The Prince's — Restaurant in Wales

Overrated place. It's a pity, as I love supporting local independent businesses. I've been meaning to buy food at Prince's for years, but their food hygiene rating was only a 3. I take this very seriously as I would only go to a place with a 3 rating if I have no choice. Today, shopping and walking in the area I noticed they now have a 5 on the good hygiene rating, so I gave it a go! Inside, it smelled of "burnt cheese toastie" and the lady serving us used her hands with no gloves to pick up the pancakes and fruit tartlet that we ordered. Her finger went through the tartlet and she got her finger full of cream... She had been taking cash payments etc with those hands, without washing them or sanitising them after. I thought it was a poor food hygiene practice, specially after COVID. The floor by the windows was dirty with pieces of paper/napkins/broken cake boxes? And other bits. Not impressed. Then I realised that there was a nother lady serving bread to other customers the same way using her hands without any paper bag, or picking tool or gloves. I don't think I will buy anything there again. The pancakes were nice, but I had to think it twice before biting on the tartlet... But I did and it was okay in taste. The pastry was average. Nothing special, overpriced. It's a pity as this establishment has been there for a long time, there is so much room for improvement and I think the owners should really look into the quality of their products and their customer service, and the overall hygiene and food...

I guess there's a reason why these pretty, old establishments are being taken over by new businesses (or, god forbid, Starbucks).

The staff here looked more miserable than spoons on rugby day. They obviously couldn't wait to get rid of us, as they started cleaning and hoovering around us as we ate more than an hour and a half before closing time. If you're shutting early, perhaps you should inform your guests, instead of passive-agressively hinting for us to leave. You should also have your opening times visible somewhere to avoid this.

The food was passable, although the menu states that all pies are served with mash and peas and those did not make it to the table. Why put it on the menu if you're not going to bother putting it on the plate? The sad little lonely pie was ok enough, although overpriced for what it was.

We have also ordered two pots of tea, what arrived was one pot of tea and one pot of hot water. That may be the way it was done back in the day, but by today's standards, paying for two pots essentially what we got was a scam as the second pot was undrinkable. Ridiculous.

This place knows exactly what they're doing. They lure you in with the pretty desserts in the window and decor drenched in nostalgia and trick you into thinking it can't possible be that bad if it lasted here this long. If you're like me and you're unable to resist a cute strawberry tart, do yourself a favour and get it to take away. You will spare yourself having to deal with the most miserable...

I would never usually write a negative review of a small business as I know how hard it is for them to survive in the current climate. However, I feel compelled to do so today because our experience at Princes was a real let down. I haven’t been for a few years and was looking forward to my trip. I used to go as a child and have fond memories of the lovely cakes and attentive service. Sadly we felt disappointed today to see the standards have taken a nosedive. The waitresses this afternoon weren’t rude, but they looked as though they’d rolled out of bed were disinterested and generally sloppy. I remember when they wore smart uniforms, in keeping with the old-world feel of the place and made it special.

Disinfectant sprays were left on the counter for us to enjoy looking at (I prefer flowers, call me traditional) and the kitchen door shoved open for a view of the bins. The table was greasy and there were piles of dirty food on other tables and nobody cleared up upstairs, not that it was busy. The custard slice (which I again remember being great) was cardboard-like on the bottom and like a hardened omelette on top. The worst we’ve had. I’m saying this as I really hope management take notice. Princes has SO much potential and the Deco interior is a rare treasure. I hope they treat the place with the respect it deserves and to protect its legacy. If they’re not careful, it could become a Starbucks, and Ponty would lose the jewel...