Restaurant Spy

If you’ve ever dreamed of owning a country pub restaurant and want to see how it should be done then take a trip down to Carmarthenshire – Y Polyn sets the standard. From my warmly greeted arrival, in the pretty bar of this delightful black and white 300 year old inn, to my reluctant departure nothing, and I do mean nothing, disappointed. The décor is modern, but not so minimalist that you feel chilled to the bone. Deep pink and cream walls, decorated with the work of local artists, provide the warmth and the natural floor covering, unlike the current fashion for naked floors, allows you to hear yourself think. Service is informal, friendly and efficient but it’s the food that ensures that the 50 or so seats are full most evenings and even mid-week lunch (when I visited) was well attended.

Forget celeb chefs, drizzles, liquid nitrogen foams and food stacks, traditional food still exists, thank goodness in many places in Portugal. Tavira is a "real" town on a river in the Eastern Algarve. An old fishing port(tuna) where the local cuisine reflects the riches of the Atlantic.

This restaurant which has been there forever is run by Joao Pereira and his little team of cooks(yes lady cooks -not poncy chefs) who you can see frying and boiling and grilling in the tiny kitchen area.

It’s been a long time since we’ve been to The Malt Shovel in Horsham. We had plenty of reason to patronise this venue in the past due to the landlords generous sponsorship of our team. Unfortunately Steve passed away recently (incidentally so did our hockey team) and work committments have kept me away. However, last sunday (15th July 2007) a visit from an old team mate prompted a return. When we got there there was a 2 piece band playing laid back jazz and the effects of the smoking ban were evident. I wasn’t immediately sure what was different but I’m pretty sure it was a lack of cigarette smoke, a very welcome lack of cigarette smoke. I’m not a zealot, but after 2 years without a cigarette I have to say that I prefer my life to be that way; smoke free.

We went to the 'Wheel Inn' at Westwell, near Charing (which is near Canterbury). Pretty pub that had candles and fresh flowers on all the tables as we went in. It was a Tues lunchtime and fairly busy but as, like many old, traditional pubs, was fairly dark inside so the candles looked very welcoming.Ladies toilets were clean (we have discovered that this is where a lot of pubs fall down. None of them are ever dirty but some can be a little grubby.) These were fine.

We visited the restuarant on Saturday the 23rd June 2007. We ordered the vegetarian meze however queried why this included fish!?. We were told that something be done excluding the fish. The first dishes arrived which included a sausage dish!. We were served a selection of greek dips with pitta bread and a cheese pie which was cooked from frozen because it was still frozen at the centre. The next dishes arrived which consisted of a plate each of stuffed vegetables not the lots of little dishes that you would expect a meze to consist of. A greek salad was served with some of the most salty unrecognisable cheese. It should have been feta but it was vile. This was challenged with the waiter who simply shrugged and walked away. I paid the bill "under protest". Overall I found the staff to be unhelpful , dismissive and the food represented poor value for money. I asked to speak to the owner but simply ignored. So rather than spoil my evening any further we left. Broadbean