Eating Out
in Lampeter
Griseld
Greediguts reports on a new gourmet experience that may well put Lampeter on
the foody map
The Rambling Pea has taken root for two days a
week in the Town Hall Café to the delight of the diners on Saturday 13th
October’s the inaugural opening.
We have a truly home grown eating treat here. Local boy, Tom Holden is now the resident
chef at the Town Hall Café. Tom is very
good indeed at what he does from sourcing local produce: Gower mussels, Bryn
Derw chicken, local sewin, Pembrokeshire
potatoes, a selection of artisan Welsh cheeses and plenty of local fruit and
vegetables to superb cooking and presentation. The Rambling Pea, described as
Guerrilla Dining has been successfully operating for over a year giving us
outstanding food in all kinds of venues and conditions from pig roasts to full
scale wedding catering. Last night it was
our turn to enjoy his creative skills.
When I walked into the Town Hall cafe with my two
bottles (it was our anniversary treat so we had a bottle of champers and a half
bottle of Montbazillac to go with the pud) a wonderful atmosphere met me at the
door. The tables sparkled with white
napery, glass and silver, a there was loud happy buzz of conversation and
lovely cheery greetings from friends. This, I thought, is going to be just
great. And it was.
The food was unfussy but wonderfully cooked. I rather wish Geoff and I hadn’t been such
inept food reporters; we chose the same starter. But neither of us was willing to give up the steamed
Gower mussels. And what mussels they
were! More than half the skill in
serving up moules is the choosing of the shellfish and Tom is a master at
this. I’ve never eaten such fat, succulent
mussels cooked with classic garlic, white wine and parsley.
My main course of simply prepared Fillets of sewin, bream and sole with parsley
and lemon and Pembrokeshire potatoes was enough to keep any ravenous farmer
happy, but delicate enough with its fronds of crunchy, salty samphire to please
a foody fusspot. Geoff had the venison
Wellington which I was a bit anxious about.
Venison is not the easiest meat to work with, especially in pastry. But the
neat, crisp parcel cut like butter and Geoff reported that the venison with its
blackberry/spiced port jus and celriac mash was a fabulous combination.
They brought us the Montbazillac with the desert
menu and once again we demonstrated our total ineptness as food critics by
choosing the same one! But you can’t
blame us because it was chocolate tart with chocolate sorbet and chocolate
sauce. The tart was made with white
chocolate which normally I hate so I was a bit disappointed to see it. But with the subtle addition of vanilla Tom
had transformed that icky, sticky sweet white chocolate into a dream tart
filling. By now I was beginning to flag;
this was a very generous meal indeed, but Geoff, a true Cardi Farmer, polished
the whole meal up with gusto. We’ll be
going again and taking friends next time!
The Rambling Pea will be serving dinner every
Friday and Saturday for £25.00 a head and bring your own wine if you want
although there is a small but good wine list at the Town Hall deli. To book ring 01570 421120, mobile:
07783806375 or find The Rambling Pea on Face book and join the group. Website: www. http://www.holdenscatering.com/
Posts
