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Yelp
It's odd that an otherwise ambitious and proud capital city such as Cardiff doesn't boast a reliable restaurant where you can always count on the holy culinary trinity of good food, service and value. There are many establishments which have aspired and fallen short in one way or another. Les Gallois, Patagonia, Bully's, Wood's; the list is long and disappointing. What they lack above all is consistency. On a good evening you can have a tremendous experience where everything is spot on, but it just never seems to be repeatable. Perhaps I'm setting the bar too high, but in conversation with a number of people who should know, it seems I might be right.
So what do the perceived failings of Cardiff's restaurant industry have to do with Y Polyn, you might ask? Everything. Y Polyn is the kind of place Cardiff is crying out for. Friendly service, exemplary, fabulously executed cooking, and superb value. Perhaps they might consider moving it brick-by-brick to St. Fagans. But that would probably spoil it. In any case, those snooty Cardiffians don't deserve somewhere as good as Y Polyn. There are other great places to eat within a couple of hours' drive of Cardiff, notably around Monmouthshire. Stephen Terry's Hardwick, Matt Tebbutt's Foxhunter and Shaun Hill's Walnut Tree being the best three I have eaten in recently. And that's before I've even got to the Crown at Whitebrook.
Y Polyn trumps them all when it comes to the three vital ingredients mentioned above. Nestled in the Tywi Valley just outside Capel Dewi in Carmarthenshire, it's an old coaching inn which has been run for the past few years by couples Simon and Maryann Wright and Mark and Sue Manson. It's a warm, friendly, welcoming place with a Credit Crunch lunch menu at £12.50 for three courses and a three-course dinner for £28. As well as being cracking value, the menu shows a real love for fresh, local produce and simple flavour combinations.
After a thirst-quenching pint of Caledonian IPA (served by Mark, a Scot, of course), and a G&T for the lady, we sat at a quiet-ish table in the corner of the chattering dining room. Mrs Dan chose seared scallops to start, followed by pork belly. The scallops were pronounced to be sweet and melted in the mouth, and the pork belly had been slow-cooked to perfection. My fish soup had a perfect combination of zingy garlic, sweet gruyere cheese and rich fishiness. My main course of Coq au Vin (a local favourite) just fell off the bone and the sauce had a wonderful winey thickness. Boulanger potatoes (an under-used serving method where the humble spud is concerned) complimented both our dishes perfectly. We polished off a very reasonably-priced Gigondas and followed it up with a pair of chocolate tortes and a couple of cheeky dessert wines.
Afterwards we enjoyed the convivial and enthusiastic company of our hosts in the bar, chatting about rugby and restaurants. Eventually it was time for bed. Bed in this case being down the road at the Capel Dewi Uchaf B&B, whose breakfast is an experience in itself, not least because of the setting.
I'd love to prove the value of the meal by giving an exact cost - but since my brother-in-law (who had been sitting at a nearby table) insisted on paying for our meal, you'll have to take my word for it. What I can tell you for sure is that we'll be going back. And I'll be telling everyone about Y Polyn, because a city with cosmopolitan pretentions like Cardiff could learn a thing or two from them about consistently good food, value and service.
