurp. It was amazing. I would never have thought of a combination. I am so happy I took a chance on it. I would recommend everyone to try a meal at the Drover, you are missing out if you don't go. The only issue I had was the meals are to big to finish. Just kidding lol. So not an issue. I took half of mine home to enjoy it again the day after and enjoy it I did. I just wish it wasn't 4 hours away from our home. If you are nearer and don't visit, you are...