Langostinos Brasserie

Wales, perhaps unsurprisingly when you consider the wealth of healthy ingredients that are produced in its rolling acres and mountainous pastures, never mind the clear waters of coast and river, has some real gems when it comes to eating out. If pleasure be about contrast Llangostinos has it in plenty, with the natural beauty all around encompassing an elegant restaurant that speaks of style and elegance.

An award winning and talented brigade of chefs work to a set lunch menu, Mediterranean tapas dishes and an evening à la carte. Welsh black beef, Gower lamb and local seafood are never far away, and after the bread and olives starters might include glazed Pant-Ys-Gawn goat's cheese with Welsh honey and a beetroot and pine nut salad, or an Asian style chilli squid salad, fried with garlic, chilli and spring onion. Given the quality and freshness of local seafood the mussels, steamed in a white onion broth with garlic and coriander finished with double cream could well prove irresistible.

Delicious roasted medallion of Welsh pork is served with rich Hollandaise sauce, asparagus spears and Penclawdd cockles, or perhaps salmon from the local Towy would prove compelling, with creamed cauliflower and leek and spicy shellfish butter. No visit to Wales is complete without, for the carnivores anyway, a tilt at the famous Welsh Black beef, here manifested by a massive grilled 16oz T-bone, grilled with roasted tomatoes and a choice of au poivre or Diane sauce. But for special treats look for the pan-fried veal steak shitake mushroom and Porcini sauce.

It?s a mistake to confuse tapas with small bites eaten on the hoof because there's no time for something proper. Tapas are just as much about relaxed eating as a five course evening meal, and they have the added advantage of producing a galaxy of flavours. At Langostinos some twenty or so tapas embrace such delights as white anchovy fillets with garlic olive oil, kidneys in sherry, grilled lamb chops served with alioli and house mayonnaise, traditional jamon de Serrano, Spanish omelette filled with shallots, potatoes and peppers, or the fabulous pincho Moruno, highly seasoned cubes of pork cumin and paprika marinated in red wine and grilled to perfection.

Sundays are celebrated at Langostinos, not with one of those menus the length of which leaves you with a headache, but a straightforward homemade soup or cold appetiser, a few blackboard specials and The Carvery, a choice of hot roasts of the day that includes fresh seasonal vegetables and traditional accompaniments, all for a price that represents unbelievably good value.

This, and all the other food at Langostinos, represents quality food that the majority of people understand and appreciate. Its appeal lies in its quality without pretension, still leaving the door open for the occasional quirk that transforms a good dish into something superlative. Their Website should fill you in comprehensively on what they offer.