insideKENT Magazine Issue 74 - May 2018 | Page 135

a culinary gem too, as it’s home to The Checkers, one of only three Michelin-starred restaurants in Wales. And The Dragon Hotel is everything you could hope for in a small hotel. It is actually owned by the town, after the locals pitched to save the historic 17th-century former coaching inn. Now running it on a rota basis and employing their families and friends, the group owners have lovingly restored and refurbished the site to its current glory offering a host of comfortable rooms, a refurbished bar with contemporary touches and a cosy feel that offers a host of drinks as well as an appetising bistro bar menu, and Bistro 7, the dining room concept with head chef Brian Jones at the helm. The food here is proper hearty, generous dining, but with no compromise to taste or presentation. First up we nibbled our way through fresh bread and olives the size of a small country, as well as sampling the coriander and dukkah hummus with pitta (which was such a hit that we’ve attempted to recreate this at home...) and the calamari salad: huge rings of crunchy, battered squid and fresh lemon mayo, we were at this point a little concerned by just how big the big plates would be… My ‘duck and dauphinoise’ was generous and divine, the rich sauce and meat of the duck set off wonderfully with the creamy potato dish; my husband’s cross border burger, as the menu stated, wasn’t for the faint hearted, it was humongous and that was without the side salad and mound of fries! Aside from being totally in keeping with its Montgomeryshire beef and Shropshire blue cheese it was also totally delicious. Lake Vyrnwy Hotel & Spa Llanwddyn Powys Wales SY10 0LY www.lakevyrnwy.com 01691 870 692 [email protected] LakeVyrnwyHotel Lakevyrnwyhotel Afraid to attempt dessert, but more afraid to miss out we were swayed by the cheesecake of the day and boy were we glad we were… the homemade delight was a mix of milk and white chocolate cheesecakes, crunchy buttery biscuit base and chocolate drizzles and I would have quite happily eaten it for every meal thereafter. Unsurprisingly, we fell into a peaceful sated slumber, so much so we opted for a late Sunday breakfast – another great mix of generous portions and fresh local produce that provided us with the sustenance needed to continue our sightseeing countryside adventures and our reluctant journey home. lakevyrnwyhotel The Dragon Hotel Market Square, Montgomery, Powys, Wales SY15 6PA www.dragonhotel.com 01686 668 359 [email protected] TheDragonWales DragonHotelMontgomery Just writing about our trip now is inspiring our next Wales jaunt, which might just have to include another slice of that cheesecake… LAKE VYRNWY HOTEL & SPA THE DRAGON HOTEL 135