Sunday Lunch at Y Mochyn Du

I hate doing this.
Not the writing, I like the writing. I like the eating (as you may have noticed!).
What I hate is going to one of my favourite places thinking "Ooh this will be good" and feeling let down and then having to tell you about it!

Y Mochyn Du (The Black Pig), sat next to the Welsh Institute for Sport on Sophia Close, is a good pub. The beer garden is excellent in the summer, the location is great, the selection of local beer and cider is wonderful. Normally, the food is top notch - the Lamb Shank, Sausages and Mash, Pies, Steaks and Baguettes all come highly recommended. Good, solid, old-fashioned pub food.

So what exactly went wrong today? We arrived with high expectations and rumbling bellies. There was a limited Sunday lunch menu (the usual - Roast Topside of Beef, Roast Chicken, Nut Roast, Glamorgan Sausages and, more weirdly, Scampi) as well as a Special's Board - Black Beef Pie and Thick Cut Roast Pork. Myself and my friend Rob, bouyed by the prospect of crackling and apple sauce, opted for the Pork, whilst our friend Helen chose the Chicken.

We only waited around 10 minutes before the food appeared - this alone should have been a slight warning sign in a place which prides itself on freshly cooked food. The pork was indeed thick cut but instead of a layer of crunchy crackling, it was topped with uncooked fat - not very appetising. The meat itself, having been left on a warming plate, was quite dry - a theme of the day. The chicken was also dry and tough, overcooked in some places and, rather oddly, with random scraps of beef on the plate. The veggies - two roasties, two boiled new potatoes (both dry), boiled carrots, peas, sweetcorn and sliced green beans were all overboiled and devoid of any taste. They had obviously been cooked then were left to sit around until needed. The gravy was good. Mint and bread sauce were available, yet no apple sauce for our pork. Also we were rather dissapointed at the lack of yorkshire puddings - it's just not a proper Sunday lunch without them!

Pudding faired ever so slightly better, yet came without the cream, custard or ice cream that was promised with it - yet wasn't offered by staff. Chocolate Cake - rich, dark chocolate cake base, layered with cream, milk chocolate mousse and more chocolate - was light, chocolately and quite satisfying.

The food at Y Mochyn Du is usually outstanding.

My tip: - don't go there on a Sunday!

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