Sunday Best - The Ruperra Arms, Newport

Next up in the Sunday lunch series is The Ruperra Arms, situated in Bassaleg, Newport. I've been looking forward to trying lunch here for a long while, after many recommendations from friends and family alike. We saw on their twitter that they had a last minute table free for Sunday lunch, and at a loose end, we nabbed it.

The Ruperra is a seriously cute looking little pub, cwtchy corners and log fires for winter, and a twinkling fairy light garden for the summer. We grabbed our drinks (Tiny Rebel on tap = points on the board already) and settled in with the menu.

Sunday lunch is offered at £8.95, £12.95 and £15.95 for one, two and three courses, and in the interests of a good blog (how long can I use that excuse?) we went for all three.

First up was a smoked bacon Caesar salad for me, and a smoked salmon and crayfish parfait for Mr P.  There's not a lot you can say about salad, but it was a perfectly pleasant starter. Creamy cheddar cheese went well with the salty chunks of bacon, and the crunchy croutons pulled it all together.

The salmon parfait looked very pretty, and came with plenty of the bloody Mary sauce which pleased Mr P who's partial to the spicy cocktail.

I usually go for the chicken dinner, but the 7 hour roasted beef brisket sold me, and I'm so glad it did. I don't know what they did to that beef, but it was incredible. Thick slices were piled high on the plate, and were as soft as butter. Definitely worth every minute of slow roasting time, and clearly good quality beef as it wasn't sinewy in the slightest.

Mr P went for the chicken, and his reports from across the table were that it was a very good roasted breast of chicken, and most importantly for a roast chicken, still moist and juicy.

As you can see, the yorkies were huge and pillowy, and it came with both new and roast potatoes, and there's a stuffing ball hiding underneath there too. I'm not too keen on the bit of green strung across the top though, a little bit unnecessary?

Along came an extra jug of heavenly 'Nanna' gravy, thick and flavoursome and made with those glorious beef juices. It was lush, the entire jug disappeared between us both, and Mr P declared it "the best gravy I've ever had in my life" - that's a serious statement from a man who's seen a lot of roasts! There was a good selection of crunchy and vibrant veggies. I love a green bean so was happy to see those make an appearance.

My only disappointment was the roast potatoes, which looked perfect on the plate, but they just weren't crunchy at all on the outside. They were a good size and bronzed nicely, but just lacking the crunchy edges that I love so much.

I was completely stuffed by now, especially after mopping up all the rich gravy, but I was too intrigued by the dessert menu, or more specifically "Steve's OMG brownie"...

A chocolatey hunk of naughtiness with a scoop of creamy vanilla bean ice cream and the most picture perfect of strawberries. This was a real slab of thick, rich chocolate. Just the thing for chocolate lovers.

Mr P went for the lighter side of dessert, with a lemon posset and shortbread biscuits. I'm not one for those type of desserts, but he absolutely raved about this. Probably the better option to round off a filling lunch and cleanse your palette, but this girl needed the chocolate.

For £15.95, I honestly walked out of The Ruperra feeling like I'd robbed them. The standard of each course was outstanding, and just unbeatable for that price. I can't wait to go back and try out the normal menu, and I'd go back for Sunday lunch in a heartbeat.

Make sure you book up ahead (details here) as this place gets very busy and booked up quickly. There were some walk ins turned away while we were eating. Oh, and have the beef. Trust me.

Sunday Best - The Halfway House, Blackwood

Welcome to my new series - Sara's Sunday Best. I've recently had a lot of my friends and family asking about the best place for a good ol' Sunday roast and it set my blogger bells ringing. I decided to throw myself on the line for you readers, and set out to find the yummiest roast around.

My lovely arty husband helped me design the scoreboard below, and we chatted about the most important bits of a roast to be scored, and the ultimate score out of five. Out of five 'Nans' that is. I don't know if it's a Welsh thing, but the highest accolade you can ever get for a roast dinner is "That tastes just like my Nan's dinner" so the bar is set very high my friends.

Up first is The Halfway House, Blackwood (ish). Local for me, and only a few moments away from the Bryn Meadows Hotel & Golf Club. Thinking of where to go and get fed one weekend, we remembered the most amazing sandwich we'd had here a few years ago, and decided to go back and check out the full dinner.

We'd booked for 12.30pm, and when we got there it seemed almost deserted, and odd that although there were only the two of us, we were sat on a small 'in the way' table. However, by the time we sat and ordered, it soon filled up.

I was tempted by the pork belly, but in the end we both plumped for the roast lamb. Slightly odd to see such varying prices between the meats, but all in all reasonably priced for what came next. Cauli cheese was an extra at £2.50, which is a must for me when it's on the menu. Child prices are just out of shot, but they were £3 less than the adult price across the board.

Our food came out of the kitchen very quickly, and just kept on coming. Roasties, a crunchy stuffing ball, a yorkshire, carrot & swede mash and the roast lamb were plated up and given a lick of gravy to keep moist and warm.

Then out came a bowl of crisp cabbage, a mixed bowl of carrots and peas, an extra full jug of herby gravy and the cauliflower cheese. Mind your toes...

The lamb was faultless, plentiful and flavoursome. The carrots (both mash and boiled) were sweet, but I could take or leave the average peas. I'm not the biggest fan unless they're of the mushy or marrowfat kind. Cabbage was well seasoned and still had a bite to it.

The most important part...the roasties were pretty darn good. Not quite as amazing as our previous visit, but that sandwich held high expectations. Crispy on the outside, piping hot and smooth inside. The stuffing ball was different to any I'd had before, deep fried texture with a lot of spicing. A bit of a surprise, but a nice one.

 

The cauliflower cheese sauce was really flavoursome, and so pretty flecked with herbs. My only criticism was that it could have done with just a minute more under the grill for me.

Service was lovely and helpful, with offers of more of whatever we needed, but not intrusive. I do hate that I'm always asked "How's your meal" when I've inevitably got more than what's considered polite shoved in my mouth.

After all that food, we were full as eggs, but I started out the afternoon with ice cream on the brain and ice cream I was going to get. There were some interesting looking desserts on the menu, but we opted to share a mint chocolate sundae.

Pretty standard pub sundae affair, more than enough for the both of us at the £5 price tag. I didn't (probably stupidly on my behalf) realise that it came with chocolate ice cream too, which I hate, so I skirted around it and snarfed all the minty bits. 

Totally stuffed, the damage was £30.50 for the two of us, without drinks. I can't comment on the beer selection as we were both on driver duties, so cokes all round.

For the first time in the series... let's get the Nan Score!

(P.s. If you like the look of Mr P's handiwork, take a look here at what he gets up to when I'm blogging)

London Calling

It's been a while coming, but I'm finally getting around to posting about our weekend away in the Big City. Having originally booked for that ill fated Foo Fighters concert, with non-refundable train and hotel tickets, we were off for a long weekend regardless!

Tickets, check. Book, check. Chocolate, double check!

Once we landed in London, we made our way to the hotel. We were staying at Park Grand Lancaster Gate, which was a mere five minute walk from Paddington Station, and it was fantastic. Located in a quiet suburb, but within walking distance of all major tube and train lines, it could not have been positioned better.

The hotel looked after us so well all weekend, until the moment we left, and nothing was too much trouble. If you're after a reasonably priced (but glamorous) hotel in London, that is quiet but still accessible, I'd thoroughly recommend this one. Plus, look how pretty it is!

In true Welsh fashion, we dumped our bags and headed off in search of the nearest pub.

However, after nearly falling off our barstools at the fact there was no change out of a £10 note, the sun came out and we headed over the road into the Italian Gardens.

(Regardless of the price, as it's the same everywhere in London, I'd thoroughly recommend this pub on an evening, as it's a proper British boozer and has some amazing live music)

We made friends with a few of the locals too...

Behind the scenes!

Our meandering took us further along to Hyde Park, where we wandered around the lake watching all the revellers on the pedalos and snooping on more wildlife.

With an obligatory 99 along the way, of course!

From there we dawdled around to the other side of the lake, stumbling upon the Diana Memorial Fountain, which is such a fun work of art. It's not so much a fountain as a mini river, with lush grass surroundings.

In what I feel is true Princess Diana, playing in and around the fountain is not only allowed but encouraged. So socks off!

Friday night was the night we were supposed to be seeing the Foos, so instead, the wonderful Mr P managed to get us last minute tickets to see Wicked at the Victoria Apollo. I've never seen a show in London before, and Wizard of Oz is one of my absolute favourite films, so I was extremely excited!

I won't spoil the show in case there's anyone left out there who hasn't seen it, but I loved every single minute of it! Even the husband, who detests musicals, was enthralled, which is high praise indeed! Definitely go check it out if you get the chance!

Day one, was a definite success! I'm a little bit in love with London!

Valentines Weekend at The Celtic Manor

Before we go any further, I feel like I should add a disclaimer. I think Valentines Day is great. We do say I love you everyday, I do get random flowers for no reason and I don't believe you need to splash the cash to be romantic. BUT I do like to have a specific day dedicated to being smushy. I like occasions. I'm the girl who plans birthdays months in advance.

Last weekend, I got completely spoilt by Mr P and was whisked down the M4 to one of my favourite places, The Celtic Manor.

We arrived about 3pm, and luckily we were able to check in early, so we ran to our room, threw on our swimsuits and headed to the pool. Naturally. After a quick dip and a lounge in the sauna and steam rooms, we reluctantly went back to our room to change for dinner. Helped by a few bubbles, of course.

Last time we stayed, we were facing the front of the hotel and the golf course. This time however, we were looking out of the back of the hotel, onto the motorway. Although not as obviously relaxing, there's still something calming about watching the lights flying past at night with the Manor all lit up, and the Welsh colours billowing in the wind.

Our dinner reservation was at Rafters, which is in the Twenty Ten Clubhouse. We've dined here before, and had a fantastic meal, so we knew we were going to be looked after.

There are two things that sometimes put me off dining out on Valentines night. More often than not, you get a tiny set menu, generally with the nicest item being a sharing item. There's nothing romantic about sharing. Get off my dinner.

And then there's the set dining times. Your reservation was for 7pm, and you're dawdling over a coffee at 9pm, and then you have to leave for the next couple to jump in your seats. Not particularly conducive to a relaxing evening either.

Rafters had none of this. The tables were all preset for the night, and there seemed to only be one sitting. There was no rushing about, no cheesy decor, and the only sharing item was a dessert, which I'll let them off because I didn't fancy it anyway.

Mr P and I both went for exactly the same thing, from start to finish. For starters, we had smoked Severn and Wye Salmon with asparagus, poached egg and hollandaise sauce. A very pretty dish, and the smoked salmon was beautiful, hiding under a sprinkling of samphire.

Next course was a roast fillet of Welsh beef, sat on a bed of buttered spinach and a wild mushroom ragout. A chunky slice of crispy pancetta sat atop a thyme potato fondant, it's smokiness pervading the dish.

The beef was easily the standout item of the whole night. I've never tasted beef so buttery soft, and the sweetness of the Madeira jus brought it all together. Completely melt in your mouth beautiful.

 

The night was rounded off with a dark chocolate tart, with caramelised oranges and honey and whisky ice cream. I'm not the biggest dessert fan in the world, but I do love my ice cream. And whisky of course.

Neither of us could finish it all, as the chocolate tart was very rich and decandant, but I made sure that I polished off all the velvety ice cream.

Despite the over indulgence, we were both up with the birds the next morning, and hurried down to breakfast before all the other lovebirds got up. Not only did this mean we had a chilled out breakfast and the freshest eggs, but most importantly we managed to get down to a virtually empty spa nice and early.

We stayed in the hot tub looking out at the misty morning, until our fingers turned pruney enough to leave. I dragged myself away from the spa with the promise of a walk and a game of crazy golf. My competitive side can't ignore that offer.

Safe to say, the result now stands at 2-1 to me. To be continued, no doubt.

Much rejuvinated after a weekend spent wandering about the grounds and chilling in the spa, we headed home. Thanks once again to the wonderful staff at the Celtic, with what must be one of the busiest nights of the year we still received such wonderful service, from every moment between checking in and checking out.