Saturday 24 March 2018

Lanelay Hall, Talbot Green, South Wales restaurant review


Located just a short pootle down the M4 from Cardiff, the stylish Lanelay Hall hotel is the result of an extensive restoration of the old Glamorgan Fire Service headquarters in Talbot Green.

The hotel’s decor is flamboyant yet tasteful with opulent wallpaper, wood panelling and velvet curtains all putting in an appearance.


The menu features bistro style cooking with interesting twists - a pan roasted halibut steak is served with red wine braised oxtail, chermoula and coriander oil (£20.95) whilst a trio of pork includes fillet, confit breast and braised cheek rissole (£17.95). Starters weigh in around £7, mains £20 and desserts £6.50.

A complimentary snack was more addictive than a bag of chilli heatwave Doritos. Warm and crunchy crackers were served with a light whipped mayonnaise dip with a good whack of garlic. 


I kicked off with a dainty mountain of meat (£8.20) - a bisected pigeon breast and slices of earthy black pudding and offaly faggot were interleaved with buttery spinach and coated in a sticky red wine jus. It was a lovely plate of food, let down marginally by one of the pigeon pieces being a touch overcooked. 

 
A thick crab bisque (£5.50) had a good shellfish hit. In it bobbed a trio of golden crab dumplings that also delivered a good hit of crustacean but were a little bouncy in texture. 

 
Mrs G’s main (£19.95) included slices of pink duck breast, a mound of shredded duck and new potato hash, and a meaty asian-spiced sauce that reminded me of hoisin. Tempura greens added crunch to the plate whilst segments of orange cut through the dish’s richness. 

 
A roast “carri” of lamb (£19.95) was a new one on me and Google doesn’t shed any further light. Perhaps Lanelay Hall coined the term? Two flavoursome medium-cooked lamb cutlets were served with a stack of finely sliced and buttery boulangere potatoes, roasted cherry tomatoes and a bold port and rosemary sauce. 


A panache of seasonal vegetables arrived with panache halfway through our main course. The nicely cooked mangetout, french beans, carrots, courgette, baby corn and cauliflower were coated in a liberal amount of melted butter. 


Onto dessert and whilst Lanelay Hall’s chocolate fondant (£6.25) didn’t have a liquid interior, it retained a pleasing gooeyness. The tasty pud was served with a scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream.

  
If a dessert has cake twice in its name then it’s a must order, right? Baked carrot cake cheesecake (£6) saw a moist carrot cake base topped with a smooth baked cheesecake. The dessert was infused with the warmth of cinnamon and nutmeg, crunch was provided by a vivid green mint tuille and extra depth supplied by mint leaves and a spiced carrot puree. 

 
We had a really enjoyable evening at Lanelay Hall - the solid but not faultless cooking, warm surroundings and friendly service all make for a winning combination. If you want a short hop out of Cardiff for the night then it’s worth checking out.

The Details:

Address - Lanelay Hall, Lanelay Road, Talbot Green, Pontyclun  CF72 9LA
Web - http://www.lanelayhall.co.uk/
Telephone - 01443 558 309

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