REVIEW
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Planters Tea Rooms Tal Goed Nurseries We tasted great food at The Planters Tea Rooms, and discovered a huge range of plants at the Tal Goed Nurseries in Glan Conwy, north Wales
‘W
e serve proper tea in china tea cups,’ says Bryn Powell, an award-winning chef who runs The Planters Tea Rooms. ‘Everyone says that it tastes so much better in a china cup. What we’re trying to do here is make sure that everything is served to the highest standard using locally sourced produce. For example, our bread is baked locally and delivered daily. Our teacakes come from a bakery in Llanrwst and we make all the cakes here, including lemon cake, bara brith, cherry and almond, coffee and walnut and Victoria sandwich. Because we make everything fresh, we can cater for any dietary requirements. Gluten free bread is an option for all sandwiches and we also have a gluten free cake selection. ‘We have a specials board that we update daily depending on what produce is locally available, and our menu is always seasonal, too. We also offer a couple of special deals. The most popular by far is the soup of the day, a sandwich, tea or coffee
and a slice of cake for £10.50. Our all day breakfast is also very popular. ‘I’ve been running the café for about 10 years and outside catering for 22 years. It’s a really good set up here. The café and garden centre are very good for each other. People who come to the garden centre are of course welcome to pop in for a cup of tea or something to eat. It’s a great family atmosphere. We’re open all year round and have extended our hours until 7:30pm on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. This means that visitors can enjoy an early dinner with us. Sundays are particularly busy at the tea room as we offer a great traditional Sunday lunch, which is great for people who want to make a full day of a visit to Tal Goed. We recommend that you book on a Sunday.’
A Great Garden Centre
Planters Tea Rooms is part of Tal Goed Nurseries and Fruit Farm, where you can find indoor plants, shrubs, trees, bedding plants, garden furniture and plenty more. ‘We’re a traditional nursery,’ explains manager John. ‘Seventy five per cent of the plants we sell are grown here and we sell 750,000 plants a year. We have a great range of plants, including basket plants, houseplants, herbaceous primroses, Alpine and planter tubs. We also have a range of shrubs and berries, all of which are already hardened and ready to be planted outside. I first started in the business 20 years ago in Liverpool. When I took over Tal Goed Nurseries, it was much smaller than it is now. We added the café, the greenhouses and the polytunnels. We now also offer pick your own blackberries, gooseberries, raspberries, logan berries and plums from August onwards.’ y Planter’s Tea Rooms Call 01492 592739 www.a-pieceofcake.co.uk
The Food
During our visit to Planters Tea Rooms, we took the opportunity to sample some of their food. First up was a delicious trio of smoked fish all caught and smoked locally. We also enjoyed chicken liver paté with apple and thyme. The paté came with a huge side salad and sweet onion chutney. Next we tried the popular soup, sandwich, tea or coffee and cake deal. The soup of the day was roasted sweet pepper, with tomato and fresh rosemary. The filling of the turkey and cranberry sandwich that we chose was delicious, but the real star was the lovely soft bread that it came on. Finally, we finished off our meal with a slice of succulent lemon cake.
Tal Goed Nurseries Call 01492 573073 Glan Conwy, Conwy, North Wales, LL28 5TH
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