Dinner is only available to those (including guests) who have booked in advance. Bookings are taken on a first-come, first-serve basis, as our local market is also very important to us.

Generally, dinner guests arrive at about 7.30 pm, and the service of the meal begins shortly after 8 pm. On quieter evenings, or for groups taking up the whole restaurant (18 to 20 is our maximum), we can vary this timing. We cannot manage split timings.

John H-H, Presteigne, September 2005

The five-course menu (click here for recent examples) is devised on the basis of:

• what you and other guests dining that evening, ask us to avoid – for those who have food intolerances, as well as more straightforward dislikes, this can be especially reassuring;
• other information you give us, such as a small appetite, a special celebration, a favourite dish;
• what we hope you will most enjoy – dishes and ingredients range considerably in their presentation, with the inspiration coming for a large library of recipe books which is regularly added to;
• what we have served you on previous visits, so as to avoid repetition – uniquely, we believe, we keep records of dislikes, dietary preferences and menus served;
• what is best for the time of the year and available locally (our meat comes from a family butcher in Newtown who shares our commitment to quality before price; fish is ordered on Wednesday for the following Saturday); when organic produce is available, it is always our preference; our vegetable dishes receive special attention and guests comment particularly on them.

What Roy has spent much of the day hard at work in the kitchen preparing remains a surprise until Tom has served pre-dinner drinks and describes the preliminary and main course dishes so that those who enjoy wine with their dinner can choose from our list of around 70 supplied by Tanners of Shrewsbury. Our mark-up on wines is modest by restaurant standards, and provides particularly good value in the upper price range. We offer a limited choice of half bottles and the three house wines are available by the glass.

The evening then proceeds at a gentle pace, as you enjoy the companionship of fellow diners, and as the courses follow one-another, concluding with coffee or tea or herbal infusions. We do not rush you, nor indeed can we be rushed. Generally guests depart sometime between 11pm and after midnight.

A group of friends from the West Midlands after enjoying a day’s walking in the hills and valleys that surround us.

Sian and John from Llanidloes to mark John’s 89th birthday.