Opening night

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 13^th 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/