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The family-run Farthings is well established in the market town of Cowbridge, and situated in a building that dates back to 1720. The courtyard garden could be just the place to spend summer afternoons, while in the winter log fires keep customers warm. The restaurant and wine bar is popular among people of all ages; two reasons for this could be the informal atmosphere and the tasty yet simple food.

The ingredients are sourced locally wherever possible and the menu offers a range of traditional, modern and signature dishes. The special Farthings dessert counter is filled with sumptuous delights that tempt people to come back for more.

Start your day with the Farthings breakfast or pop in at lunchtime when pan-fried scallops with crispy Parma ham appear alongside asta, jacket potatoes, and local pork sausages with creamy mash. The traditional French Brasserie evening menu with a modern Welsh twist takes in corn-fed chicken supreme with chicken jus; beef lasagne, and lamb shank with rosemary gravy.

The food is complemented by wines from around the world.

Whilst the 42 Loch Fyne restaurants have a shared background there is a welcome degree of individuality encouraged throughout the group, which makes for customer interest. If you like wholesome, fresh and reliable seafood caught and reared under carefully controlled conditions, well presented in unfussy surroundings, and you enjoy being well looked after by pleasant staff, Loch Fyne is for you.

There is an increasing awareness of other food staples with an extended choice of meat dishes, but it is the original fare upon which their success was created that prevails. Loch Fyne kippers, a fine bouillabaisse, braden rost, kiln-roasted salmon fillet, and the toothsome oysters on ice, with a selection of accompaniments, all are to be found throughout the various restaurants, as well as Glen Fyne 21 day aged rib-eye steak and Scottish smoked venison. There is invariably a well-travelled wine list available which is sensible, both in content and prices.

Loch Fyne's greatest achievement has been to prove to a sceptical populace that chains or conglomerates can be made to work in the eating-out public's best interests.