Set in the North Wales village of Glyn Ceiriog, Craft & Kitchen takes its place on a hilly high street with a Welsh valley view! Local head chef Steve Jones has recently taken over the former Royal Oak pub, implementing a menu with pub grub but not how you know it to be!
Open entering the building you get a sense of village warmth about it, fires roaring and a well-stocked bar with pork scratchings, a trio of real ale and of course some trendy welsh gins!
Head Chef & owner Steve Jones has recently opened Craft & Kitchen in Glyn Ceiriog.
Staff polite and were greeting customers with a friendly smile as they walked through the door, completely made us feel at home straight away. We chose to sit in the restaurant area of the cosy pub which has large oak tables and village memorabilia upon on the walls. The lightening is modern and bright, and the main feature is a log burner which is perfect for winter evenings.
"Chef Steven Jones offers a 5-course tasting menu boasting local fresh ingredients from Chirk and the Ceiriog Valley or alternatively an A La Carte menu. After a big debate and spotting a few favourites, we opted for the A La Carte".
To Start; Garlic Wild Mushrooms, Truffle Mayo, Mushroom Ketchup + Malted Beer Bread Croutons and Traditional Cawl with Beer Bread + Welsh Cheddar. The starters arrived quickly and were presented on beautiful charcoal crockery, the cawl was a melt in the mouth taste sensation, hearty bowl of welsh produce with traditional beer bread to dunk and mop up the soup, the mushrooms a take on a well known classic was delicate and rich as the flavours should be.
On to the mains, I opted for Pork whilst my fellow diner opted for Sticky Beef Rib. The Slow Cooked Pork Belly was accompanied by with crackling, cauliflower cheese, sage sauté potato, kale and Aspall Cider reduction and all in all complimented each other perfectly. The cauliflower cheese however did stand out for me, the cheese sauce was buttery and delicious completed with crunchy bacon crumb. The textures and aspects of the entire dish kept me entertained throughout the meal.
The sticky smoked rib was glazed with a Hickory BBQ sauce and when cut open featured a juicy pink colour, it had been slow cooked to perfection. The generous meat portion was served with a beef dripping fondant potato, seaweed kale and beer onion puree. The chef executes his skills well and certainly knows how to put local produce together in a surprisingly ingenious way.
"The Chefs main focus is on quality, Chef Steve recommends his menu to be paired with beer to partner his creative filling dishes, however there are wines and a full bar available depending on your taste".
Desserts, traditional sweets with a twist. Many homemade classics, we went for Tiramisu, being a coffee lover myself, and was not disappointed. The creamy pudding was served deconstructed, consisting of coffee gel, Tia Maria cream + chocolate crumb, delicious. Yet the star of the show was the Chocolate Orange Cheesecake, the perfect amount of citrus to chocolate, really made me feel wintery and festive. The log of cheesecake was a served with homemade chocolate orange segments and ginger crumb.
Craft & Kitchens menu shows passion and love for Welsh produce and ingredients.
You can get the tasting menu for £25.00 for 5 courses teamed with a craft ale flight at £10.00 per person, weekday offers by giving them a follow on their social media account, and Sunday lunches are 2 courses for £15.95 or 3 courses for £18.95.
Details;
Craft & Kitchen, Glyn Ceiriog, LL20 7EH.
Tel; 01691 718024
Restaurant Opening Hours; Lunch & Dinner service (Tuesday - Saturday)
Sundays; Midday - 6.00pm.
Find them on Facebook by clicking here.
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