Tyddyn Llan Restaurant

The countryside of Denbighshire is particularly voluptuous. In a gentle wooded river valley is Tyddyn Llan, a Georgian farmhouse, all rough stone and Welsh slate that belies a rather more sophisticated interior, enhanced by Peter Kindred's paintings.

The restaurant has about it a suitably gracious style, requiring attention for the delights about to be served. Nothing over fussy about this either, just plenty of good, honest preparation with timing down to a fine art. How the Welsh value their indigenous cheeses and Tyddyn Llan is no exception. An interesting wine list with house at £13.50 and others by the glass.

Matthew Fort, in his last review for The Guardian in Sept 2004, said: "My first course did not call for far-fetched comparison, odious metaphor or comic outrage, but rather for cultured appreciation and the expression of deep pleasure. The [salad of pig's] trotter was warm and stuffed with nuggets of its own meat and sweetbreads set in a mousse of the utmost delicacy and richness.

A generous slice of seared foie gras piled sensuality on sensuality. The remoulade added its own creamy crunchiness. There were girolles, too, and mixed salad leaves (the healthy part). But it was the sense of sumptuous, velvety textures glossing my mouth, the gentle merging of flavours, that gave this dish its formidable delights. 17/20"