Earlier this year, Portmeirion unveiled its latest venture. A complete renovation of Castell Deudraeth, the so-called ‘folly’ on the right of the driveway as you approach the village. It isn’t actually a folly since it is a building built for a purpose, that of housing people, though perhaps not in the same luxury envisaged by the second Portmeirion Foundation, an hotel with modern rooms, together with a bar and grill.
There has been considerable speculation as to how the finished project would look. Well, now it is finished and the answer is very simple. It looks quite similar to how it would have appeared to visitors in the 1890’s. Granted, there is no tennis court anymore but the Victorian solarium and walled garden have been faithfully restored. That is probably where the similarity ends.

As the visitor nears the main entrance, the first indication that things may not be quite so traditional inside the building, becomes apparent. The twin doors quietly and automatically slide open to permit access. More like Star Trek than one might at first expect of anything to do with Portmeirion!

On entering you are greeted by a quite narrow bar area. This was the original entrance hall and is complete with its original baronial fireplace flanked by figures of Owain Glyndwr and Dafydd y Garreg Wen (the blind harper).

The oak panelled bar features low tables with modern sumptuous brown leather sofas and armchairs sitting on a slate floor. This mix of contemporary and traditional design isn't, admittedly, to everyone’s taste, though some of us were very impressed. In fact Elaine and I made perhaps just a little too much fuss about how you simply sank into the soft leather. This could either be interpreted as another example of our great sense of style or that we are both weird.

On the Sunday of the Non-Con, Geoff & Joanie Lake, Elaine and I went up to the Castell just for a drink and a ‘recce’. This was the evening before Welsh opera singer, Bryn Terfel, was to officially open the place and it was filled with invited guests including weather girl Siân Lloyd. Perhaps with the attendance of the Welsh B and C Society lists (no Tom Jones or Manics!) it was difficult to see the place in detail so we decided to go for a meal on the Thursday (our invites to the Monday Grand Opening being lost in the post!).

Ronnie had arrived at Portmeirion on the Monday so had no preconceptions of the place but he was still keen to have a meal there so, we all put on our glad rags and were picked up by the village minibus at Toll House in good time to arrive “eight for eight-thirty”. Geoff and Joanie weren’t dining and left after we were guided to our table (after 9pm). They went down to the hotel to meet up with us later...

To be honest, I hadn’t expected to still be there so late that evening and, when we arrived at the hotel by minibus (diolch Meic) at 11.25pm, Ivan Sinha won the sportsman’s bet for getting nearest to the time the assembled group expected us to arrive! Now, it has to be said that Ivan’s experiences there earlier in the week were not favourable and he dashed over to me at the Jaipur’s bar to check out my opinions. Surprisingly for him, I raved about the place and the food. I had to admit that the service had been “relaxed” tending towards “slow” but, as I said at the time, “I wasn’t in McDonalds!”.

If you dine in a place such as Castell Deudraeth, you are not going to be fed because you are hungry, you are going for a dining experience. Now if that sounds pretentious, I’m sorry, but there it is. You go to be cossetted and treated like you could buy the place! Anyone, reading this and saying, “yeah, you’re right!”?

Portmeirion as a whole does this very well and Castell Deudraeth is no exception. The dining room was busy and yet there was no feeling of a ‘rush’. Personally, I loved it. Elaine loved it. Ronnie loved it. We had been living out of a fridge and using a microwave all week and took the meal at Castell Deudraeth for the experience it is.

So, on to the meal itself... Was it worth it? Yes! The food was cooked, in my view, perfectly. I was particularly impressed with the vegetables which were ‘al dente’ in the true sense of the phrase rather than those restaurant chefs who interpret it as ‘raw’.

Although there is an impressive sea-food bias to the menu, I had chosen the Welsh lamb Henry having been based in Wales for the previous month and wishing to see what they could do with it.

This was a triumph! From the very first taste, I proclaimed that “I had died and gone to Heaven!”. There are few things in life better than well cooked and prepared food. They are... sex, drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll. My experience of drugs nowadays is limited to alcohol and nicotine so I guess this quality of food fits the bill nicely!

We all commented on how good our meals were and considered it to be good value.

So, to summarise... Great food in impressive surroundings (looking forward to eating outside sometime). Service is slow but respectful and dedicated (the wine waiter apologised for the delay in serving my glass of Portmeirion champagne whilst it was being chilled).

On Sunday, 11th November, Chris, Elaine, Joseph, Ronnie and I are taking lunch at Castell Deudraeth. Our experiences will be reported in the next issue of tpf.

Our choice of meals was...

Elaine

Spicy Greshingham duck breast with tarragon and orange noodles and a plum sauce - £10.50
New potatoes - £2.25
Broccoli hollandaise - £2.25
Chocolate terrine - £3.50

Ronnie

Chargrilled fillet of Welsh beef with horseradish Polenta and asparagus - £11.50
French fries with mayonnaise - £2.25
Apple pie with home made ice cream - £3.50

Alan

Chargrilled Welsh lamb Henry with glazed shallots and a swede mash - £9.50
New potatoes - £2.25
Carrots Vichy - £2.25
Chocolate terrine - £3.50